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Day 11: Riding A Segway

By Tiffany Craig Investigative Reporter

Day 11 of Putting It In Park, I master the segway. The nifty mode of transportation is much easier than you might imagine. Day 11: Riding A Segway

Published: Fri, July 18, 2008 - 9:01 pm Last Updated: Mon, August 11, 2008 - 3:48 pm

Tiffany Craig

On Day 11 of Putting It In Park, we're using a mode of transportation that runs on electricity and ingenuity.

I've never set foot on a segway but that's what we did on Friday.

Rod Koberg is my teacher and C-E-O of SouthCoast Segway.

Rod says they might look tricky but anyone can ride one. "It takes maybe 2-to-3 minutes to get comfortable."

We practice the moves before we start the seven miles to work.

I'm on a model i-2 and Rod says it's not much bigger than me! "It takes up no bigger footprint than your body. It's a 2x2 footprint. People are so fascinated by these! Yes because it doesn't look like it works."

Segways can roll down sidewalks, through grass and even a little sand. Rod points out that there's a computer program under your feet that keeps you balanced. "There are 5 gyros in the power base and a motor in each wheel. We're standing on two lithium ion batteries."

They plug in to a standard outlet and can go up to 25 miles on one charge. These segways can zoom along at speeds up to 12.5 mph!

There is also a "big wheel" segway that is used for more rugged riding. It's called the x2.

Buying a segway is not cheap. Both of the models featured in this story run a little more than $5000.00

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BamaBob Says:

Mon, Jul 21, 2008 at 8:41 am

lol Yeah, the “ehhr Cah” might throw them off a little. Might have to translate it into “arr curr.“
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Here is another interesting idea, if you don’t have to travel the main roadways to get to the store, etc.
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http://www.cruisecarinc.com/product-sunray.htm

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The wife Says:

Mon, Jul 21, 2008 at 8:29 am

BamaBob, that is interesting. I don’t think I would ever get the car dealers in Alabama to understand me if I was asking to purchase an “ehhr Cah”, however.

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BamaBob Says:

Mon, Jul 21, 2008 at 7:49 am

Where-o-where is Tiffany and how is she traveling today? I vote for AIR!
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmqpGZv0YT4

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carl Says:

Sun, Jul 20, 2008 at 10:02 am

Well it’s Tiffany’s assignment so she’ll have to lead the charge maybe on one of those big blowup balls with a handle on it that the kids hop around on. Now that would be an imposing sight to the motorist wouldn’t it ? All three hopping down the road to work on a ball and pogo sticks.

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BamaBob Says:

Sun, Jul 20, 2008 at 9:45 am

Well, I heard Rose Ann Haven and Mel Showers were going to come to work tomorrow on pogo sticks!

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The wife Says:

Sun, Jul 20, 2008 at 9:33 am

Well, I heard Roseanne say that your hearing is bad.

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carl Says:

Sun, Jul 20, 2008 at 7:41 am

I think I heard Rose Ann Haven say the other afternoon that she would like to try to get to work on unicycles with Tiffany ! Sounds like a great Idea, let’s root for it and see if the boss man will go for it.

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DEW26M Says:

Sat, Jul 19, 2008 at 10:33 am

“Average charge time is roughly 6 hours, but with the built in charge management package, you can just plug it in and forget it. No memory developing, no overcharging, just a simple wall outlet is all you need.“ QUOTED from a SegWay Dealer Website

http://www.billysrentals.com/segway/faq/

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DEW26M Says:

Sat, Jul 19, 2008 at 10:25 am

BamaBob that’s a great question, because I looked on their website, and the charge time is not listed. It gives a range of Up to 24 miles for the i2, and Up to 12 miles for the x2. But no charge time anywhere. Regardless at $5,000 dollars, it’s way out of my budget!

http://www.southcoastsegway.com/i2.asp

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carl Says:

Sat, Jul 19, 2008 at 8:20 am

Yea! in my case about two and a half years of gas at $4 a gallon. Not a real good bargain.

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