Segs & The City...

Last time we were in Washington, we saw a load of people on a Segway tour and we both reeeeeeeeally wanted to have a go. So on Sunday, we did! We went of a Segway Safari around Washington!

We'd found a tour operator appropriately called 'Segs in the City' who did a number of different tours each day, so we booked up the 90 minute monument tour...

After a little tutorial we were able to go for a practice around the courtyardy bit before we hit the roads...

 

It was a wee bit tricky to get used to at first, you have to stand up straight and distribute your weight evenly, whilst staying relaxed and loose. It was a little bit like being on a Wii Fit board on wheels really, you lean forward to go forward, you lean back to go back, you try and get your weight in the middle to stop, and you just turn the handles bars to go either way.

It'd take too long to get the hang of it, and then we were off!

The tour was great, and we went passed some of the famous monuments that we saw last time were in Washington, but we were really pleased that we saw a lot of stuff that we missed last time too...

 We went all over, on the main roads, down the mall, round the reservoir, through the park, it was great! We managed to get a bit of speed up when there weren't any pedestrians around, and there were some sweet ramps to go up to get onto the pavement too.

 Luckily the weather was OK - it was very humid, and not incredibly sunny, but the rain stayed away for the most part. There was a brief moment when the emergency ponchos came out though...

Because we were in a small group (just four of us) it was nice and relaxed and we didn't have to wait for people, although the other couple we were with were a bit bloody slow, so we kept hanging back to give them room and then zooming up to catch them.

We were able to stop at some points for photos and to have a wee rest. Although riding Segways isn't really exercise, you do feel pretty tense for the first little while and you're constantly trying the balance and leaning forward and back, and standing up the whole time - so it got a bit achy towards the end. Even our guide was having a rest.

We stopped off at The Franklin Roosevelt Memorial, which is the world's biggest memorial! Although you can't see it from driving passed because it's not tall, it's big and flat. It's outside, and it's made up of lots of different 'rooms' but it has no roof, so it's a bit like a maze...

 We had a little mooch around it for a few minutes before hopping back on the segways for the final stretch.

By this time we'd caught up with the larger group, so there was about 10 of us all in a row as we zipped down the main road back to the post office where the tour began. The Post Office Pavillion is a very lovely looking building...

I don't think it's a post office anymore, it's full of shops and places to eat now, but it still looks veyr impressive on the outside.

Then our time was up, nearly 2 hours later, we arrived back to the start and received our very own Segs In The City 'Segsy Legs' Licences! 

 

So now, next time we go to Washington (or any city that Segs In The City operates) we can hire the Segways and take them out on our own, without the tour guide!!!

If only Segways were legal in New York.