Sorry I didn't reply sooner but I could not get this forum software to let me sign in again despite multiple password resets, so this is the same person who posted the original message but on a different account... Thank you everyone for your responses.
I did figure out what this problem is - with help from my local (Oakland, CA) Segway dealer, who relayed advice to me from none other than Steve Wozniak of Apple fame, who apparently glides down a big hill in Los Gatos regularly and has a similar issue.
Apparently, if you go down a big (as in 700 feet high) hill with a full battery charge, the regenerative breaking will eventually cause the battery to overheat. So Mr. Segway tries to slow you down, more and more, and basically tries to stop you from going down hill. Not realizing why this was happening, I kept urging Mr. Segway forward, and Mr. Segway said backwards only. So I turned around, started going up hill for about 10 feet, then turned around and started going down hill. That's when Mr. Segway actively pitched me forward downhill with a frowny face.
The work around: Drain your battery a bit before going down hill. Or, periodically stop going down hill, and turn around and go up hill to burn off some charge. Since I started doing this, I've had no problems.
I can reproduce the original problem by going down the big hill with a full charge.
I think this is somewhat of a design flaw, in my humble opinion.
I want to point out that I believe I have excellent Segway balance skills, routinely go up and down very steep hills, over modest bumps, turn around on steep grades, and so on and have never had a balance problem. So I don't think it's my inability to balance the Segway.
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