I was recently given the chance to take the Guided Segway Tour offered by Segway of Richmond and the Richmond Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau. Our guide for the 2 1/2 hour tour was Chris Dove of Ravenchase Adventures, who provided the connection to the history of Richmond as we glided to Court End, the capital building, Shockoe Slip, the Canal Walk, Brown’s Island, Tredegar, and back up to the visitor center at 3rd and Marshall Streets.

The depth of history presented on the tour is a nice gloss on the actual experience of moving through the city on the Segway. With a top speed of just over 12 miles per hour, the ride is faster and easier than walking; the experience of the Segway is somewhere between being a pedestrian and a bicyclist (but much easier going up the hills!). I was kind of expecting to feel like an asshole on the thing, but that abated fairly quickly.

We had fun getting used to the machine and rolling down the city sidewalks. There were a few incidents – one of us caught a wheel on a corner of the base of the new Virginia Civil Rights Memorial and took the first tumble of the day. I fell off once myself but I was kind of fucking off at the time and probably deserved it. It was easier to get used to the Segway than it was to ride the neighbor kid’s razor scooter.

The 2.5 hour tour normally costs $65 per person. We didn’t have to pay, but I’d say that it is well worth the cost if you want to see Richmond differently and are curious about riding a Segway. Some of the group was ready to be done a little earlier; it would’ve been great to have brought a snack or rolled by a taco truck.