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Old 07-01-2006, 04:02 PM   #1
Mr. Protocol
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Thumbs up How was the tour?

This category is usually used to announce new tour or rental operations, but I don't think the charter is limited to that. I greatly enjoyed the one tour I've taken, and so I thought maybe it would be good to start a thread where people who've taken tours tell us how they liked them. A well-done Segway tour is a joy, of course, but a badly-run tour of any sort is a joy for never.

So, those of you who've taken one of the tours out there (and do check out http://www.segwayguidedtours.com)...how did you like it?
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Old 07-01-2006, 04:19 PM   #2
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Default Snow Canyon, UT is great!

I'll eat my own cooking, here, and post the first review. I took the Snow Canyon, UT tour described at:

http://www.scenicsegways.com/news_detail.aspx?news_id=1

This tour is fine, very well run, and a very good match to the capabilities of the Segway. Snow Canyon, UT is a state park, and is bizarre, geologically speaking. It's right outside St. George, UT, so it's handy to town, but unlike the rest of southern Utah, which is red rock country, Snow Canyon is an odd mix of red rock, which rock, and black volcanic rock. There are lava flow fields all over the place, and parts of it look like a very dry version of Hawaii, or like something you'd see at Sunset Crater, AZ.

The park is a mix of paved trails and well-graded, unpaved fire roads. Both lie well within the capabilities of an i170, which is what we used. This was a year or two ago, so that's what they were using; I don't know what machines they're using now. I had to switch machines with my girlfriend partway through the tour, because my machine was running low on juice. If they've upgraded, this won't be a problem any more.

The tour includes native American prehistory as well as geology. The guide was knowledgeable and well-spoken, though not a complete expert (he consistently pronounced "Anasazi" as "Asani"). He was very good at running the newbie training class, and was competent in dealing with the inevitable member of the tour who just didn't "get" the Segway and kept running into things. He tested me to verify my claim that I knew what I was doing (good move, that), and then let me ride on the red key, while the rest of the tour ran on yellow. Silly me, I forgot I was on a 170 instead of a 180 and put my Seg into follow mode while leaning it on a fence, and it shut down after 30 seconds. All the red keys for all the segways were on a single keychain, since they're not used much (the rest of the tour had their own yellow keys with them), so the restart took a bit of hunting. No one else did this, partly because no one else knew that follow mode even existed. This is one of those embarassing memories that comes back to haunt you in odd moments...watching everyone else wait around because the "expert" rider pulled a dum-dum.

The tour runs between six and eight miles, I'd say, and covers much more ground than a walking tour could cover. Given the geological diversity of the canyon, this means you see more than you ever could on foot, unless you're quite buff, rather than seeing "more of same" after the first mile or two. The tour is therefore an excellent match to the territory.

All in all, this is a well-run operation touring some of the most gorgeous country on the planet. Highly recommended.
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Old 07-03-2006, 12:55 PM   #3
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Thumbs up Long Beach Segway Tour

I forgot, I have taken another Segway tour: the tour of Long Beach. I forgot about this because it was also a group glide. Segway of Long Beach gives tours of the waterfront area. The tour I reviewed above, of Snow Canyon, UT, was a traditional tour, in which the tour leader does all the talking. In a quiet, large place like Snow Canyon this works fine. In the noisy, crowded urban environment of Long Beach this works not so fine, so Segway of Long Beach has a different solution: iPods.

Their tour gives each glider an iPod, with the tour pre-loaded onto it as an MP3. The audio guide works like the guide in a museum, where the spiel at each stop is a separate track in a playlist, with long silent leaders to give you time to punch the buttons. The tour is interesting and works well. As experienced gliders, we didn't even have a tour guide, just a member of our party leading the way who'd been on the tour once before and so knew where to go. The audio tour itself was informative and interesting, and gave evidence of having been professionally produced.

I have to say that, though Segway of Long Beach does not normally offer the tour in this unguided fashion, it pretty much rocked for us because we could put away the iPods and hang out as much as we wanted at any of the locations. The staff at Segway of Long Beach couldn't be friendlier or more helpful. I've been to that store several times now and have found the staff there delightful on every visit. Long may they wave.

In short, Seg owner or not, you'd like this tour.

P.S. When you're done, you get to keep the earbuds.
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Old 07-03-2006, 06:37 PM   #4
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Default

We actually changed it to make it more new rider friendly. We now broadcast the tour, and riders hear it on radios. That way everyone is sure to hear the same stuff at the same time. And no one needs to push buttons but the tour guide.

Anyway, glad you had fun.

Mike
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Old 07-16-2006, 08:02 PM   #5
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Thumbs up Segway Tour of Bermuda

Hi -

We just returned from a cruise and one of the ports we stopped at was Bermuda. We had decided before going there that we wanted to take the Segway tour in Bermuda. It was so much fun! None of us had ever ridden on a Segway before, but have always wanted to try one.

Robert was a wonderful guide and took us to see the Maritime Museum and other places in the Dockyard area of Bermuda (which is right near where our ship docked). There were four of us on the tour, myself, my husband Marshal, our daughter Sarah, and Marshal's mom Elaine. Even Elaine didn't have a problem riding the Segway and she was having problems with her sciatica nerve. The Segway turned out to be the best way for her to get around and now she wants one to ride around the lake where she lives in PA.

We were given helmets to wear and ear-microphones (radios?) so we could hear Robert's explanation of what we were seeing. This worked out very well - I wish more tour guides would use them.

If you're ever in Bermuda, head over to Robert's double-decker yellow bus and check out his tour!

Patti
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