Quote:
Originally Posted by pdev29 Gogi you are making it real for people who couldnt make it, keep it coming.
you and Soumya are lucky guys both got a good deal on yourm Jeeps. Soumya got a deal of buy and start using it.
Gurkha performed really well, diff locks are something to die for.
Offroad scene in India has taken a new path now, Thanks to all the participants.
keep posting.
send your feedback at info@extremeoffroaders.in |
Thanks Devang. I can relive every moment of this otr. Yes Soumya has a wonderful CJ and he has become a seasoned off roader after this one OTR.
The conclusion
After the slush fest we drove through a very steep and very curvaceous incline. Add to that the danger of one side being a sheer drop of God knows how many feet and the other side a hill like structure. Clearing that there was a series of sharp descents, quite short ones but steep and slippery nonetheless. The factor that made this a tad more difficult was that it was night time and there was no light to guide us except the moonlight. Also the availability of various paths made the choice difficult, as to which one was the right one. Here we missed the spotters and someone to guide us along the right way. I think this is one area which could be looked into. Network was almost not available in most of these areas so if someone was left behind, it could be disaster.
The path was narrow and tricky, making it impossible for any vehicle to turn back. We were in a convoy of vehicles when we cleared the obstacle (the "S" shaped sharp curved steep incline) we suddenly realized that there was no one following us. Did we take the wrong path? what could have happened? There was no way we could turn back so we stopped there in the middle of no where and a few of us left to retrieve our steps to where we could see someone. After walking for awhile we heard some sounds of a vehicle revving and some people shouting. We realised that a vehicle was stuck, thus blocking the entire path. The path was so narrow that it was difficult for anyone to stop on the sides to guide, especially since it was pitch dark.
As we neared towards the sounds few traces of light tore through the dense foliage and we saw a recovery vehicle stuck. Amol, Vinay (aka CJ3B) Me, Jiggy and a few others stood there guiding the drivers. our first task was to get this vehicle out. Its rear wheels were in the ditch and had he not stopped, it makes me shudder where he could have slid. We winched him to a tree and with a few helping hands, manually lifted the rear from the ditch and the Jeep finally made it. We then successfully got each vehicle out. I think there were in excess of 20 vehicles and the line now extended almost to this place from where we had stopped.
We arranged for one of us who knew the road out and made him the lead driver, all of us following him. A good 45 minutes later we hit the tarmac, Vinay was driving my CJ with ME and Jiggy besides him, when i realized that my Jeep was overheating. So we stopped and filled water in the radiator. Courtesy Arka who had a five litre Mineral water bottle in his Jeep. The best part of an event like this is the camaraderie. ONe person stops and the whole lot stops to see what happened. Way to go.
At Lion's point amidst tea and corn pakoras we took stock of our vehicles. USB's vehicle had some problem which could not be fixed without a welder, that could be done only in the morning. It was around 10:30pm and we were tired, hungry, thirsty. My Jeep had a leak in the Radiator. There were others, a MM540 and a Gypsy whose 4X4 was not being engaged and Paras's Gypsy with a carburetor and shock absorber problem. Alok's Gypsy had a broken gear mount and could be worse. A Bolero with a broken exhaust and many more. We had dinner at Ramakrishna's at Lonavala and decided it was not wise to move to Karjat that night with so many brakedowns. Wise decision.
For me this was a fantastic event. Well organized, well planed and well though of. Kudos to Devang, Tejas Allan and Mohan (who unfortunately could not come because his Gurkha had a broken power steering) and all of you involved with the planning and execution of EXAMM. Take a bow guys, for your first organized OTR was a thundering success. Thanks to the M&M recovery team, Behrambhai and Vinod Nookla. Thanks to UBS, Sharat, Arka, Patrick,Vinay Small niggles exist everywhere so take feedback as you are rightfully doing and you can only get better. I loved it!! Thanks Devang, Tejas, Allen and Mohan for a wonderful time and kudos to your hard work put in selecting the tracks and the recce.
I think i passed my EXAMM. Did you??!!