This may sound CRAZY, but I don't want a Car, a Segway? Help advise

[SegwayDan]

Originally Posted by Violet

. . . The Segway takes more effort than I thought it would. I knew it was not like a electric scooter, but it was a little surprising. Part of that is because I am a little smaller and lighter than average, so it takes more leaning and foot adjustment for me.
. . .

If you're noticing the need for substantial effort, this seems to indicate that you're inadvertently "fighting" the machine. Also, unless you weigh less than 100 lbs, you shouldn't have to adjust your feet much at all.

I've given many hundreds of demo rides to people over a decade of gliding, and I've observed a number of people who timidly lean at the waist instead of at the ankles. This gives them almost zero effect on making the machine accelerate, What happens is that the posterior juts out as the torso leans forward, resulting in little or no net lean.

Trust the machine and lean from your ankles. And concentrate on being totally relaxed.


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[jgbackes]

Originally Posted by SegwayDan

... And concentrate on being totally relaxed.


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How very zen... If you are concentrating on something, can you be totally relaxed? I crack me up!

jeff

[SegwayDan]

Originally Posted by jgbackes

How very zen... If you are concentrating on something, can you be totally relaxed? I crack me up!



jeff

This is my definition of "concentrate": "To direct one’s thoughts or attention: We concentrated on the task before us." (American Heritage Dictionary). Don't know what part of that cracked you up.

Concentrating or having one's attention on all the essential aspects of gliding--the machine, one's body, one's environment and surroundings--is vital to one's health and well-being.


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[KSagal]

Originally Posted by jgbackes

How very zen... If you are concentrating on something, can you be totally relaxed? I crack me up!

jeff

Originally Posted by SegwayDan

This is my definition of "concentrate": "To direct one’s thoughts or attention: We concentrated on the task before us." (American Heritage Dictionary). Don't know what part of that cracked you up.

Concentrating or having one's attention on all the essential aspects of gliding--the machine, one's body, one's environment and surroundings--is vital to one's health and well-being.


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It does kind of sound like Giant shrimp, but I understand Dan's point, and Jeff's.

One thing I used to love about skydiving, is that you could concentrate so hard on it that it allowed you to relax. You were actually best if you could stop being an earth bound being, and be one with the experience instead.

If you golf, you can still remember that annoying client. If you play baseball, or go swimming, you can still be mad at your wife or husband. If you go for a drive, you still have to deal with the ignorant fool on the phone partially in your lane...

But, when you leave that plane, you can pretty much just concentrate on that big green ball that is coming up to meet you. That is the concentration part. There were no fights with anyone, there were no bad drivers, or missing mustard from your sandwich. There was only a big green ball on its way to meet you and NOTHING else.

After several hundred jumps, or maybe a 1000, I was able to leave that behind as well. There is a Zen kind of thing to it. Then when I left the plane, it was just me flying, and I was flying my body. (I can fly a plane, but that is like driving, not flying. Kind of like driving a boat is not the same as swimming)

After a while, it was time to deploy my parachute, and fly that.

The bad drivers and missing condiments did not re-enter my life till after I landed.

And the entire adventure, the parts about forgetting it all except the green ball, or even the forgetting that, allows a body to actually fully concentrate on ONE thing, and that is rare. And cathartic. And in the end, relaxing.

This is what I understood Dan to mean. I understood it to mean that being in the glide, being the glide is the function of concentrating on the glide, so that no other factors are there. OF course, being the glide includes being aware of all around you, all that is, all that may become. All that is part of being the glide.

I understood that the Joke Jeff made was about the effort to shut all the other stuff out. The concentration needed to let go of all the bad drivers, the missing bits, the annoying parts. Spending your time dwelling on those to remove them does not seem relaxing to me either.

Both definitions are reasonable and understandable. I chuckled at Jeff's, but choose Dan's.

[SegwayDan]

Originally Posted by KSagal

It does kind of sound like Giant shrimp, but I understand Dan's point, and Jeff's.

One thing I used to love about skydiving, is that you could concentrate so hard on it that it allowed you to relax. You were actually best if you could stop being an earth bound being, and be one with the experience instead.

If you golf, you can still remember that annoying client. If you play baseball, or go swimming, you can still be mad at your wife or husband. If you go for a drive, you still have to deal with the ignorant fool on the phone partially in your lane...

But, when you leave that plane, you can pretty much just concentrate on that big green ball that is coming up to meet you. That is the concentration part. There were no fights with anyone, there were no bad drivers, or missing mustard from your sandwich. There was only a big green ball on its way to meet you and NOTHING else.

After several hundred jumps, or maybe a 1000, I was able to leave that behind as well. There is a Zen kind of thing to it. Then when I left the plane, it was just me flying, and I was flying my body. (I can fly a plane, but that is like driving, not flying. Kind of like driving a boat is not the same as swimming)

After a while, it was time to deploy my parachute, and fly that.

The bad drivers and missing condiments did not re-enter my life till after I landed.

And the entire adventure, the parts about forgetting it all except the green ball, or even the forgetting that, allows a body to actually fully concentrate on ONE thing, and that is rare. And cathartic. And in the end, relaxing.

This is what I understood Dan to mean. I understood it to mean that being in the glide, being the glide is the function of concentrating on the glide, so that no other factors are there. OF course, being the glide includes being aware of all around you, all that is, all that may become. All that is part of being the glide.

I understood that the Joke Jeff made was about the effort to shut all the other stuff out. The concentration needed to let go of all the bad drivers, the missing bits, the annoying parts. Spending your time dwelling on those to remove them does not seem relaxing to me either.

Both definitions are reasonable and understandable. I chuckled at Jeff's, but choose Dan's.

Thanks, Karl! Good job on interpreting me correctly. I don't pretend to be a "Zen expert" as I know very little about Zen itself. However, I think my approach to gliding might very well be Zen-like.

In any event, I promote the concept of "total relaxation" to those who can appreciate it, as it is an acquired skill. To those who can't, I can see how ironic it may seem in the context of gliding, and therefore worthy of laughter (def: surprise + rejection).

I would imagine as a skydiver you took to gliding very easily, given your above-stated mental/awareness conditioning. My own conditioning involved nothing as "severe" as skydiving, but it did involve a keen interest in "observation"--qualifying that, I'd call it "observing to observe." It's the fundamental skill of an artist. It's not easily acquired, and it takes daily refinement.

Applying it to gliding, I've benefitted from being able to discern important details such as the many various effects of body attitude, stiffness, suppleness, etc. And I've realized how important this "relaxedness" is to incident-free gliding.

It's hard to explain in words. It's better drilled by the person towards their own enlightenment.

But I know it's the major factor in my gliding being incident-free for almost nine years.

[Violet]

Originally Posted by SegwayDan

If you're noticing the need for substantial effort, this seems to indicate that you're inadvertently "fighting" the machine. Also, unless you weigh less than 100 lbs, you shouldn't have to adjust your feet much at all.

I've given many hundreds of demo rides to people over a decade of gliding, and I've observed a number of people who timidly lean at the waist instead of at the ankles. This gives them almost zero effect on making the machine accelerate, What happens is that the posterior juts out as the torso leans forward, resulting in little or no net lean.

Trust the machine and lean from your ankles. And concentrate on being totally relaxed.

Thanks, I will keep that in mind. I ride offroad on hills, and I'm disabled, so my experience is somewhat different. (I do think that riding on sidewalks would take much less effort than what I do.) I should have been more clear.

My point was to alert the OP (because he mentions feeling worried while riding a bike) to the fact that the Segway might be surprising (at least at first), have the learning curve, that personally I'd still feel nervous on the Segway around people (but maybe could get over that with enough exposure), etc. I have never used a scooter, however, so I may be anticipating more adjustment than he would have.

[Violet]

Originally Posted by Bob.Kerns

The range on an i2 is roughly double that of an x2, due to the tire differences.

That's great! Very exciting because I plan to put i2 tires on sometimes.

Originally Posted by Bob.Kerns

It's really not much different from avoiding running into someone when you're on foot, whether walking or jogging. That's something you've practiced your entire life.

Just be willing to take it as slowly as the circumstances require. Or as slowly as you need to be comfortable, if that's slower.

That helps me explain what I was trying to convey previously, to the OP. I feel like most people become confident drivers (in a car) after months or a couple years. However I feel someone like me will never be the confident driver, and it's iffy if I'll ever stop being nervous if I were in a crowd of people on a Segway. (I hope I might, we will have to see.)

Still, your last sentences are great. I think (unlike with a car) almost everyone can build up the confidence to ride the Segway on the sidewalk down to the store.

Originally Posted by Bob.Kerns

You will find that physically it takes less effort with practice. Some of that is simply building a bit more muscle in a few places, but mostly it's a matter of being more efficient when your body knows what it needs to do Less wasted effort.

Become one with the machine!

[Lily Kerns]

Originally Posted by Violet

That's great! Very exciting because I plan to put i2 tires on sometimes.



That helps me explain what I was trying to convey previously, to the OP. I feel like most people become confident drivers (in a car) after months or a couple years. However I feel someone like me will never be the confident driver, and it's iffy if I'll ever stop being nervous if I were in a crowd of people on a Segway. (I hope I might, we will have to see.)

Still, your last sentences are great. I think (unlike with a car) almost everyone can build up the confidence to ride the Segway on the sidewalk down to the store.

Become one with the machine!

I guess I found in the beginning that dealing with people was much less intimidating than roadway hazards. A bit of courtesy and patience (which I do anyway) made this a familiar process. People are unpredictable, yes, but that is always something one has to deal with. Exactly how to deal with bumps, cracks, posts, etc were things that still had to be learned and observed carefully.

We are all different and learn in our own way. And yes, once you are comfortable with your Seg, many of these things become automatic. You still have to be alert, but that is true of walking, biking, driving and dealing with walk around me cats!