I admit, I’ve had a lot of cool days in my life. Many. Each coolest day topping my previous coolest day. Today, however, topped many, many of my cool days.
It started with a wake up call at 6:30 AM. I was late to work. My alarm went off and so did the alarm on my cell phone, but I couldn’t figure out why on earth my alarm was going off at 530AM on Saturday morning. Hmmm. Oh, cause I have to be at work super early. So I go to work and am washing my hands to start doing something (I’m there in less than 5 minutes.) when John says, “Why are you here? Go home and come back in an hour. So I leave my purse at the shop (with my phone) and go home to have some fettucine for breakfast. While my food is microwaving, my doorbell rings. It’s Andy. He needs be at work for real. So I grab my plate of fettucine and go back to the shop.
The day moves by uneventfully. Suddenly, at 3:00PM, I get the opportunity to go on a Segway tour of Chicago. I GET TO RIDE A SEGWAY AROUND CHICAGO!!!!
We started with a training session at Millenium Park in the ice rink. Wow. I am on a Segway. Please tell me you know what it is, that you’ve heard of it. Segway–operated by a gyroscope–like a scooter/handtruck/upright wheelchair combo.
You lean forward and it moves, you lean back and it stops. There is one control on your left hand for turning. When it turns–the outside tire moves at a faster speed (or opposite direction) than the inside tire. Giving it a turning radius of, well, nothing. It can spin. It is so cool.
After doing laps around the rink, we exited and headed north onto the bike path. We wound our way through Grant Park, the gardens, to Buckingham Fountain. We crossed streets, went down hills, drove on gravel, dodged potholes and talked to people.
When you are on a Segway, everyone wants to talk to you. A Segway is way better than Esquire Mag or going to a bar. Everyone has kind of heard of it and wants to try it, but we (the helmeted club) didn’t share. This was our Segway time.
Who and why?
City Segway Tours in Chicago is run by a couple of our customers, Tim and Katherine. They are awesome and they will make a million dollars. Segway tours aren’t new, they’ve been in Paris two years and Matt (another guide) went on one in Barcelona.
Check them out at City Segway Tours.