When you’re thinking of touring a city on two wheels, you probably expect the wheels to be one in front of the other like those on a bicycle or maybe a motorcycle if you’re daring. A pair of wheels strapped next to each other on a short board with a steering column is probably not your first thought when it comes to traversing a city’s streets, but you may want to reconsider. The Segway has been called “a revolution in transportation,” “the future of urban commuting,” and “the goofiest thing I’ve ever seen.” And all of these are true, and it’s a lot of fun to boot.
While vacationing in Austin, Karen and I decided to skip the usual hop-on-hop-off tour and the duck boat tour and we opted to try a Segway tour instead. Having lived in DC, I was more than familiar with the sight of the Segway tours around the national mall, with a line of tourists following a tour guide like ducklings behind their mother. Trying Segways out in Austin would not only give us the opportunity to see the city and learn a little about the history of Austin, but we’d also get to ride a Segway without running the risk of being seen by friends.
We arrived at the office of Nation Tours in Austin shortly before the 2:00P start time for our tour. After signing the waivers, we met our tour guide, Greg, who told us that we were the only two people signed up for the tour. Having a private tour for the cost of a regular tour is a nice advantage of visiting a city during the off-season and doing a tour during the week instead of a weekend. Greg ran through a well-rehearsed spiel of instructions on how to ride a Segway, including jokes that had been reused so many times that you could feel his pain at having to repeat them yet again. The instructions for riding a Segway are easy enough to understand: The Segway moves based on balance. If you stand up straight, the Segway stays in one spot. If you lean forward and shift your center of gravity, the Segway moves forward. If you lean back with your shoulders and hips and pull your center of gravity back, the Segway stops and will even reverse for a short distance. While you’re holding the handles of the Segway, your elbows will be roughly at your sides. Keep your elbows in place and move your forearms and hands from one side to the other, like the dance scene from Pulp Fiction. That’s all it takes to turn. If you want to get off the Segway, you pull up to something that will prevent it from rolling forward, like a curb or wall, and you step off the back. That’s it. Now you know how to drive, stop, turn, and dismount a Segway. Click here for your Segway driver’s license.
After the brief instruction period, he had us each climb onto our Segway (while he held the steering column) and we practiced moving forwards, stopping, and making small turns along the sidewalk, which was conveniently bracketed on one side by a building and on the other side by a fence to help prevent stray Segway riders from flying off in random directions. Once we had each proven that we were unlikely to speed off into traffic, we rode to a nearby plaza that offered the opportunity to ride at a faster speed and to make full turns properly. 10 minutes earlier, I’d found myself within arm’s reach of a Segway for the first time in my life. Now, I was cruising down the city sidewalks like a pro. Well, maybe not a pro, but at least I didn’t run into anyone (although I did almost rear-end Karen’s Segway a few times, but she doesn’t know that). The downside to there being only two people on the tour meant that I was either the best rider in the group (I wasn’t) or I was the worst rider in the group (yep, that was me).
The tour itself of Austin was very enjoyable, with Greg showing us the highlights of the Capital building, which is designed to look like the Capital building in DC (although the Austin building was deliberately made a few feet taller), the warehouse district, the river/ lake that forms the southern border of Austin’s downtown neighborhood, and other highlights. The tour lasted for about 90 minutes, including taking a short break on one of the bridges to stretch our legs and chat a bit. I found it surprising that my feet were getting a little sore from simply standing on the Segway for an hour, so the break was appreciated, and since it’s part of the tour, I’m clearly not the only one feels that way. Having a private tour meant that we could ask Greg more questions and he pointed us towards some lesser-known spots that weren’t found in any of our research, including a great speakeasy that was hidden in the middle of 6th Street (we’d actually passed the door twice the night before without realizing it).
A little too soon, the tour was over, with Greg leading us back to the Nations Tours office. We dismounted and hit Greg with a few last-minute questions (primarily about how to get into the speakeasy), thanked him, and left. Despite the fact that I felt a little silly on the Segway, I didn’t really notice that many people looking at us with anything other than a passing glance. Perhaps I was being overly self-conscious for nothing. Regardless, when the weather gets nicer, I may try to do a Segway tour of DC with some friends. At least if I am riding with friends who have never been on a Segway before, I may have a chance at not being the worst rider this time.
