It's Not As Easy As It Looks

The stars aligned this weekend enabling me to spend 5 or 6 hours with my brother, Brad, and my youngest sister, Gwen, in downtown Richmond, Virginia. The best thing about meeting up with Brad is that he always has really fun ideas of things to check out around town. And Gwen and I are usually willing to follow Brad anywhere.
The big idea on this visit was to rent Segways and tour around downtown Richmond. We quickly agreed to this plan and got a good laugh recalling our president's misfortune on a Segway--namely falling off of one, despite the said impossibility of doing so. We were quite confident in ourselves as we strolled into the Segway shop.
I was the first to volunteer to be trained. Much to my surprise, I was really unstable and jerky the moment I stepped on the high-tech machine. Buck, the shop owner, told me to "trust the Segway" and had me ooching up and down ramps and spinning in circles in minutes. Brad and Gwen were having giggle fits at my expense. I was definitely having second thoughts about this; and I totally understood why we were required to wear helmets.
Gwen was next to train and, of course, she was jerky and spazzy too. Brad, got on and seemed entirely too tall for the machine; if he fell, he was going to travel quite a ways before meeting the ground.
Apparently, we all passed training ala Buck, and he set us loose on the streets of Richmond. Our first challenge came a half a block down when we had to cross the cobblestone street. Whoa! Easy does it...

Soon we were zooming along the Canal Walk, trying to avoid taking a swim with the Segways. Within ten minutes, all three of us were feeling pretty comfortable. We were even snapping photos while riding. People were stopping, pointing, and gawking--I guess Segways are still pretty novel in some areas, or maybe we just looked really dorky and laughable (which is definitely a possibility on a Segway).

We visited the governor's mansion, where Gwen quite literally almost ran into the Governor and his motorcade coming down the driveway. I'm surprised we didn't get tackled by the secret police... or maybe that just happens in D.C. with the prez.
Things were going great, we were having a ball and getting our speed up when we realized we had to return the Segways in five minutes. To do this, we had to take a short cut through a gravel parking lot to get back to the Canal Walk. Well, I guess Segways and gravel aren't meant to mix, because as soon as Gwen hit a tire rut in the gravel, the wheels of her Segway stopped and she was bucked right off. I had the benefit of being behind her (with my camera in hand) to enjoy and capture the show. Besides a scratched-up leg, Gwen only suffered a bit of embarrassment. While I tried to stop laughing, Brad came back and helped Gwen get back on the Segway (which recovered nicely from the mishap, righting itself immediately, and wondering what happened to its passenger). We were able to get back to the Segway shop on time, and with no more mishaps along the way.

So, here's to George Bush, who gained a fleeting moment of respect from me this weekend. The Segway is a bit tricky at first, and apparently, it doesn't take a complete nincompoop to fall off of one.