OAKLAND -- Warning: Segway Off Road tours through Redwood
Regional Park may result in writer's block.  "Just say it's the
coolest thing, mom.  Those words, from a 14-year old to his
journalist mother, could be the best kid-to-parent advice ever.
Why? Because, after an insane bout of wanderlust swept this
writer from a rock-solid position at a keyboard onto an off-road
Segway zooming 12 mph over redwood mulch near the East Bay's
Skyline Trail, that's what pops up: "It's the coolest thing."
Of course, my approach had been cerebral and full of
professional questions. Was it safe? Could anyone do it, as
advertised? Doesn't it hurt the environment? Won't being on a
machine prevent me from communing with nature? And who's this
tour guide, claiming Segways do less damage to trails than
hiking boots and whose neighbors either growl or gyrate
admiringly at his endeavors?  Drew Foster is a living monument
to odd, unbelievable adventures. Cut out of a friend's car after
a horrific accident as a young adult, he spent s