{"id":10473,"date":"2021-05-07T09:00:52","date_gmt":"2021-05-07T14:00:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bestofswla.com\/?p=10473"},"modified":"2021-05-07T09:01:35","modified_gmt":"2021-05-07T14:01:35","slug":"stompin-a-mudhole","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bestofswla.com\/2021\/05\/07\/stompin-a-mudhole\/","title":{"rendered":"STOMPIN\u2019 A MUDHOLE"},"content":{"rendered":"

Megan Rion of Moss Bluff is a Mud Buggy Racing Phenom<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

By Karla Wall<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Seal Photography<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Local photographer and Moss Bluff resident Megan Rion is making a name for herself in a competitive arena that doesn\u2019t see a lot of women \u2014 mud (AKA swamp) buggy racing.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

On many weekends, Rion can be found guiding her highly modified four-wheel vehicle, which she named Stripper Glitter, through a punishing obstacle course of mudholes, deep puddles, sharp turns with seemingly impossible angles, log jams, boulders and hills \u2014 all connected by a pathway of deep, loose mud.<\/p>\n

Adrenaline Rush<\/strong><\/p>\n

It takes a tremendous amount of focus to complete a course, but that\u2019s what Rion says she enjoys about it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you\u2019re in the driver\u2019s seat, and you\u2019re looking down into that \u2018bounty hole,\u2019 that mudhole you can\u2019t see the bottom of, everything else goes out the window,\u201d she says.\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cYou\u2019re focused just on that. It\u2019s all about getting your buggy to the finish line in one piece and beating everyone else\u2019s time.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Seal Photography<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

It\u2019s that focus and adrenaline rush that first drew Rion to the sport several years ago, when she began attending events as a spectator.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had friends who were involved,\u201d she explains.<\/p>\n

While sitting on the sidelines along the course and cheering the vehicles on was a lot of fun, and though she\u2019d noticed there were no women drivers in the races she\u2019d attended, she was eager to give it a try when a friend urged her to participate.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

And, despite a busy and successful career as a photographer and owner of Imagine That Photography, she\u2019s never looked back. It\u2019s become a way of life for her, her children and her fianc\u00e9, Derek Peloquin.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe just submerged ourselves into this and we found out how much we love this hobby and this lifestyle,\u201d Rion says.<\/p>\n

The Swamp Buggies<\/strong><\/p>\n

Rion has owned two \u201cswamp buggies\u201d in her short career. The first, built on the frame of a Polaris RZR 800, was followed by an upgrade to a Polaris RZR XP 1000.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

XXX Motorsports & Outdoors<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

As you might imagine, it takes a special vehicle to navigate a mud racing course. These buggies aren\u2019t mass produced, Rion says, but built almost from the ground up. Buggies are built using regular ATV or UTV frames. Everything is replaced and rebuilt to withstand the punishment doled out by the race courses.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe strip the vehicles down to the frame,\u201d Rion explains. \u201cWe take everything stock out and replace it with much sturdier parts. We pretty much replace everything but the motor and frame.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It takes about seven weeks for a complete rebuild, says Rion, \u201cBut it never really stops.\u201d<\/p>\n

After each race, even one in which all goes well and the course is successfully completed, the vehicles need major repair and restoration, says Rion.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou upgrade parts, repair the weak links and repair damage,\u201d she explains.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>But it doesn\u2019t always go well. In January, Rion competed in a race at the end of which most of the vehicles \u2014 including hers \u2014 had to be picked up by an excavator and lifted off the course.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Rion recalls one race in particular. She\u2019d told her fianc\u00e9 that she\u2019d be careful, as she always does. But, as always, that promise was forgotten as soon as the green light appeared to start the run.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hit the first jump and my rear tires came off the ground,\u201d Rion recalls. \u201cI went up a concrete boulder and turned to go toward a log incline. I looked up at my fianc\u00e9 and he said \u2018get it.\u2019 Well, I got it. I didn\u2019t make it the first time. When I came down, one of the logs hit my tire. It broke everything \u2014 from the axle to the rim.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s a situation in which a complete overhaul is needed. In fact, when she was interviewed for this story, Rion was preparing for a race in Arkansas, and said her buggy was currently \u201cin pieces waiting to be put back together.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s where Peloquin, a professional welder, comes in. He handles all of the heavy-duty rebuilding, says Rion, providing she purchases the parts. \u201cI do the light stuff \u2014 loosening bolts, taking off tires, stuff like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Rion is, after all, a girl, and as a girl wants her buggy to be, well, girly. Her current ride is pink, as was her first buggy. It\u2019s decorated with a big diamond shape on the front grill to indicate her racing team, Diamond Dust.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A Family Affair (Kids Ride, Too)<\/strong><\/p>\n

It didn\u2019t take long for Rion\u2019s two children, both age 7, to be bitten by the swamp buggy bug. Both love driving their Ace 325 and Grizzly 450 ATVs \u2014 and like their mom, they aren\u2019t content to ride around in the back yard.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Seal Photography<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cThey absolutely love racing,\u201d she says. \u201cThey love riding and hitting every mudhole they see. They get super jealous when we get to race and they can\u2019t,\u201d Rion says.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

So Rion decided to do something to allow them to race more. She\u2019s organized a series of races for kids, the Teach \u2018Em Young Bounty Hole Series.\u00a0 <\/span>Paired with the Battle of the Builds powered by Highlifter (a race for the adults), the course features kid-friendly holes, inclines and turns. The first race in the series was held in Jackson, Miss., in February. The next races will be held May 14-16 in Leakesville, Mo.<\/p>\n

\u201cKids just love the excitement, and they get such a sense of accomplishment in finishing a course,\u201d Rion says. \u201cYou can just see it on their faces \u2014 they\u2019re super stoked.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rion and her family travel to races in a motor home, she says, and make a family mini-vacation of it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to get others to help pull our buggies because all four won\u2019t fit on one trailer behind the motor home,\u201d she says. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of planning that goes into this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Imagine That<\/strong><\/p>\n

All of this activity is, of course,\u00a0 <\/span>in addition to Rion\u2019s photography career. Rion\u2019s been taking photos since she bought her first camera in 2005. In 2008, she began photographing high school seniors, newborns and families. Her Imagine That studio specializes in newborn, maternity, children and boudoir photography. While she operated the studio from home during the pandemic lockdown, plans are for a new studio building on her property in Moss Bluff.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Megan Rion of Moss Bluff is a Mud Buggy Racing Phenom By Karla Wall   Local photographer and Moss Bluff resident Megan Rion is making a name for herself in a competitive arena that doesn\u2019t see a lot of women \u2014 mud (AKA swamp) buggy racing.\u00a0 On many weekends, Rion can be found guiding her [&hellip<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":10474,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[4,51,2448,2405,2451,2449,2450,2452],"yoast_head":"\nSTOMPIN\u2019 A MUDHOLE - BestOfSwla<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/bestofswla.com\/2021\/05\/07\/stompin-a-mudhole\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"STOMPIN\u2019 A MUDHOLE - 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