“Is it hard to ride that thing?”
We get this question daly at Absolutely Chicago Segway Tours so I decided to take a second to address it in detail. It is not a dumb question. If I had to give a short answer, I would say, “No!” but let me explain why.
Training
The average training time for a new rider on a Segway is 3 minutes. Can you learn to drive in 3 minutes? Can you learn to ride a bike in 3 minutes? No way!
Our training session takes about 25 minutes in total with a full group of 8 Segway riders. That means each trainee has about 3.125 of time to learn to master this machine until they hit the streets of Chicago. Some take a bit longer than others, but on the whole, training doesn’t take any longer than 25 minutes. There must be something easy about the machine right?
The training itself consists of a video followed by a live presentation and individual hands on training. Our guides do not allow anyone to escape their grasp until they are confident in their ability. The positive attitude of the guide is their most powerful weapon. They wield it with great authority–striking down the fears of their trainee. The Segway is scary, and they no it, but they have seen this fear before. They know that if the customer powers through, they will achieve.
Imagine being a Segway tour guide and knowing that you have the ability to teach anyone in the world how to do something new in just 3 minutes. It really goes to their heads!
Can anyone not get it?
If you don’t want to, you don’t have to do anything. Of the hundreds of thousands of people that Absolutely Chicago Segway Tours has taught to ride a Segway, a handful have failed. They all have one thing in common: they didn’t want to do it! Their family or friend forced them to go try that weird machine in the park, and their body knew what their mind did. They didn’t wanna be there.
This is totally cool. All we ask is that you try. We care about every customers experience. We thrive off of their joy.
So you’re saying anyone can ride a Segway?
I really am. We have had customers from 12 to 100 (If you are over 100 and want to ride a Segway, we will give you a crazy discount). Folks with differing heights and weights, differing abilities, and differing backgrounds all found the Segway safe and fun. I have personally taught a paraplegic with one prosthetic leg, multiple people with various stages of MS, and even people with bad attitudes! I do not believe in a failed Segway rider, and neither should you.
Please take the time to believe in yourself and your own abilities. Absolutely Chicago Segway Tours has experience to prove that you can learn to ride a Segway in just 3 minutes.