Estes Park – David Floyd is gliding down the rocky road with nary a move. He’s standing upright, virtually motionless, yet he’s soaking in the sight of Longs Peak and the natural wonders surrounding Estes Park at a zippy clip.
It’s a magic-carpet sensation Floyd wants to share.
“Last week I rode alongside an elk herd. It was amazing,” said Floyd, a former radio executive who, with his wife, Sue, has opened the state’s first Segway Human Transporter tour operation in the touristy town of Estes Park. “Until you step on a Segway, you can never know how much fun they are, and this town is the best place for a tour.”
The ballyhooed Segway is the 4-year-old creation of prolific inventor Dean Kamen. The machines use gyroscope technology to ferry upright riders at speeds around 10 mph. If you can stand up, you can ride an electric-motored, self-balancing Segway. The two-wheeled machine moves in response to minute pressure applied by a rider’s feet and is impossible to tip over, thanks to the gyroscopes. Turning involves twisting a throttle that spins the Segway.
The New Hampshire-based company recently revealed a series of new scooters loaded with lithium-ion batteries that allow more scooting – up to 24 miles – between charges. A golf machine is built to carry a bag of clubs. A sport unit comes in flashy colors. A knobby-tired off-road scooter can scurry up and down rocky slopes.
Segway has spent the past three years working with state legislatures to approve the use of Segways on city sidewalks. As of December, 40 states and the District of Columbia have passed laws allowing the use of Segways on sidewalks, bike paths and some roads. Colorado is not one of those states.
In May, a pedestrian group from Boulder and a statewide bicycle group lobbied Colorado lawmakers to kill a proposed bill that would have allowed the scooters on the state’s pedestrian walkways. The groups argued that allowing the machines on sidewalks could open the door to other motorized travel and eventually elbow walkers from sidewalks. Senate Bill 239 defined the machines as “electric personal assistive mobility devices” and would have prohibited the state’s municipalities from banning them. It did not pass.
Several towns, including Estes Park, Loveland, Fort Collins and Grand Junction, have enacted laws permitting the use of the scooters on public pathways.
Floyd’s Segways of Northern Colorado shop sells the machines for $4,400 and up. Three-hour tours, which can be customized to include activities such as wildlife photography classes or shopping trips around town, run about $70.
Floyd thinks the new all-terrain machines will allow people with mobility issues to visit sites not easily accessed, especially hiking trails around Estes Park.
“A majority of our customers are folks with a little mobility problem,” said Floyd, a diabetic who carries his hero Kamen’s insulin pump invention in his jeans pocket. “But let me be clear: This is not a different kind of wheelchair. We ask everyone, ‘What could you do with a Segway?’ and, boy, do we get some interesting answers.”
Estes Park local Doug Stutler saw one of Floyd’s customers zipping around town and had to stop by for a gander at the unusual gizmos, looking for help.
“I’ve had polio, so this is an option for me other than a wheelchair to go long distances,” said Stutler, who was pleased to hear that Segways do not require evenly distributed weight on both legs, since he tends to favor his left leg.
“This could be quite a deal for me.”
Go there — Book a tour at www.segwayofnortherncolorado.com or call the Floyds at 970-577-1729.
Jason Blevins can be reached at 303-820-1374 or jblevins@denverpost.com.
