I spent a great deal of time last summer on a Segway leading groups of excited people through Chicago’s Grant Park. Almost everybody on my tours had a great time with very few falls. The people that were the most reluctant to get on the Segway for the first time were often the hardest people to get off the Segway at the end of a tour. Many different kinds of people came on the tours. Either Segways attract nice people or being on the Segway brings out the joy in most people. Chicagoans, Midwesterners, Californians, Canadians, Mexicans, Europeans, Indians, Asians, Australians, physicists, surgeons, paramedics, housewives, engineers, college and high school students, and retirees all made my summer alot of fun. A Segway ride is different than being on a bike or scooter because it gives you a unique kind of freedom as it takes you through sunlight and shade, storms and dusk.
I thought the tour season ended in Nov. with the first snow but a few days ago I took a 4 person tour group out on Segways on a cold cold day with lots of clean white snow in the park. We had to stop for hot coffee and chocolate to warm up and I learned never turn off a Segway when it’s -1 below zero (sometimes they don’t power on again) but being on the Segway that day was a little like being in summer again. In six weeks or so the Segway season begins again.
