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Segway: Another way to tour the Hills on two wheels
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FarkTom and Arlene Osborne have been interested in Segway “personal transporters” ever since the machines were invented 10 miles from their Sandown, N.H., home.
This summer, they finally got to ride them – in Deadwood, 1,600 miles from home.
“We really loved it,” Tom said. “It was a terrific adventure for us and probably one of the highlights of our trip.”
The Osbornes were the first customers of Rushmore Segway, a new business now offering tours of Deadwood and Hill City.
Darrin and Yvette Gourde started the business after seeing Segway tours offered in Chicago and Washington, D.C., while on a trip last year with their three daughters, Samantha, Hillary and Heather.
“We were looking for something that we could all do together,” said Darrin, who previously worked as an engineer. “We noticed that they were giving tours and we thought it would be a great fit for this area.”
Rushmore Segway officially opened for business on June 2, but the Osbornes got a sneak preview on May 31. The couple had stopped in Deadwood on their way home from a trip through the Rockies and saw a string of six Segways rolling down a Deadwood sidewalk toward the tour’s home base.
The Osbornes tracked them down, interested in taking a tour. But when the Gourdes learned the couple planned to head home the next day, they offered to give them a “preseason” tour as sort of a trial run for their tour guide.
Each tour starts with a short training session on how to ride the electric transporters and how to make emergency stops. Osborne said they practiced leaning and tilting the handlebars to steer before heading out on the tour, which starts at the Days of ’76 Rodeo grounds and runs through town along Whitewood Creek. Tour guides stop periodically to talk about the local history and landmarks.
In Hill City, the tour runs along through town along the Mickelson Trail.
“For us about 80 percent of the fun was getting to ride a Segway,” though they also enjoyed the tour, Tom said.
The Osbornes are retired but very active. Tom, who’s 73, builds and flies airplanes. Together, they fly a hot air balloon, and both have motorcycles.
But Gourde is quick to add that even less-adventurous souls are quick to get the knack of riding a Segway.
“It’s really exciting to watch,” he said. “They go from, ‘I don’t think I can do it’ to you can’t get the smile off their face.”
The Gourdes have the only Segway dealer in South Dakota. If you really love the tour, they’ll sell you one of the environmentally-friendly transporters, but they run about $5,000. They don’t do rentals.
Darrin said the machines will go about 12.5 miles per hour but are slowed down considerably for tours.
Jade Temple, marketing coordinator for the Deadwood Chamber of Commerce, has seen Segway tours in larger cities (they’re offered in about 200 cities, including Paris).
“It’s kind of neat to see that type of tour come to our area,” he said. “They kind of give (visitors) a little different perspective.”
Deadwood does have some other tours available – albeit none of them on two-wheeled personal transporters – but Rushmore Segway is the only business offering tours in Hill City, said Hill City Chamber Director Mike Verchio.
“It certainly is unique, and it’s getting an awful lot of interest as people are tooling around town on their Segways,” he said. “It’s kind of what we pride ourselves on here is uniqueness. And it’s definitely unique.”
Although the rainy June weather hasn’t been cooperative, it has given the Gourdes a chance to fine-tune their tours and add more signage.
“We’re a little bit hard to find right now, but it’ll get better,” Darrin said. “We’re kind of slow getting up and going, and the weather hasn’t been the best. But considering that, it’s been great.”
For more information, call 391-0709 or go to www.rushmoresegway.com.
Contact Heidi Bell Gease at 394-8419 or heidi.bell@rapidcityjournal.com.
If you go
What: Rushmore Segway tour
To take part you must:
-- Weigh 100-260 pounds
-- Sign a waiver
-- Wear a helmet (provided)
-- Be able to make motions such as climbing stairs without assistance.
-- Be at least 16 years old; the business can make exceptions for younger riders who demonstrate satisfactory riding skills.
Cost: $35 for 60-90 minutes, including a training session, or 10 minutes for $10
When: Monday through Saturday.
Where: Deadwood tours start at the Days of ’76 rodeo grounds ticket booth. Hill City tours start on Main Street across from the Black Hills Institute of Geological Research.
To book a tour or for more information, call 1-800-979-3370 or go to www.rushmoresegway.com
Rushmore Segway's Yvette Gourde, left, leads a tour of Segway riders on part of the Mickleson Trail and of Hill City on Thursday morning. Following her are Liz Anderson, second from left, of Hill City, Skye Klingbeil of Portalnd, Oregon, her husband, Chad Klingbeil, Rushmore Segway employee Andy Burch, and Anderson's husband, Ken Anderson. (Ryan Soderlin/Journal staff)
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