I'll be honest - segwaying has been a dream of mine ever since I watched Arrested Development and was impressed by Gob whizzing about on his segway.
I never really considered actually doing it until I saw a voucher pop up on itison for a place in Blair Atholl. Two seconds later, I'd booked it. I believe the voucher was around £7 pp for a 30 minute experience with an optional upgrade to a full 60 minute ride for an extra £10 pp. It was a little difficult to get a weekend booking as it was close to the end of the voucher so instead I booked for a Friday and got a 1.30pm session.
I really didn't know what to expect. Communication from Segway-Ecosse was excellent, David emailed me this morning about the possible bad weather and asking for my contact number in case he needed to get in touch. Thankfully by the time we got to Blair Atholl the weather had cleared up. Trevor was our guide for the session - this guy reminded me a lot of Simon Pegg and he was also comedy gold, so I knew we were in for a treat.
Firstly, you get to have a practice in a trial area. This also draws quite a crowd from the caravan park so just pretend they're not watching you. Trevor was an excellent teacher - liked a laugh and was really good at explaining how it all worked. I even made the mistake of joking about segwaying off a cliff and he took it really well. And it is actually really easy to do once you get the hang of it, it feels quite natural in a weird way.
You'll start on a restricted speed of 4mph and then when you're out of the caravan park you can go up to 12mph. The hour session is structured in a way that you add a little bit of knowledge on as you go along, e.g. tackling big hills and tree roots and cliffs (haha). I loved absolutely every second of this and never wanted it to end. I even wailed "I DON'T WANT TO LEAVE" as we were driving away. I can't remember the last time I had so much fun (and I spend a lot of time on roller skates).
The experience is exhilarating while also being relaxing - we got to see some lovely Highland forrest areas around Blair Castle. I can't wait to go back for the 90 minute ride and am hoping they soon offer all day experiences (with a picnic lunch). I can't recommend this experience highly enough - if you want a fun day out where you feel like you're actually gliding through a forrest with the fun of riding over tree roots, rabbit holes, going up and down hills, weaving in and out of trees, then you've really got to try this. read more