The 'lawnmower' man gets a ride out of town
Toolbox
By David Delcore Times Argus Staff - Published: March 19, 2007
MONTPELIER – Louis Ransom and his now-infamous riding lawnmower traveled more than 120 miles over the weekend, though purists will surely say the latest leg in what he hopes will be a 30,000-mile cross-country trek shouldn't count toward the world record he's planning to shatter over the next several months.
That's because Ransom, a charitable ex-con who prefers the handle "Travlndude," didn't ride the juiced up "Dixie Chopper" that was pulled over by Montpelier police for an obscure moving violation on Friday. Instead, Ransom and his riding mower made the trip from Montpelier to Concord, N.H., aboard a tow truck driven by Tommy Vivian.
So says Vivian's boss, Robert Clayton, who read about Ransom's bizarre plight in Saturday morning's edition of The Times Argus and decided to do something about it.
"I wanted to get him back on his mission," Clayton said, referring to Ransom's plans for a record-setting ride that will raise money for two charities – the Children's Miracle Network and the Shriner's Hospitals For Children.
After checking out Ransom's Web site, www.the1bigride.com, Clayton, who agreed to store Ransom's lawnmower at his service station overnight on Friday, decided to tie up a tow truck and driver in the wake of a severe storm to get Ransom and his mower back on the road.
"I'm all about the causes he's doing it for," Clayton said Sunday. "How could you not be?"
Clayton said he counts himself among those who believe Officer James Pontbriand was needlessly nit-picking when he told Ransom he couldn't drive his unregistered lawnmower on Vermont's highways – abruptly ending his tour through the Green Mountain State.
"I think it's ridiculous that they didn't let him (Ransom) continue his ride," Clayton said of a trek that reportedly began a week ago today in Portland, Maine.
However, Clayton conceded "technically," Pontbriand had the law on his side.
"You can't register a lawnmower in Vermont," he said, noting the same isn't true of a dirt bike, provided it is equipped with both front and rear lights.
Clayton said he briefly toyed with the idea of trying to modify Ransom's lawnmower so that it could be registered, but opted instead to offer the 48-year-old Michigan man a ride to neighboring New Hampshire. Once there, Clayton said Vivian hooked Ransom up with the owner of a local camper dealership who agreed to let him spend the night in one of his campers.
"Tommy (Vivian) made sure he had a place to stay," Clayton said.
After his trip was temporarily derailed in Montpelier on Friday, Ransom briefly flirted with the idea of sleeping with his lawnmower in the parking lot behind the State Street building that houses the offices of the state Department of Motor Vehicles. With the significant storm on the way and state security unwilling to let him leave the lawnmower in the parking lot, Montpelier police called Clayton, who agreed to store the lawnmower over night. They also gave Ransom a lift to the Good Samaritan Haven in Barre where he was one of nearly 20 people who stayed at the local homeless shelter Friday night.
A shelter volunteer said Ransom left first thing Saturday morning and, according to Clayton, was on the road with Vivian by 1:30 p.m.
Clayton said he originally planned to bring Ransom and his lawnmower to New Hampshire first thing Monday morning, but things were slower than expected in the wake of a St. Patrick's Day storm so he sent Vivian on Saturday.
"It was the least we could do," he said pegging the price of the trip at $250. "I just thought I was doing my part."
Ransom is something of a mystery man. On his Web site and in person he acknowledges past mistakes and makes no attempt to hide the fact that he has spent some time in jail.
"I have been to prison several times, and am not very proud of a lot of my past," he writes. "But I also believe a man can change … that he can make up for some of his past."
However, Ransom doesn't discuss his criminal record in any detail, and says the only record he's focused on is the one he hopes to break.
"My plans are to ride 30,000 miles in one year which is figured at 100 miles per day for 300 days leaving 65 days for the unexpected to happen," he wrote long before his pit stop in Montpelier last week.
If Ransom comes anywhere close to succeeding, he'll nearly double the current record of 14,594.5 miles in 260 days – an average of roughly 57 miles per day.
According to Ransom, breaking the record will be nice, but he's looking forward to promoting two "worthy charities," meeting "good people," and sight-seeing at 15 mph – the maximum speed of the "Dixie Chopper."
The lawnmower is a loaner from the manufacturer, which is one of his "corporate sponsors."
Ransom, who was in the news in both Maine and Vermont last week, made headlines in Fort Wayne, Ind., last month when he was shot in the face while delivering pizza for one of his other corporate sponsors: Vito's Pizza.
Ransom, who was reportedly living in Fort Wayne at the time, had just finished delivering a pizza when he was robbed at gunpoint by two men, one of whom allegedly shot him on Feb. 18. Ransom was not seriously injured and was reportedly able to drive to the Fort Wayne Police Department to report the shooting before being taken to the hospital for treatment.
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