Move over rally cars and quad bikes, because there’s a new kid in town – the Segway!
Although the Segway has been around for a while now, once it’s fitted for off road racing it becomes a totally different beast, using is gyroscopic balancing sensors to provide a surprisingly smooth and fast ride.
I recently went on an off road Segway experience with a couple of mates and wanted to write a review about it. But mostly I wanted to talk about why the Segway is awesome, even if it’s often overlooked in favour of quad bikes and other traditional off road light motor vehicles.
What so special about a Segway?
Unlike sitting on a quad bike or riding in a car, you do it standing. Because the Segway responds to shifts in bodyweight, after a while you very much feel ‘one’ with your Segway and simply lean and twist to turn around tight corners at speed. Meanwhile the ride is so incredibly smooth to the point where it feels like you’re floating. It’s a very strange sensation at first, but awesome once you get used to it.
The Track
We rocked up to the Segway Rally in Cheshunt at the Theobald’s Park camping and caravan site early in the morning to find a track dirty track marked out through the woods with logs laid along the side to stop you from wandering off track and crashing into the trees.
I never quite mastered the track, because you couldn’t really see it for the trees, but it was varied with plenty of dips, hills, tight turns and chicanes. Best of all, it was wide enough to overtake people who hadn’t quite mastered their Segways and you could comfortably ride two abreast.
The Gear
Safety certainly takes priority when riding a Segway on a rally course. While Segway tours don’t give you any equipment, for this you get shin guards, body armour and very blue crash helmets.
The body armour is worn over a tight black top and resembles the armour you would wear if you were going snowboarding, including elbow pads, shoulder pads, chest armour and supportive spinal armour as well. Not to mention thing fingerless gloves that wrap around the inside of the thumb for gripping the handlebars.
The Segway
Before we got going we were given a safety briefing and a bit of practice time with our Segways so we could get used to leaning, turning, stopping and reversing.
Without going into too much technological mumbo-jumbo, the Segway has two computers and all sorts of gyroscopic and liquid pressure sensors inside which quickly analyse your height and weight while you’re stood still on it and the uses this information to make its electronic motor respond to shifts in body weight. Even twisting your waist slightly results in the Segway pivoting slowly round on the spot. So once you’ve gained familiarity and confidence, driving a Segway is incredibly intuitive.
The Experience
All geared up and raring to go, the first lap of the course felt fantastic and even though the weather was cold, I quickly warmed up while splashing through puddles and gliding through thick mud before rustling through thick leaves and rumbling along rocky parts of the track.
While Segway rally may not be as fast or strenuous as go karting for example, it is a lot more fun and you still get the feeling of picking up serious speed. Ultimately, it’s all thanks to the way Segways respond to your body movement and that’s what make it such a liberating experience. It doesn’t feel so much like you’re driving, but more like you’re running and ridiculous speeds around a woodland circuit.
I came in 3rd place at the end, because I was more cautious in certain wetter and muddier parts of the course. But after racing for almost an hour my thighs were really aching and we were all suitably famished. Thankfully there are quite a few pubs nearby.
Summary
To sum up, if you’re looking for a different kind of motorsports experience, I’d definitely recommend doing a Segway rally, just to see what driving a Segway is like for yourself. I’d also recommend this if you’re trying to find gifts for men that aren’t the usual gimmicky gadgets. Considering the whole thing cost £50, it doesn’t seem bad value for money at all and it’s something I’ll be talking about with friends for months to come.
So give a Segway a try. You may be surprised just how much you like it. I’ll definitely be going back again for my birthday next year.
