2. Riding a Segway — Sixty to Sixty

When I bicycled long distances in my pre-kid days, I loved flying downhill after all the hard work of pedaling up. With cycling, you alternate between work and reward, work and reward.

Riding a Segway is all reward.

My hour with Boston Segway Tours was a blast. Yes, I felt like a bit of a dork; as Robinson Meyer says in The Atlantic, “standing-still-while-moving-quickly-forward … (is) the posture of conspicuous tourists.” But who cares? It’s just so much fun to zip around town on this sensitive machine that responds to subtle shifts in weight.

And “zip” we did. Segways go no faster than 12.5 miles per hour, but on city streets, traveling alongside cars and onto boardwalks, you feel a sense of speed. Not going-downhill-on-a-bicycle speed, but you pass pedestrians and can feel the wind.

I went solo, thinking I’d join a group and meet some out-of-towners. No one else had signed up for my time slot, though, so I had a private tour. I have no problem going to the movies or into a restaurant alone, but hoped that other Segway newbies might buffer the awkwardness of learning to ride the thing.

As it turned out, I didn’t need the buffer. Segways are super easy to ride. You move your body a little this way, it goes this way; a little that way, it goes that way.

At Boston Segway Tours, you start out with a quick video about operation and safety. The main message: don’t use a cellphone while you’re on a Segway. After the video, my guide, John, had me practice inside: forward, turning, stopping, making sure I could maneuver it so I wouldn’t bump into curbs or people.

Then off we went, riding on the streets downtown. While I love my bicycle, I don’t ride it much in the city for fear of cars. I suppose I should have equally feared them on the Segway, but I didn’t. I relied on John to keep me safe and just enjoyed the sensation of motion.

I’m not often a tourist in my own city. John toned down the spiel he usually gives to out-of-towners, but even this old Bostonian learned a few things - the specific location of the Boston Massacre, for example. John has a fun, low-key vibe; no surprise that he guides Segway tours for half the year and teaches snowboarding in Utah during the winter.

This would be a really fun thing to do with a group of friends; while riding the Segway was a blast, going solo proved a little bit lonely. One other drawback - Boston Segway Tours promises “to take stunning photos of our guests during their tours” for no extra cost. I like some of the photos of buildings and historic sites, but in general I can’t call the photos I received anything close to “stunning.” Oh, well.

Go take a Segway tour! You don’t need any special skill or physical ability, and I guarantee you’ll have fun.