Projo Offbeat Blog

The lawn mower man could soon roll into Rhode Island on the "world's fastest lawn mower," part of his effort to raise money for charity and break a record for riding across the country.

The question is: Will the police in the Ocean State treat the Michigan man more charitably than the police in the Green Mountain State did?

Ransom in Vermont / AP Photo

Louis Ransom, 48, of Fife Lake, Mich., is attempting a 30,000-mile ride to raise money for the Children's Miracle Network and Shriner's Hospital for Children. He's riding a "Dixie Chopper," billed by its maker as the "world's fastest lawn mower." Still, that's like being the skinniest guy at the fat farm, since the "Dixie Chopper" maxes out at 15 mph.

Ransom has just started, and it's already been a rough ride for the guy who likes to call himself Travelndude. Last week, the police in Montpelier, Vt., proved tougher than the noon sun in August when a police officer told him he couldn't ride his unregistered vehicle on Vermont roads.

Ransom spent Friday night in a homeless shelter. A sympathetic service station owner later gave him and his lawn mower a ride to New Hampshire so he could continue his journey.

Ransom's Web site shows that he plans to continue into Massachusetts and Rhode Island, at 100 miles a day, after (if?) he gets through New Hampshire.

We put in a call to the Rhode Island State Police to see if Ransom will be welcome on these roads, but we haven't heard back. Hopefully, the police were too busy to call us back because they were fighting real crime and not chasing down some guy on a lawn mower.

Comments

joyce said:

Since lawn mowers are among the worst sources of pollution, this sounds like a particularly bad idea.

Link | March 19, 2007 11:58 PM
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