Go Ape Cannock Chase Segway Experience

Bank holiday Monday brought a day Ash had been waiting for since Christmas. The day he got to go to Go Ape Cannock Chase and try out a Segway (I wasn’t jealous at all…).

We had to put it off last month due to the unexpected snowfall. So it was nice to be greeted with the sunshine to visit our nearest Go Ape location to take on the:

Go Ape Cannock Chase Segway Experience.

Go Ape Cannock Chase is a treetop adventure course situated in the smallest Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in mainland Britain. The high ropes tree top adventure course has two levels – the tree top junior as well as one for adults – where you can move from tree to tree on ropes and zip wires. There are 1,500 metres of tree to tree crossings.

You can even try some off-road forest Segway where you can take to two wheels in the woods, a zip line and there are also miles of mountain biking trails here if that’s more your bag. There are so many Go Ape experiences for you to choose from.

We were on a segway session later in the day and the group he went out with was small. Four participants in total alongside the instructor.

I have to say I never quite know what to expect when going to places like this. Are they going to be a bit standoffish, look at you like you don’t belong (yes it has happened to me in the past).

However, I can only have praise for the instructors who were friendly from the off. (Even when I kicked over one’s cup of coffee I didn’t get in too much trouble).

I decided not to partake myself, I wasn’t sure if my mobility would be good enough.

However, again just to show how nice these instructors were they actually spoke to Ash about me and said if I ever did want to try it, they would be more than happy to let me try it out and see if I could do it! Alongside offering to take as many stops as possible should I find I was uncomfortable.

The experience itself lasts around an hour.

To partake; you must be both over 10 years old and weigh over 7 stone. (The upper limit is 19.5 stone).

Under 16s must be accompanied by an adult (ratio 3 children to 1 adult).

16 and 17-year-olds can ride alone but cannot be left in charge of younger, child.

For a 1 hour segway experience it costs £30 per person to take part!

Kicking Off the Go Ape Segway Experience.

Your experience starts with a briefing on both safety and of course how to use a Segway. The hardest part looked to me like trying to be still, alongside a small obstacle course to make sure you are ready to take on the forest floor at full Segway speed.

Don’t expect to ride around a specially tarmacked smooth area. Oh no, you will be taking off on the forest trails dodging fallen sticks, tree roots and stones, That’s alongside making sure you don’t hit passing pedestrians and dogs – many of who might just look at you slightly jealously.

At the end of his hour ride around, Ash appeared with a huge smile on his face and declaring he was definitely going again. I can highly recommend the experience to keep little kids and big kids happy for an hour!

I guess all I can do now is let him type a few words himself about what it was like to take on the Go Ape Segway Experience and come out certified by the Chief Gorilla!

What Did Ash Think of Go Ape Segway?

“Well, what can I say about the Go Ape Cannock Chase Segway experience?

I was a bit apprehensive at first I must admit, as I’ve not done anything like this.

The fact I was picked first to demonstrate what the instructor had explained to us didn’t help much either. However, the instructor was very friendly and you could tell he loved his job which sure helped put me at ease.

They keep a good eye on you. Each participant takes it in turns to move forward, backward, turn on the spot and such before being allowed to move on to a small conned area which you can test your mobility.

The Segway’s are self-balancing, so all you have to do is lean backwards or forwards to make them move, just tilting the handle rather than your body to turn.

After a few minutes, everyone is lead out and taken into the forest and soon it becomes apparent why.

After a small trial, we were all stopped and asked to check the little stop-watch like device on our lanyard for our Segway. What then followed was the instructor getting us to change the settings; making the turning easier and increasing the speed before the limiter kicks in.

On the Open Forest Pathway.

It seems I was somewhat of a natural though; it wasn’t long before I was on the instructor’s heels and at some points, I was even riding alongside him if the path allowed it. Talking with him about Segways and all sorts of random things.

They’re all quite a caring bunch as well. Any time anyone needed to stop they got the whole group to sto. Wiating for them and making sure we kept out the way of pedestrians, animals and cyclists.

I can say for sure I’ll most definitely be going again some time, it’s well worth the money and it’s a really great experience.

Although you have to learn to shuffle your feet around a bit or the soles of your feet sure do ache after an hour on one of those Segway’s.”

Book Your Experience.

To find out more about Go Ape including where the closest one to you pop on over to their website.

Have you ever been to Go Ape or tried riding a Segway?

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