[khan_sultan]

The BAOTR 13 report was done nearly a year after the event and to make up, I thought of putting a nearly live report for the BODA BAOTR 14 event. I was tied up with work and could manage to attend only the registration/welcome day of the event. The fact that I am not able to be there for the whole 3 days of the event and am missing out on the fun because of office work also allows me to spend time and write this and be with all off-roading friends in some way.

At around 3.00 pm quite a few of us from B.O.D.A started off from Kanakpura road, some 4 hours after the scheduled departure time of 11.00 am. As usual, last minute preparations, arrangement calls & collecting small small things for the event.

Driving on the way to the event on a warm sunny day


This should give you an idea on how some of the B.O.D.A marshals had packed for 3 days of the event


We reach the turn-off to the camp/event site some 20 kms before Sangama and wait for the participants to trickle in. If people are not standing here to guide the participants, there is no way they can find the turn-off point



While some of the marshals wait here, few of us head to the camp to check on the preparations and meet other marshals. The camp site with few of the marshal vehicles.



The camp being setup. To put into perspective, this is middle of no where some 2 kms off the main road and EVERY thing has been done from ground up -- including leveling the ground the camp site. The B.O.D.A team had been working every weekend for past 2-3 months to ensure this for the guests.

This is where the dining area & tables to chit chat would come up.


Prashant -- B.O.D.A marshal who is the man behind the logistics & venue arrangements is coordinating the work. He has been camping here and ensuring that everything is taken care of. Hat's off to his dedication & commitment towards the event.



This is the sleeping area. Enough for 200+ people with a secure perimeter and round the clock security.


This time, no sleeping on ground. There are cosy (as cosy as can be) cots with clean sheets for each participant to relax after a long day in the trail.


Oh yes, B.O.D.A even arranged for a fuel tanker for participants to get fuel at the venue itself. They could pay by cash or even by card itself -- in the middle of no where. This is the level of detail B.O.D.A marshals went to whist planning for the comfort & convenience of the guests.

I don't have much pictures of the evening but participants tricked in batches one after the other and there was those customary hugs & bonhomie all around. Chit chatting with old friends and meeting some new ones also. Dinner was served and then people sat down to regale each other or pull each other legs in off-road style with light hearted banter.

In the midst of this, the B.O.D.A helium balloon fly's high and can be seen from miles away -- acting as a lighthouse equivalent for the participants still to come


I had to wake up early and leave back to Bangalore as I had to attend office and it was really nice to feel the silence of these machines as they also rested before they would get dirty in the trails


As the dawn emerged I left for Bangalore after saying bye to the early risers and with a heavy heart drove down to office. I passed few jeepers on the way driving to the camp and this one in particular put a smile back on my face. A friend & fellow off-roader towing his CJ all the way to the event to take part.


Talked to marshals on phone and hear that the event is going on nicely & people are enjoying the trail -- especially trail #2.

More updates to follow soon....

[mjothi]

Thanks Shanwaz... Live report certainly connects people like us to the event and keep us entertained. The arrangements shows the dedication and enthu you guys have on these events....

Waiting for the live slush and smoke


Sent from my iPhone using Team-BHP

[swastikviji]

Thank you khan for making some time to create the thread, just back from venue after saying bye to all the guests,

[S@~+#0$#]

Waiting eagerly for the pics and report. Had to drop out due to a family emergency.

[SILVERWOOD]

This was a great event,Kudos to all the Marshals.I have clicked loads of snaps, will post them soon.

Waseem.

[dhanushs]

Hi Guys,

Me personally as well as on behalf of The Jeep Club Wayanad, I would like to thank all the Bangalore Offroaders and organisers of the BODA OTR 2014. We had an amazing time there.

• Super Track. Vehicle Testing as well as Driver Testing tracks. (The best thing about the BAOTR.
• Comfortable beds in the middle of nowhere.
• Good Facilities. (Thank god you guys choose Indian Style )
• Yummy food, and in time. We had tea/coffee brakefast, lunch, snacks, snacks, and dinner at the right time and in plenty.
• As usual very friendly hosts.
• and, the amenities provided in the middle of nowhere.

More detailed report and lots of photos will follow.

[datvichrox2]

Two days after the event is done, my blood is still pumping in my veins. Such was the thrill that I experienced in my first OTR. The BODA team worked like clockwork to ensure that we all had a great time.

I came alone in my new Thar CRDe, which is less than 3 months old, with 2.5k on the odo. I did not know anybody in the offroad community. And I left with new friends, more respect for my vehicle, and a wonderful experience. Though I was on a stock Thar, the marshalls and other seniors were very co-operative and encouraged me to try the obstacles, explaining the techniques involved.

I got beached, got towed, got winched, made a lot of mistakes and learnt from them, and towards the end of day 1, I was crawling through obstacles with confidence. Thanks guys!

Now the problem is, everytime I see a divider on the road, I want to crawl over it!

Hope you enjoy the pics, while I edit 32gb of video footage from the windshield cam.

[datvichrox2]

Second set of pictures

[sreejeshmp]

As usual A well organized OTR. I have participated the last 3 BAOTRs and every time is getting better and better Congrats and Thank you BODA.
3 time I came to test the Jeep and its Custom modes I done. But this time I am satisfied with My jeep, Once again thanks to the O-Team for the wonder full track.

As I was testing my Jeep I couldn't take any pics myself This pis are from FB and all the credit goes to respective owners. Thank you for the Pics.

[sreejeshmp]

Few more pics













- Sreejesh

[Endeavour333]

My BA OTR story and report of the Bangalore OTR 2014:

What a fantastic offroad event it was this year! The participation was apparently less compared to last year but boy oh boy did those guys miss out. There were about 80 vehicles in total and about 8 vehicles from the Chennai Terra Tigers team, 2 of which were Monster SUVs! First was my Endeavour that was finally prepared for a full on attempt at the 'Hardcore' Bangalore OTR and next was an awesome 4" lifted Pajero that had a relatively new "Ferrari Red" paintjob (uh-oh). This was my third visit to BA OTR and each time my vehicle has become more and more prepared for the onslaught of rocky, technical, tight, and demanding obstacles. 2012 BA OTR I did not participate with my Endeavour but in 2013 I did most of the obstacles but skipped 5 or 6 tough ones over 2 days. I considered the BA OTR to be the benchmark OTR. The OTR that that I always wanted to be able to complete and only if I complete it, would I consider my vehicle a worthy offroader.

Now, BA OTR 2014: This year I was prepared. I had a 2” Ironman suspension lift, big fat 33x12.5x15 Bighorn 764s, a solid steel front bumper with skid plate that also integrated with the Ironman underbody protection below, steel rear bumper, and I had a lot more offroad experience thanks to the regular offroads we do in Chennai at the SUV Offroad Events. The SUV Offroads were every 2 months with the first day on some rocks and slush and the second day in Palar. I feel that this experience not only gave me the confidence to tackle any obstacle the track could present but also gave me a much better judgement of what the vehicle could and couldn't do and what kind of momentum and line I needed for each obstacle. The Pajero driver with me is also a regular at these events and he would not have gotten this kind of experience and tutoring elsewhere, for which we are both glad.

After the registration process, the first day of the BA OTR had me feeling very nervous. I had talked to several of the marshals regarding the tightness of the trail, bypasses for tough obstacles, scratches, etc. But reassuringly, none of them discouraged me from giving it a shot, and were actually encouraging me to go ahead. So feeling more comfortable, I deflated to 15 psi and joined the convoy to trails 2 and 4. Samurai (Sharath) had decided to join me for the day and I gladly welcomed him (hope to see lots of photos of my Endy and the Pajero). After a few warmup obstacles, the first real challenging climb was ahead of us. It was a a 70 meter long continuous bumpy climb with several sharp turns along the way, and to make matters worse the SUVs went last so it had been dug up like someone had just recently ploughed the track to lay crops!

A lot of jeeps were struggling up the main track and were forced to take the bypass after 2 or 3 attempts or were winched up if they made it past the first 3 corners. I was doubtful whether I’d even make it to the second turn so thought I’d avoid the embarrassment and just take the bypass but my good friend Ayub Khan said he will hit me in the face if I don’t take the main track so I guess I was left with no choice. I lined up for the obstacle and semi gunned it in second low but I drifted a bit further right than planned and started digging in on the second turn so stopped and reversed back. At the second attempt I gave it a bit more gas and made sure to stick left. To my relief, and to everyone’s utter surprise, I bounced up the track past the part I was stuck last time and through some frantic steering I made it up spinning wheels all the way to the top! WOW. I was surprised too but it was all in the momentum I could gain before the climb and the brand new tyres I had. Not long after, to my pleasant surprise, the Pajero made it up as well but on the first attempt and with less wheelspin! (Pajero has a 2" suspension lift, 2" body lift and 32.5" tyres). That bloody mountain goat. I’d put that down to good steering technique, coil springs, and a clutch type LSD that works before wheelspin. I just used raw power because I didn’t want to lose momentum halfway up the slope and start digging, guess I will try the finesse tactic next time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3joSjdxH5c

Rest of the day went on without drama but we couldn’t complete the next trail due to several vehicles needing to be winched or recovered. Nevertheless, I was satisfied that the vehicle had performed and was still in one piece.

The second day of the BA OTR 2014 was here and I was pumped for many more challenging obstacles. We started with a long trail drive to reach the actual entry point where the convoy suddenly came to a halt and the jeep guys waved to me signalling that there was no way I was going to make it through this one. I took a look for myself and was met with the scariest obstacle I have faced in my life… The only way to get past was to make the left wheel climb a near vertical wall. I was doubtful but I’d always wanted to try this kind of obstacle after seeing several offroad videos so wanted to give it a try anyway. With the legendary Terra Tiger Mohd. Ali spotting me, I had the confidence too. Pictures at the end of the report.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcTB-PHjtQw

The Pajero made it through with a little bit of drama but nothing major and off we went to the next obstacle. This day was by far and away more enjoyable than the first because we got to do so many more amazing obstacles, had much less wait time due to being at the head of the queue, and where we saw several jeeps struggle, the SUVs just blew past at the first attempt to the shock and awe of everyone watching. I don’t know what it was but we felt unstoppable. Even at obstacles where ramp over angle had been a problem for gypsys that had got beached earlier, we breezed past with hardly a scrape. Sharath was sitting beside me on this day as well and I think we impressed him the most. I won’t say that SUVs are more capable or anything but we did seem to have an easier time on this particular trail compared to the average jeep / gypsy. Day 2 surprisingly had so many more climbs and obstacles compared to day 1 and we were absolutely overjoyed with the performance of the SUVs. We did not need to get towed or winched even once and didn’t take even one bypass.

The Pajero was absolutely exceptional everywhere and honestly it made me a bit jealous but I was so impressed with my vehicle as well that I forgot about it. I guess each vehicle works in different way as we both got over obstacles but in slightly different manner. If I were to compare the two, the Endeavour performed better at obstacles that required greater torque transfer between wheels (hard ground / rock areas) due to the magical Torsen LSD and the Pajero really shined at softer ground and bumpy climbs where the coil springs soaked up bumps and the clutch type LSD kept wheels spinning at the same speed. All in all, they are both extremely capable SUVs when well prepared and are good at different parts of the trail. I consider them equals but still envy those coils! Anyway, now I’m looking forward to the coming Palar Challenge style SUV extreme competition in which the Pajero will be my team-mate! So in the end all the Terra Tigers returned home damage free with huge smiles on their faces. I’d call that a successful OTR.

This was fantastically well coordinated BA OTR and I have no idea how the BODA team pulled it off so flawlessly. The only complaint I have is regarding the wait time on day 1 and that we didn’t get to do many challenging obstacles apart from one climb this day but I guess that was a little out of their control. Other than that I have no complaints whatsoever and only praise for the trails that they worked so hard to make, the accommodation that was arranged in the middle of nowhere, and the friendly environment that they created. 3 cheers to BODA!

[Endeavour333]

Half an hour long video footage from the BA OTR 2014 by Autotrack India:
http://autotrack.ind.in/bangalore-an...road-2014.aspx

Almost all vehicles have been covered!