Number 46 - Ride a Segway

The Segway is one of those novelty things that I figured I had to try before I die and so placed it on my Bucketlist! For my Birthday I received a Segway Tour at Laggan Outdoor Activity Centre near Gatehouse of Fleet in Dumfries and Galloway.

My Husband David, and friends Jo and Mark were joining me on my adventure! We left Kendal in sunshine on Sunday 15th July 2012 at 8am to head up North to Bonny Scotland. The drive was uneventful and took us just over 2 hours on very quiet roads. When we arrived at the Centre we were dismayed to hear that they did not have a booking in our name!

Time to count to ten ... and keep calm!

We explained that the booking had originally been for a date in June but that they had cancelled it and reallocated us a new date as the building work on the zip wire part of our experience wasn’t finished. Luckily for us they were still able to accommodate us, but on a slightly different tour. We had booked for a forest tour but they could only offer us a Coastal tour instead, which we agreed to undertake especially when we were offered a discount for the inconvenience!

Before being let loose on a segway we had to be weighed (EEEKKKKK!) and then we had to sign our lives away on the dotted line, as per usual with this sort of thing. We also had to wear a goofy helmet (which was far too big for me!), knee and elbow pads as well as wrist protection! I was beginning to get slightly worried – perhaps this wasn’t going to be the granny experience I had looked forward to! Had I accidently booked on to participate in an extreme sport instead?! After soothing words of comfort and encouragement from our instructor Hannah we were soon being introduced to our Segways!

As this was my bucketlist activity I was thrust forward as the first one to receive tuition! Feeling ever so slightly nervous I placed both my feet firmly on the pads and prayed that Hannah wouldn’t leave go! I felt like a child learning to ride a bike without stabilisers! 

Hannah explained in her soft Scottish lilt that a segway is a computer driven battery operated two wheeled device that uses gyroscopes to keep you balanced. Basically, the unit tries to stay balanced on two wheels, whether you are on it or not. As soon as you step on, it attempts to compensate for your movements. If you lean back, it tries to get itself back under your centre of gravity, if you lean forward, again, it attempts to move under your centre of gravity. It does this really well assuming the wheels on it don’t slip on the grass or become unbalanced going over rocks, stones, tree roots etc. 

With Hannah guiding me slowly I got into the basics of moving back and forth, and turning, then a couple minutes in she told me to start leaning forward to go uphill and crouching back on my heels to slow down or to stop coming down a hill! 

This is where the problems began ... It took me a while to get the hang of leaning forward enough to get myself up the hill – my segway just kept grinding to a halt a short way up the hill! It’s like putting your trust in someone to catch you as you let yourself fall forward! I wasn’t entirely trusting of the segway at this point! 

Eventually I was brave enough to lean forward sufficiently and mastered going up hill ... but what goes up must come down! I was slightly perplexed about not having brakes on the handlebars and didn’t feel entirely confident about using my heels and crouching action to stop me from hurtling at full speed down the hill! I asked Hannah what the Segways top speed was. When she said 15MPH I relaxed slightly thinking I get up to 30MPH on my bike and am still alive! After the first few tentative goes at stopping and starting on a downhill slope I soon realised I WAS in control and could stop and start going downhill fairly effectively! Once Hannah thought I had mastered the required skills she moved onto her next victim, leaving me to practice on my own! I practised manoevering around cones to practise turning, stopping and accelerating whilst simutaneously trying to avoid the others who were now under instruction and none of us had very much control at this point! Initially both my feet were putting pressure on the unit in unison front or back. However I discovered putting more pressure on one side then the other allows you to do faster turns! 

Once our instructor Hannah was satisfied we had all mastered the basics we set off for our one hour coastal tour. It was a beautifully clear day and the views were magnificent. At certain points on the tour we had views across to the Isle Of Man and to the Lake District (home to us!). The tour was mainly through fields and gravel tracks, meaning the ground was uneven making it challenging in places to retain traction! Hannah made us follow the path she took to ensure we were all safe! 

A couple of times I felt a little wobbly like I was going to fall off especially when I tried to turn the handle bars like a bicycle instead of tilting them! Jo had a spectacular tumble coming down a hill, but luckily with all the protective gear on she didn’t hurt herself, just her pride! Mark couldn’t trust the Segway 100% and whenever he felt a little unsure he would jump off the back, much to Hannah’s disapproval as she was worried he would get run over and injured by it! David was the Segway champion of the group! I think its his size 13 feet making it easier to control the pressure pads! After an hour’s challenging ride we were back at base and I had one final hurdle to overcome! Getting off the Segway ... luckily for me Hannah held on to it for me whilst I dismounted! 

It was a great experience learning to ride a Segway and a steep learning curve! I was delighted to have not have fallen off and had gained a little bit of confidence and speed by the time I had finished the tour!

Fun to do, I’d recommend you at least try it once, I’d do it again!