A Message From Hobart R. Brown & Baron Rick Fergison

Hobart & Baron said...

FOR THE GLORY !!!!Greatings from Hobart And Baron Rick! We will be thinking of you here down under here in Austraula. Hobart is doing GREAT!! The KSR in Freemantel will have over 80,000 people. We loved your blogs. Hope to have one set up for us here soon. Best of luck to all!!! Hobart R. Brown & Baron Rick Fergison (comment Sep 13 2005)

The insanity began 36 years ago in California, where Hobart Brown, a sculptor from Ferndale, gave his son's broken tricycle a makeover that transformed it into a 6-foot-tall work of art that he decided to ride. The ride became a race in which winning is losing, cheating is encouraged, crazy is sane, average is prized and a vehicle breakdown will earn you bragging rights.

The race is now an annual event not only in Baltimore but also in Poland, Australia and throughout the United States.

Although the race is more light-hearted than competitive with its silly awards that range from "best breakdown" to "best bribe," Brown, 71, takes seriously the top prize, the "mediocre award" - given to the team whose vehicle finishes in the dead center."People think that being mediocre is not good and that being the best is better. But the best is too extreme. After all, average human beings keep the world running," he said. "Think about it: Isn't the best part of the watermelon its center?" (more)

By Ann McArthur
The Baltimore Sun
Originally published April 28, 2005