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Thursday, June 27, 2013

Happy Fathers Day - A Segway Ride Through Richmond With Drew

Drew and Dad on their Segways in front of the Virginia Capitol.

Jack - Kate - Pop on the train ride at the Childrens Museum. Drew has an annual pass for this indoor playground and activity center. The kids had their lunch there that Drew prepared. 

They trained us to ride the Segways in this alley. The machines are very powerful and they can get away from you if you are not careful - ask me.

Along the James River is a pretty park that has lots of paved trails where we could open the Segways up. At 12 MPH - the governor kicks in - I imagine it could be hacked. Here is Drew doing a 360.

It is only 6 PM and I am ready for bed. 

I just spent a full day in Richmond with Drew and Family. It started simple enough with a hot breakfast of pancakes and bacon cooked on the kitchen grill. Next we went to the pool to watch Jack take his swimming lessons. 

After that it was a trip to the Childrens Museum to play - have lunch - and ride the train. 

What started out looking like a rainy overcast day at noon - got warm and bright by the time our Segway Tour was scheduled at 1 PM. Drew and I headed into downtown to ride my Fathers Day Present - a one hut lesson and tour on Segways.

A Segway is an awkward looking stand up two wheel scooter like transport. Segway are expensive - they cost about $6000 new. That is because it has computer and gyros to keep you balanced as you ride. First you get a 10 minute lesson that tells you how get on and off - go forward and back - stop and go - turn left and right - and spin around. Everything is controlled by you center of gravity. Turning is controlled by a tiller. 

Segways go up to 12 MPH for 22 miles on a battery change. A large part of the cost is the lithium battery. You get about 1500 charges on one battery. You plug it into a regular home outlet to charge it. 

It goes up and down hills with ease - handle cracks in the road and sidewalks. In Virginia - you need no driver license or license plate. 12 MPH feels like you are really flying - and you are compared to running. If you run a 4 minute mile - that is 15 MPH. When Lulu and I walk our 2 miles a day - we are walking about 3 MPH. 

Our one hour tour turned into 2 hours. We had a thorough lesson and tour. It was a nice day - and we covered several miles - many of them along the James River. I though it might be only me but - my legs got a little sore. There were about 10 in our group and near the end I hear others including Drew saying their legs were sore. 

After the tour at 3PM we had a late lunch at the Penny Lane Pub - replica British pub in downtown Richmond. 

After we got home - I sat on the sofa and started to nod off like an old man. I retreated to my guest room to write this story. I just realized I got this far without my daily bath. So here I go.


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