My RROCK Trip

This past weekend I took a trip with my boss and his teammate to a rock crawling competition in Rockport Illinois. RROCK is a series of competitions at Rockport Offroad Park (R.O.R.P.) where competitors from three different classes (Stock-Modified, Legends, & Super-Modified) compete on courses designed to stretch each class to it’s limits. We started early Friday morning heading to our drivers house. We met Bill at his home in Owasso, Oklahoma and loaded up the trailer.

Our Chariot

The Stock-Modified comp rig in it’s trailer.

We took off Northeast toward Missouri. We made a stop in Billings, Missouri to meet a fellow rock crawler at his shop, John’s 4×4 & More. John hooked Bill up with some replacement U-joints for his jeep. These are not your standard U-joints either. Where you and I would pay max of about $20.00 for a U-joint, Bill pays close to $300.00 for his!!!!! These are super tough, nearly unbreakable and very well worth it when you’re trying to make sure you don’t spend your time fixing your vehicle while your time ticks away.

MISSOURI BEER!

After our stop we were back on our way to Rockport. Rockport is just a short ways over the border and is a pretty rural area. We arrived at R.O.R.P. around 7PM and signed in. We waited for some more competitors to show up, but most live locally and just drive in on the day of the competition. We hung out with John from John’s 4×4 & More and his employees who were competing in the same class as us. I found myself at 2AM, carrying on with a group of guys who are just too much fun. They are so laid back, into the same sport as I am, and I slowly looked upward. The sky was amazing! I was in the middle of nowhere, one light within 200 yards of me, and very few lights within a square mile. It was the most stars I had seen since driving through Wyoming with my family long ago. There was no light pollution, not a cloud in the sky, and everything was lit up by the stars and the moon.

I laid back in my chair, beer in hand, and let the sounds of the conversation fade to a dull roar in my head. It was almost euphoric. I had found where I was happy. I hadn’t felt so good and so at peace in over two years. I loved every minute of it.

The next day we awoke and got ready for tech inspections. All competitors vehicles are inspected to insure they meet the safety requirements for the competition, and that the vehicle modifications are legal for their class. After that it was GO TIME!

Some of the “Super Modified” class competitors (yellow buggy is my all-time favorite)

Bill Bailey and Jason “Tolly” Tollison during a short walk through of the courses prior to the competition.

Left: Driver (Billy Bailey) and Right: Spotter (Tolly) getting ready to start the first course “The Playground”

Bill manuevering through the course with the skillful guide of Tolly

Tolly communicates with bill through wireless headsets and Bill does EXACTLY what Tolly tells him

Bill climbing the entrance to another course “Carnage”

A Super-Modified buggy descending “The Slab”

Whoops, a Flop!

Ken Blume drives this buggy in Super-Modified class, but let his son Brandon drive it the second day as an exhibition with the Legends Class.

Ken Spotting for Brandon

All in all it was a great trip. I got away from Tulsa and enjoyed some good rock crawling. Bill and Tolly came in second in their class. The two guys from John’s 4×4 & More took 1st and 3rd. Ken Blume came in first in the Super-Modified class, and his son placed 3rd as an exhibition in the Legends class. Some might think rock crawling is a very boring spectator sport, and it can be for those who don’t know the complexities of the driving. I hope you enjoyed the pictures and have a slightly better idea of what I love to do.