HUB
While lazing around the Sandy Beach Motel last week I received an intriguing phone call inviting me to a Hummer off-road event. I thought nothing more of it until I received the Fedex package containing an official invite on expensive stationary this gave me the feeling it could well be worth turning up.
This morning I arrived at the Courtyard Marriot to be greeted by a large number of Hummers and a very well organized event:
It was also really nice to get some goodies on arriving:
In fact the best gift was a Hummer tire cover - something that I had been looking for since I purchased the car.
HUB or Hummer Base is the name of the Hummers owners club with "chapters" across the Middle East. This gathering was the inaugural meeting of the Dubai Chapter. The attendance was good with in total 25 Hummers participating in the drive - 6 H2s and 19 H3s. The demographic of drivers was very wide - from local Emaritis to European Families. It was nice to get to meet everyone and discuss Hummers and off-road driving.
After a short presentation on HUB, the route and safety we set off for the journey to a rocky trail. Sadly with a 25 vehicle convoy and a lot of industrial traffic we got separated in no time and spent 20 minutes waiting to reform.
After about an hour we arrived at the rock trail which started just south of Al Dhaid and finished just shy of Hatta Fort. The drive was rated a a novice trail and required no deflation or use of Hi or Lo 4WD lock.
Hummers forming up for the start of the 40km rock trail:
During the break for lunch the convoy leader took his H3 on some slightly more extreme terrain for some photos. I doubt I will be doing this with my car anytime soon...at least not on purpose:
As we moved out from lunch - one of the H2s took a poor line over a rocky patch and needed to be dragged out:
The drive was without any real incident but fun nonetheless. The major difficulty was the limited visibility created by leading cars kicking up large amounts of fine sand. It was a fun day and it was great to see a lot of Hummers all in one place together. I will certainly attempt to make future HUB events.
While the H2 is a large car - we had a ride along which made them seem more a normal size. I have no clue what this is - other than it is was huge! Answers on a postcard please...
3 comments:
It is a fact - sad but true - that only girly-men think that Hummers, H2 or H3, are worthy of being called off-road SUV's. This misguided view is frequently held by the English I'm afraid - the people, after all, who gave us the Morris Minor, the Austin 1800, the Leyland P76 and a vehicle called the Lloyd which even I'm too embarrassed to try to describe.
No, real men, drive vehicles made by International - one of which is featured in the photo of your mystery vehicle. It looks to me like it is the MXT - described on their website as ideal for those who prefer not to make a subtle entrance. For more on this - and other even better International pick-ups and trucks - you may want to look here:
http://www.internationaldelivers.com/site_layout/XTFamily/index.asp
But make sure you're sitting down, these are some serious rides. Of course, in Australia, these things are a dime a dozen - mostly driven by sheilas I might say. Though, of course, they generally take the convertible option!
Glad you enjoyed your off-roading trip, enjoy your blog.
Hey Fibber,
Thanks for the comments :D
The International is certainly a company producing some serious vehicles!
Hi - I am looking to jon the hummer clud of Dubai. Also - trying to find someone who can help me replace the Navigation DVD for the 2006 H2 as mine has grown legs... any sugestions are welcomed.
Nice blog.
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