Annabelle is one of the red-tailed hawks that live on the Gettysburg battlefield. She and her mate, Leroy, can frequently be seen around the area of the Peach Orchard and Devil’s Den. They will often swoop down to say “hello” while we are on Little Round Top.

Yesterday, one of our staff, Chuck Stevens, got this majestic shot of Annabelle as he was leading a Segway tour down Millerstown Road toward the Peach Orchard.

Annabelle was sitting on the fence just yards away, unphased by the passing humans — so close that Chuck didn’t even have to use a zoom. Great photo, Chuck!

The autumn is in full swing but the end of the tour season will be upon us in a few weeks and it is time to think about preparing for next year by refreshing our fleet. We’re looking for good homes for 4-6 of our most mature “horses”.

If you’ve ever thought of buying a Segway (you know you have!), this may be an opportunity that you can’t miss. These are the latest-model Segways (I2s) were born in 2008 and have been lovingly maintained. They have 3-6000 miles on them, new tires, handlebar bags, and two wireless keys each.

Prices range from $3200 to $4000 plus shipping. (New units sell for between $5200 and $6200 plus another $140 for the handlebar bag).

Free delivery is available in the areas of Adams County, PA and the suburbs of Baltimore and Washington D.C.

Picture yourself commuting to work or tooling around town on your very own eco-friendly Segway! Think of all the money you’ll save on gas alone! Just plug it into a standard outlet and pay about $0.25 for a full charge. Don’t miss this chance to get a clean and reliable Segway at a substantial discount.

They make great gifts too!

WARNING: Segway riding is highly addicting. Your spouse will want one too!

Please write to us for more details.

PS: Don’t be misled by low prices on eBay and elsewhere where Segway scams are notorious. Even legitimate sales are for machines that have been in accidents and have wobbly wheels and other serious defects.

Segs4Vets is a volunteer grass-roots project which donates Segways to disabled American veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan.

These brave servicemen have sustained injuries which have resulted in the amputation of one or both legs, extensive soft tissue and muscle injuries, traumatic burn injuries, spinal cord injuries, traumatic brain injury, and other neurological injuries and disorders.

The Segway restores a certain level of mobility that these servicemen had lost, improving their psychological and physiological quality of life.

Yesterday, we were honored to attend the most recent Segs4Vets award ceremony at the Marine Corps War Memorial (aka Iwo Jima Memorial) outside Washington D.C. where 50 disabled servicemen from the United States Army, Marines, and National Guard were honored for their courage and sacrifice with the gift of a Segway.

It was a moving tribute to those servicemen who, like their predecessors at Gettysburg, risked their lives in the service of their country.

To date, Segs4Vets has provided Segway Personal Transporters to more than 500 disabled veterans. Shortly before his tragic death, Jimi Heselden, the owner of the parent company of Segway, Inc., donated 1000 Segways to this very worthwhile cause.

Segs4Vets is a project of DRAFT (Disability Rights Advocates for Technology) which “represents people with disabilities who refuse to be defined by their disability and whose passionate enthusiasm for participating in life’s activities is supported by Universal Design and new and emerging technologies.”

DRAFT has been awarded the Seal of Excellence by the Independent Charities of America, classifying it in the elite group of charities which “upon rigorous independent review, been able to certify, document, and demonstrate on an annual basis that they meet the highest standards of public accountability, program effectiveness, and cost-effectiveness.”

In fact, Segs4Vets is one of the rare charities that can claim that 100% of the donations go directly to the program. Administrative costs are paid by the Board of Directors and Advisory Board.

Please watch the Segs4Vets video on YouTube and consider a tax-deductible donation to this worthy cause.

Jimi Heselden OBE, the owner of the UK-based parent company of Segway, Inc., died on Sunday in a tragic accident. He was apparently riding a Segway at his home in West Yorkshire, England, when he fell off a 80 foot cliff to his death. The cause of the accident is not known at this time.

Contrary to some reports, Mr. Heselden did not invent the Segway. (That was Dean Kamen.) Mr. Heselden, 62, was Chairman of Hesco Bastion Ltd, the manufacturer of defensive barriers that are used by U.S. and British troops throughout Iraq and Afghanistan. His company purchased Segway, Inc. in December 2009. Mr. Heselden was an avid Segway user and generous philanthropist, having donated more than $36 million to charitable causes like Help for Heroes. In 2006, he was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) “for services to the Defence Industry and to Charity.”

The Segway world has lost one of its greatest advocates but Mr. Heselden’s family is expected to carry on his passion and charitable good works. Our condolences go out to his family and many friends.

SegTours, LLC is now taking applications for full- and part-time customer service positions.

We encourage college students and responsible adults to apply. Note that these positions are NOT tour guides and no historical knowledge of the area is necessary.

More information is available here.

As part of the Gettysburg Bike Week events, we’ll be offering FREE Segway rides at the Gettysburg Civil War Complex this Friday and Saturday, 3pm - 8pm.

This is a great chance to experience the fun of riding a Segway Personal Transporter(tm) under the supervision of SegTours of Gettysburg, the exclusive Segway tour operator on the battlefield. The more adventurous can even try their hand at a challenging Segway obstacle course!

Please come by and take a ride!

The Gettysburg Civil War Complex is at 297 Steinwehr Avenue in Gettysburg.

Pursuant to the training that our staff received at Segway headquarters, SegTours of Gettysburg has been designated a Segway Experience Center and a Level 2 Service Center. With this training, we’re in a better position to maintain our fleet as well as to provide service to Segways owners in the area.

We’ve also been added to the Segway Authorized Tour program and recommended by Segway, Inc. on their website.

Well, this is a little embarrassing. As of yesterday, Segway Tours of Gettyburg is now the MOST popular thing to do in Gettysburg, according to the travel site, TripAdvisor.com!

Wow. We never really expected to have a higher rating than the battlefield itself! Of course, a vote for SegTours IS a vote for the battlefield too since that’s what we’re touring. So we’ll just look at this as an affirmation that our Segway tours are the best way to tour the battlefield.

Thanks to all of our customers who have taken the time to share their experience with TripAdvisor. It is good to hear that you think we’re providing a fun and educational experience to Gettysburg visitors.

The senior staff of SegTours of Gettysburg is just back from Bedford, New Hampshire, where we visited Segway headquarters.

In addition to meeting many of the big-wigs at Segway, Inc., we were treated to a fascinating tour of the Segway factory assembly line. We also heard directly from the source about exciting new Segway projects like the EN-V, a two-person sit-down vehicle with Segway technology. “EN-V” stands for Electric Networked-Vehicle but we think this is a case where they found a good marketing acronym (say it out loud) and then decided what it stood for .

The EN-V was developed in partnership with General Motors and is the second-generation prototype of the PUMA (Personal Urban Mobility and Accessibility) project that was announced last year. The Acronym Department has apparently been working overtime.

The real purpose of our trip, however, was to give our staff a chance to get down and dirty with the Segway. We learned how to better maintain our growing fleet and even make repairs that would otherwise require a Segway to be shipped back to its mother ship in Bedford.

There’s more news developing along those lines and we expect to be able to make an announcement soon. So stay tuned…!

We’ve noticed that, especially as the sun starts to go down, tour participants seem to get very formal in their reaction to the tour guide. But despite appearances in these photographs, there is no truth to the rumor that you are required to salute!

Ah, yes, sunset is a beautiful time to tour the Gettysburg battlefield!

Remember that if we took photos on your tour, you can find them on our Flickr photo page. Then just click on the date of your tour. From there you can right-click on an image to save it to your computer.