ITD 'roadeo' team competes at national event in Colorado

Mike Rearden might have felt at home if he were jockeying a four-wheeler through a mud bog. But in Colorado, the four-wheeler was a front-end loader and the mud bog was part of the national finals “roadeo” for heavy equipment operators.

The annual event drew operators from throughout the country to Estes Park, Colo.

Rearden, a maintenance foreman from District 1, took second place among 42 contestants in the front-end loader event. Teammate Mark Porter, D-5 foreman, ITD’s other national competitor, took 17th in the event.

They teamed up to capture 17th out of 37 teams entered in single-axle trucks and were 21st in tandem axle trucks out of 35 competitors. In the motorgrader event, Rearden was 15th and Porter 23rd.

“The weather was less than desirable, but the guys did great,” said Rex Hufford who organizes the roadeo competition for ITD every summer. He said the course was inundated by heavy rain the day of the competition.

Published 10-5-2012