A new Segway-based tour company, River City Segs, opened shop in August. They offer a “Church Hill Tour” and a “Half Church Hill Tour”, among others.
Opened in August 2012 by proud Richmonders Chad Harvey, Jeff Majer, and Nathan Willis, they think it is important to keep their tour operations locally owned and operated.
“River City Segs’ tours are a great way to experience Richmond.” Willis says, “It’s a fun way to learn a bit about our city.” “There are people that would rather get tied up and thrown in the James then take a walking history tour. But the Segway makes history fun. And, as a guide, if I can’t find a couple fun stories in Richmond’s 400 years I’m just not trying.” Majer says. The tours are not just about history. River City Segs also offers public art tours that include murals, sculptures, and graffiti.
“Every once in a while, people see the Segway and say ‘I would kill myself on that thing.’ But safety is our number one priority and when people get on, they realize how easy it is,” Majer continues. The staff at River City Segs has almost 10 years of combined experience keeping riders safe and satisfied during their Segway journeys in Richmond, VA.
Chad Harvey, a Richmond native with deep family roots in RVA, currently studies business and economics at Virginia Commonwealth University and has more then 4 years experience in the logistics side of the Segway tour business. His parents both taught in Henrico County for 30+ years, and are now teaching at private schools in the city. His aunt, Kathryn Harvey, created World of Mirth in 1993, which is a staple of Carytown, and a Richmond favorite. His uncle, Bryan Harvey, was a fixture in the Richmond music scene for a long time, playing in bands such as The Dads, House of
Freaks, and Gutterball.Jeff Majer grew up in Chesapeake, VA but has been in RVA since 1995. He came to VCU and received a Painting and Printmaking and an Art History degree. He is an award-winning artist including the VMFA Fellowship. He has worked at historical museums in Richmond including the Fire & Police Museum and the Valentine Richmond History Center. He currently writes about Richmond history at www.historyreplaystoday.com
Nathan Willis graduated for Lynn University in 1994. He has been in retail management for over 12 years. Nathan is also the head wrestling coach for Holman Middle School.
River City Segs
1805 East Grace Street | (804)343-6105 | info@rivercitysegs.com
@804segs | Facebook | rivercitysegs.com
24 comments
RT @chpn: River City Segs offers new Church Hill Segway tour http://t.co/HLSKZCwT
Ugh. I have to deal with the idiot tourists that do this tour over on Brown’s Island when I run. They take up the whole sidewalk like they own the place. Hopefully our non-flat sidewalks will keep them in the street and not in the way of pedestrian traffic.
RT @chpn: River City Segs offers new Church Hill Segway tour http://t.co/HLSKZCwT
@chpn Thanks!
^^^ Because running around a segway is soooo difficult. Sidewalks weren’t meant for running anyways road warrior
To qoute the Bard
“out out vile segway…where is thy luster now!”
Just walk or bike or something but leave these evil devices at home.!
River City Segs first press. Thanks to @chpn
http://t.co/0qxhOGJQ
Beat me by 30 minutes – http://t.co/AMsrvRWU @804segs: River City Segs first press. Thanks to @chpn
http://t.co/uuCnZGMR
^^Evil devices? They’ve changed over 60,000 disabled Americans and wounded veterans lives; sounds pretty evil, haha.
Why do people hate so hard on some locals starting up a business that is strictly focused on promoting our city? Good luck guys, I wish you great success in showing off our beautiful city!!!
The first press from my new business venture @804segs http://t.co/bEvrXtoV
Church Hill could use all the positive attention it can get! Increasing local and historical knowledge is also a great endeavor. I personally do get annoyed when crowds of them prevent me from using sidewalks as well, but the benefits go far beyond our personal irritation. Perhaps the owners could build into prep for the tour to be mindful of residents using the sidewalks as well?
Exactly how many disabled people are in the picture above?
Segways are strangely awesome and I agree we need the positive attention. I did the tour once and really expected to feel incredibly lame. Although I was in fact lame, I had a blast. Also, live up here and still managed to learn a bunch of stuff.
I could do without the comic sans.
I think we should consider ourselves lucky that we live in a place that other people want to visit. However, I believe Mars has a good point. Tourists should be be mindful that this is a residential area. We need to coexist.
Thanks for the interest. We hope to see you all on tour.
We will absolutely pay more attention to pedestrians and residents giving them more space. That is really great feed back. We all love RVA and want to promote it as much as possible AND get along with our neighbors. It’s not too much to ask.
Thanks again for all the support.
They see me rollin’ … they hatin …
And hasn’t River City Segway been open for longer than a couple of months?
@14 – Segway of Richmond’s been open for a while. Not sure if these are affiliated or entirely different. Segway of Richmond has always been very chaotic and hard to work with so hopefully this one is different entirely.
We must have had at least four or five occasions where we tried to book with S of R and nobody answered the phones or they had some weird reason they weren’t open. They left a lot of money on the table and I suspect there’s plenty of business to go around.
For those who haven’t tried a segway before, they are surprisingly fun.
If you’ve always been curious about Segways, this is your chance.
If you’ve wondered if you could even stay on one and not embarrass yourself….Wonder no more.
Stick your head inside the old firehouse at 18th and Grace. and get a free trial run in the segway obstacle course set up in the old station.
Sunday morning after a River City Diner breakfast, we came upon a sandwich board on the sidewalk – FREE SEG Rides.
Checked it out. It was great! You’ll love it!
Went on a tour today with River City Segs and had a fantastic time! Learned a lot of great history about Richmond and enjoyed riding on the Segway. I would highly recommend this group and would go on another tour anytime.
Sooooo… they are pretty much just ripping off from the Segway tour that has been operating in Richmond for the past few years. If that what I am gathering from this.
It’s more like they rose from the ashes of the company that used to offer the tours, check out this piece on Richmond BizSense.
So, some employees stole another companies business model and clients and just ran a few blocks away? I doubt this will last… considering the size of Richmond I cant see a need for something as rediculous as two segway companies. Feel like this group is just gonna get burned.
It sounded like the owner of Segway of Richmond is packing it in on that business as opposed to this being a two player market if I read the articles right.
Couldn’t have said it any better: “This is excellent! The brains behind other Segway tours now have their own company. The tourists and visitors to our area will continue to see the great sights in Richmond and receive the professionalism they deserve.” -JohnQ