2nd July 2010, 16:08
| #106 |
| BHPian  | hi guys this are some of the pics from my side.had a fabulous time there it was a great time offroading with so many vechiles and the track was also a very challenging one.not to mention the organisation was also one of the best and the food to, thanks a lot to the whole team for making the event such a great and a safe one.hope to have such an event againg in the future....danny...MKRAFT.........  |
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2nd July 2010, 21:02
| #107 |
| Distinguished - BHPian   | |
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2nd July 2010, 21:38
| #108 | |
| Senior - BHPian  | Quote:
Diesel in your Gypsy  Bang Bros seem to be engulfed in action all the time. Khan Saab, you have full masala for a movie. All you need now is a heroine and bangbros are all set for a movie  Last edited by MileCruncher : 2nd July 2010 at 21:42. | |
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2nd July 2010, 22:03
| #109 | |
| Senior - BHPian  Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Germany
Posts: 2,854
Thanked: 1,532 Times
| Quote:
 Spike | |
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2nd July 2010, 22:10
| #110 | |
| BANNED  Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Mumbai
Posts: 1,773
Thanked: 19 Times
| Quote:
 BTW who gave the instructions to fill er up I cant recollect.  Viper | |
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3rd July 2010, 11:22
| #111 | ||
| Team-BHP Support   Join Date: May 2004 Location: Bangalore
Posts: 20,215
Thanked: 15,907 Times
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jaaaaaaaast kidding.Actually we were at our wits end and wanted to fill and head off, so ordered to fill up and started chit chats with each other. After a min or so i hear Khan shouting at the attendant. | ||
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3rd July 2010, 13:20
| #112 |
| Newbie  Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Pune
Posts: 18
Thanked: 7 Times
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3rd July 2010, 22:53
| #113 |
| Senior - BHPian  | |
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7th July 2010, 00:08
| #114 |
| Senior - BHPian  | Ok so heres my report of the AKC. A bit late but what the heck. We, ( Team UBS and me) reached Kunal's place a little after 11-ish or so. Maybe a little later. The previous night there were many breakdowns, including my own CJ which had sprung a leak at the bottom flange which was unreachable by hand. We were supposed to drive to Karjat and camp there for the night but it was past 9:30 and there were break downs to be attended to. Besides everyone was hungry. We, (Jiggy, Vinay, jaggu, Prasad, Soumya and a host of others) were bailing out and directing the past batch of cars from the tricky "S" curve incline, which was also the final obstacle of the EXAMM course and were were tired. After a quick dinner at Ramakrishna with all others we took a call not to drive in the night to Karjat as our Jeeps were nto up to it and it being late at night, it would be cumbersome if anyone of us broke down on the way. The EXAM orgaisors who were till then ready to hop off to Karjat decided to stay on with the rest of the pack as they thought that it was their duty to not leave those in distress. Thanks guys. We checked in at the Cosett hotel and got a discounted rate courtesy Amol who owns the place. The drive way was snugly packed with dirty 4X4s. It was a sight to behold. I dont think anyone who hit the bed remembers the next moment. I dont even want to go back to the hotel cause they must be having at least half a kilo of mud in each bathroom. The next morning, after we packed up, we left for the respective garages, fixing our vehicles. Soumya left around an hour before us and UBS and me fixed our Jeeps and moved on too. My fix was relatively simple. Mix two teaspoons of haldi powder (turmeric) in half a glass of water and put it in the almost filled radiator. Top up with water and run the engine for a minute to allow the circulation and shut it. The turmeric settles down and packs up the leak. But this is a stop gap fix and not a long term solution. After along drive down the beautiful ghats we finally reached Karjat to find a Prado stuck in the entry point to the trail. It was not engaging the 4WD so had to be winched out.  This took around almost an hour so we parked our vehicles in the farm and registered ourselves. Team Bang Bros (i like the title ) reached a few minutes later. By that time we realised we were the only team that were left and decided to head towards the trail. Kunal sent one of his markers with us in the lead car to help us spot the trail.Shahnawaz(Gypsy Spidey), Venky(MM 540), Robinson (Invader) and Me(CJ3b). lined up   ....only to be told that we should fist have lunch as it was almost lunchtime and the group before us were on their way back. Waiting for others to arrive, we decided to take a few pics of our pack   ....while Robinson, used the roll bars of the invader and the CJ to hook a hammock and grab a few winks. Ingenious!!  We enjoyed a good biryani lunch after which we immediately set to the trail. Reaching the slush entry i realised that it was a bit too much for the regular CJ shod by NDMS but just plunged in after all the others slipped, grunted and passed through the slush, which only got worse with so many before us had passed easily, hence making the mud pit really bad, especially for my jeep. Well a true Jeeper will not use the words spoilt. For a Jeeper the trail gets better and more challenging when it becomes worse. So it makes sense to go last than to go first. Not easy by any standards but who wanted ease here?? Needless to say, i got beached on the high pile of slush. Although i followed the tracks made (there being no other way) by earlier Jeeps, the mud pile was too high and now even dry as the last Jeeps before us would have crossed more than two hours ago at the earliest. I was easily towed out by the MM. using a tow strap. This was my first time i got stuck at any obstacle and i enjoyed the learning experience. My confidence had grown.    After that it was just follow the others. A part i really enjoyed as we were quickly going from one obstacle to the other with no lines, no waiting for any car to make numerous attempts and ample of valuable advice. I learnt in this short period, more than ive learnt in all my otrs. I was in the company of persons who had been there done that. What was a first for me, was probably their nth time of tackling such obstacles. My self confidence had never been so high. Thank you Shahnawaz, Jaggu, Robinson, Vijay, Venky and all others who i have not thanked or mentioned. I felt i was upgraded. I was in the crew with all stalwarts and they would be guiding me. What a learning experience this would be and was. Thanks guys you were great. We moved to a double decline. A sharp left turn leading to a decline and a patch of land. Another drop, a short one with just enough place to park your vehicle and another mammoth drop, steep , very steep almost 45 degrees or worse. It was so steep that walking down the slope was impossible. I call this the double death drop. Of course there was an easier way around down, not so easy but easier. I got down form my vehicle which was last and stood at the start of the second drop to observe the techniques each of the preceding three Jeep drivers adopted to get down the scary slope. I got off the CJ and stopped at the start of the second drop to observe Khan who was the first to attempt  This was the place to go to. A river bed from where we take a sharp left turn to go ahead further  Khan went first and made it look really easy Then it was Robinson in his Invader who crawled down the slope  Venky slid down his MM easily and when nose down i could hear the buttons on his tyres pop against his fender. Man these M&Ms have some articulation. Well. it was my turn already.. hey i wanted some more vehicles to pass before i went but there were none. Jiggy presumed i would take the other way but when i said no way, i go down here, he jumped off the CJ and offered to take the pics and videos from below. Cant blame you Jiggy for a first timer i can understand what you were going through. I was going through the same being a few OTRs old.Robin climbed up to me and sat next to me. That did wonders for my self confidence. He guided me expertly down the slope with Jaggu, Vijjy and Shah taking turns at telling me what and how to do , when. The result is for you all to see. CJ takes the plunge with me at the wheel and Robin beside me. Thanks Robin!!    Moving from there, we drove upwards towards a ditch ridden path. What path, no path!! Watching Spidy and the Invader make it through and the MM struggle but eventually make it (of course what else did you expect) .....     Smile Venky!!  I gave it a shot ....more tomorrow!! |
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7th July 2010, 00:38
| #115 |
| BHPian  Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Pune
Posts: 535
Thanked: 237 Times
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7th July 2010, 08:21
| #116 |
| Senior - BHPian  | |
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7th July 2010, 10:53
| #117 |
| BHPian  Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Bangalore
Posts: 188
Thanked: 87 Times
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7th July 2010, 14:18
| #118 | ||||
| Senior - BHPian | Quote:
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Robby, it was raining so heavily that most cameras were in shelter. Mine was in the glove box of my Jeep, which was by then in deep water So lets continue. I dont have many pics for this part so ill borrow some whihc others have posted to get the episode interesting From there on we moved onto a rather straight-ish stretch which was slush ridden. It was an expanse of slush but one had to adeptly drive through to avoid getting caught. There were stretches of deep mud to avoid. I was the last here to go through too. I still remember Jaggu,s instructions "@nd low, tap the throttle, dont over-rev and dont step onthe gas else you will loose traction and we will have to winch you out again". The time i got stuck in slush at the beginning flashed before my eyes and even though it was not my fault there, if i had got stuck here,it would be only driver error. I drove as per the instructions to clear the slush field easily and managed to avoid the deep mud pits too. Wow i was learning and was doing good!!  A few little obstacles more and we were on a slight climb. Then onto a rocky and slippery river bed  And another climb . As soon as i got on the top i realised that we had joined the rest of the pack. Alfakilo phase one conquered!! Wow!! We were greeted by Kunal there who asked how it went. I realised we had attempted and finished the first part of the trail in just about half the time taken by others. Thats because our pack consisted of three experts and me, just four Jeeps but with a lot of experience behind the first three. What an experience it had been. I stuck to our pack as we were in line heading for some obstacle. The weather was improving. All through this time the sun was glaring at us and we used tons of sun block. As i moved in the front i saw the obstacle which excited the wits out of me. A huge drop, steep and loooong. There were many schools of thought on how to handle it. I was positive. 1st low as taught and experienced earlier. Suddenly there was thunder and it rained as if the cloud had burst above us. In this rain people were attempting to get down and the already slippery path down was disappearing and getting slushy. It was as if all the rain was falling down on this day. As i stood studying the trail and it was pouring so heavily that at a point we were waiting for a signal from below whether we should take this way down or just abort. There being no other way to get there. Thankfully the thums up was given from the other side, as the rains Gods went crazy. I asked Kunal, "Ist Low here too?" he judged the hesitance in my voice and said "Yes Gogi, know what, ill come with you" That was it. I was ready to get it down. A few words with my pack and all confirmed that the only way down was in 1st low in my CJ. While Kunal cleared the way for me, i realized he was pushing me ahead f the line. Ok i was excited, just then Vijjy, jumped in and said, "Come on Gogi lets hit the slope in 1st low" I was ready with my foot to tap on the brake in case it slid , which i was expecting. This was by far the slipperiest decline i had done. With increasing heart beats i went down and to my surprise, the tyres held on like velcro and the CJ crawled down like a crab. Whe i reached below i felt a great sense of achievement. Thanks for the confidence Kunal and Vijjy and Jaggu!! I have always known myself to go headon into something that i fear. It started with Bungee jumping, skydiving, etc and now diving down in this otr...... well i have started enjoying this thrill and how, though you cant really compare this to the above mentioned extreme sports but its got a thrill factor of its own. In the above two there is no skill involved. Gravity does almost everything. Here too, gravity does its own thing and you do your own, thats what makes this whole thing more exciting and involving. Now we had serious water to encounter. a small crossing with a dip on one side and a rock on the other. Avoid the rock and as soon as the dip was felt, accelerate to reach the slush from where one was supposed to gun the vehicle through deep slush to reach the dryer part to cross the deeper side of the river. a word of advice from Vijy and Jaggu and Zip Zap Zoom, i was through. The rain had got heavier and the deep crossing lay ahead of me. What happened is explained in my previous post which i quote below. Quote:
As i got stuck many gathered around me to sort out what. could be done   The water was flowing with such force that these people hopped on to the Jeep to prevent from getting swept away    Almost out winched from one end and pulled from another   Aaall Ijj Well  Line up behind me waiting my Jeeps recovery from the flash floods  Quote:
After my rescue operation, the water was still flowing fast as the rain was pouring down heavily. Kunal and others took the decision that trying to cross from where i was stuck was going to be an impossible task so an alternative route had to be established as it was impossible to cross the stream and equally impossible to climb up from where we had come down. Patrick, Arka, Vinay and others walked down a bush in front of us where they found that it was possible to get the vehicles through. One or two jeeps later a path was established and the Jeeps could then cross, including mine. Someone offered to drive my Jeep through thinking i could be shaken by the previous incident but i had to do it myself and i did. The pic shows the original path in white with red spots where we had to manoeuver and the path taken later in red with white spots through the bushes to reach the same place, mostly on firmer ground. The circled spot on the top right is where we were eventually gathered to move back to the farm.  From there on it was a drive along the water bed, sometimes with all fours in and sometimes with two in and two on the firm ground. We had to hurry as the light was failing but the rain was still pouring down heavily. There was another crossing where a gypsy was stuck. I faintly remembered this part as where we had done the recce with Kunal. I remembered it as a very rocky terrain which was a dry, deep river bed so I decided to walk through to feel the force of the water and feel if there were any stones or boulders which could harm the underbody or beach the Jeep.  While Kunal me and a few others guided other Jeeps along this path it had become particularly dark and i decided to go next. The path was a dip in the river bed keeping away from the marked area housing deep ditches and huge boulders, an almost diagonal incline onto a sharp ascent where one was to gun the vehicle to get grip out of the water and ten a serpentine climb all the way to the top where all the other Jeeps were waiting. The white gypsy managed to break free with some help and crossed the riverbed only to get its bumper entangled in the rocks. It was dark by now and others had to cross the river bed. Work on to free the gypsy was going on in full force. Finally the Gypsy went free and i crossed in. After reaching the top, i borrowed Vinay's led torch and accompanied James to the bottom on foot to mark the trail for people crossing after us. When all the other Jeeps were out, we made our way home, wet, dirty and very very happy!! Thanks a ton Kunal for such a wonderful time and trail. I would be very happy to accompany you for any future recces/otrs in the region or out of the region too. One of the most challenging terrain i have come across. Will post some general bunch of action pics later. | ||||
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7th July 2010, 14:32
| #119 |
| BHPian  Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Mumbai
Posts: 773
Thanked: 339 Times
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7th July 2010, 15:06
| #120 |
| Senior - BHPian  Join Date: May 2009 Location: Chennai
Posts: 1,014
Thanked: 1,809 Times
| Gogi is my most favorite person in the 4x4 circuit. Unmatched enthusiasm, never-say-die and chalta hai all rolled into one. Gogi Paaji - it is because of you that I can see bits fall of my Gypsy and not be bothered about it  |
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