For Christmas this year, Mom and Dad gave us all a gift certificate for a Segway tour of Grand Rapids. It was something fun to look forward to in the spring and a good excuse to get everyone together and do something different. We booked a Saturday in May and lucked out with decent springtime weather - always a gamble in Michigan.
We met at the loading dock near Bagger Dave's restaurant right downtown and our guide, "Segway Mike", distributed safety helmets and bright neon vests. After a short description of our tour, Segway Mike proceeded to tell us how Segways work - essentially they are gyroscopes controlled by body movement and balance. Fortunately, we had time to practice on them in a nearby parking lot.
Frankly, I was terrified and initially felt completely out of control. Even when I was crawling along at about 3 mph it felt like I was flying (their maximum speed is 12.5 mph). I learned very quickly that being stiff and panicky on a Segway is the worst way to be since it's best maneuvered with smooth, graceful movements leaning backward and forward. Susie, John and Sean zoomed along right away but I stuck in the back with Mom and Dad, afraid that I wouldn't be able to stop for traffic or veer out of the way of unsuspecting children. Come to find out that Mom was in the back because unbeknownst to her, her Segway was set to "Turtle" mode and it was all she could do to crawl along at a snail's pace. Sean, on the other hand, was scolded for being "dangerously overconfident" while attempting to go backwards and turn simultaneously.
After the first hour of the tour and many challenges including steep ramps, bumps and sharp turns, I started to relax and really enjoyed the last thirty minutes. We covered a lot of ground and went over many of the bridges, past museums and mosaics, checked out sculptures and fountains and stopped at the fish bridge for a look at some giant Carp and to see the way different fish can climb back upstream.
After the tour finished, we headed to lunch at Bagger Dave's and rehashed the morning's events. We all concluded that the experience had been a lot of fun and some family members even expressed wishful thinking in purchasing a Segway for their own (they run about $5000). As for me, I was happy to be once again on my own two feet though grateful for the experience of gyroscoping around Grand Rapids for the morning. Thanks Mom and Dad!
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