Change of Greenery BlogThings to See and Do in Napa Valley that's GREEN!

Napa Valley Wine Tour Promotion 2 people for $99!

OH YEAH… we just launched our Summer Promotion… Get TWO all-day electric bikes for the AMAZING price of $99! (Regular Price $150)

Summer is finally here and we have decided to lower our prices this season!

Starting tomorrow, you can ride our bikes for the low price of $99 for two people and Saturdays at $75pp. You can now reserve online at http://changeofgreenery.rezgo.com/. First come – first serve! Days will be blocked off on our online calendar as soon as it is filled.

What do you get with your all-day bike tour?

-          2 Electric Bikes that can go up to 18mph with a range of 30 miles using pedal-assist or 15 miles using it as a mini-moped.

-          35 Different offers on 5 different maps using the included Napa Valley Green Card Key. This includes 2-for-1 wine tastings at Domaine Chandon ($25 savings), Trefethen Family (Save $10 or $25 for their reserves), Clos du Val ($15 or $25) and many many other deals such as 10% off their food purchases from The Monticello Deli, The Food Mill and any spa package treatments from The Napa Valley Marriott Spa. For a full list – please check out this page. This bike ride pays for itself!

-          Complimentary wine and retail pickup from our Cabernet colored Yamaha Vino moped. Once you return the bikes, we’ll give you your purchases.

-          We also include roadside assistance, but our ebikes ARE equipped with THORN-RESISTANT tubes for those pesky goat heads in Napa Valley. We keep one bike on hand to immediately REPLACE the bike wherever you are at!

-          Bikes MUST be picked up from 9am – 12pm. Return is anytime before 6pm. We are closed Tues & Weds.

Why electric bikes vs. regular bikes?

We see regular bike riders all the time – you know, the ones sitting under the shade on the side of the road trying to catch their breath or trying to seek salvation from the heat and from long periods of bike riding. For people who are VERY familiar with Napa Valley afternoon winds, our bike riders tell me that the motor “saves” them and they get to see sooooo many different things in a shorter time period by going a little bit faster with more strength! Our bikes can actually go up Atlas Peak and Mount Veeder. Trust me, I’ve done it before (and even rode with “real” cyclists for a few miles).

It’s VERY rare that we get a complaint on our bikes and our service, but yet we hear horror stories from our partner wineries about “bike renters being ‘too hot’ on a regular bike and are too bitter to enjoy their visit.” Last week, I heard about a woman who demanded someone from “X Bike Company” to pick her up immediately because she was too exhausted and could not pedal anymore to return the bike. Don’t let this happen to you!

Check out our reviews on Yelp – we are currently at 27 reviews at an average of 5-stars! Woohoo!

We are also listed as “9 New Reasons To Love Napa Valley” for 2011.  We could possibly be dubbed as “the best time you’ll ever have on a bike!” So what are you waiting for? Get out of your car and onto these amazing bikes! Woooooooohooooooooo!

I’m looking forward to seeing you this year in Napa Valley!

Conveniently located approximately 3-4 miles from the Napa Valley Marriott, I am proud to introduce you to our newest partner in crime, Silenus Vitners. Silenus Vitners is different and unique in Napa Valley. Instead of going to their tasting room to taste a particular brand of wine — here, it’s a variety! There are 12 vintners who create their wines here and/or get their grapes here at the vineyard. Their tasting menu changes every Friday! Tastings start at $15.00/pp. With The Napa Valley Green Card, it’s a buy one, get one free. You’ll be sampling 6 different types. Also, feel free to bring a picnic basket!

Silenus Vitners

They also have a Bocce ball court.

If you know how to play Bocce ball, please contact me. I want to learn!

Silenus Vitners

Silenus Vitners

Silenus Vitners

Bounty Hunter Ebike

Bounty Hunters Wine Bar & Smokin’ BBQ
975 1st St
Napa, CA 94559

http://bountyhunterwinebar.com/

Did you know that Bounty Hunters Wine Bar & Smokin’ BBQ is a Change of Greenery partner? You can whizz on your electric bike rental on your way to beautiful Downtown Napa and get a 2-for-1 flight tasting of The Bounty Hunter brand with your Napa Valley Green Card. It takes approximately 12 minutes by ebike coming from The Napa Valley Marriott, 3425 Solano Ave., Napa, CA 94558. The Bounty Hunters is an interesting restaurant with a few unusual items that I have never seen before… like this:

Wine Chilling Machine

Free Wine Chilling Service

One of them is their “Free Chilling Service” machine for wines. You’ll see this as soon as you walk through the doors.  It claims it’s “25 times faster than a refrigerator”. I didn’t put my finger in it because I thought it might come off. Maybe next time!

If you can make it for lunch they have a “Lunch Express” for a BBQ sammich, a side and a drink for $10. It was gooooooood! I ate it all!!!!!

Bounty Hunter Express Lunch Sammich Meal

How do I begin?

The phone has been ringing off the hook and all I can say is that we will get back to you asap. I’m currently carrying an appointment book everywhere I go and pick up the phone when I can. We have plenty of availability as we have a fleet of bikes at The Napa Valley Marriott (I mean – where else would you go?).

To make the best of the situation, we’re answering the most common questions right here and right now….

YES – we have baby trailers and tag-alongs but we don’t want your kids at risk with our bike loops… this is Napa of course and we care about your safety! But we do have them! The safest places are behind the Napa Valley Marriott in residential and vineyard areas…

YES – you can rent one of our electric bikes and bring a regular bike and still get 2-for-1 wine tastings with our partners! Yes, yes, bring your bike enthused partner and see who can go faster (We know who will win! *Wink! Wink!*!). We’ve been there and done that!

YES to kids over over 5’2 with a parent riding along side.

YES to adults who are 5’0 – 6’3.

YES you HAVE to sign a waiver. For FASTER expedition, HAVE this waiver… so either you want to wait in the queue to sign the waiver OR you sign it now and we’ll get you rolling ASAP! We MUST have a VALID credit card as a deposit.

YES you CAN get a DUI on a bike. This is wine TASTING and not wine GUZZLING! Safety is always a first!

YES – we use lithium-ion battery! Static Charge!

NO – it’s not recommended to ride this bike if you’ve never ridden a bike before!

NO – You CANNOT go 30+ miles on THROTTLE mode. You’ll use your battery life faster (let’s say 15 miles for a 150 pound person on regular terrain if you use the throttle mode 100% of the time). It hasn’t been tested only because no one has ever done it. I can say that a 140 pounder can go 30 miles with 30% throttle mode and 70% pedal assist. So yes, if you weigh 200 pounds, you’ll probably do about 25 miles on pedal assist with no inclines. Just take that with a grain of salt! It’s all about the weight! I just recently had a family of 4 do 27-miles with mountain inclines with 20% throttle mode and they came back with lots of battery life left. Granted, they all weighed an average of 160 lbs.

NO – there are no restaurants on Silverado Loop Trail. You must go to either Yountville or Downtown Napa!

Please watch the YouVideo before you rent a bike just so you’ll get a hint of what we’re all about!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=huWKzfvYl9c]

Any other questions?

Please email us at changeofgreenery@gmail.com. Even if you want to make reservations. Our phones are literally off the hook! We will get back to you because we love you for being green!

Check out our partners and our Napa Valley Bike Maps!

For a Change of Scenery – Try Change of Greenery… Get out of your car and onto some ebikes! ONLY in Napa Valley!

BTW, for the record – we are AWESOME…

I met the owner of The Cottages of Napa Valley and he told me that our ebike riders can picnic on their property. You can call them before heading out or ask one of Change of Greenery’s staff members to call just to make sure there’s no one is utilizing the tables. I actually got a tour of this unique place last week and it was gorgeous! When you rent an ebike from Change of Greenery, you can get 10% your picnic basket from Characters BBQ menu from the Napa Valley Marriott or get 15% off your food bill from The Red Hen Cantina. They are both on the way to The Cottages of Napa Valley… approximately 3 miles from where we are located… 1/2 way to Domaine Chandon!

The Cottages of Napa Valley

Please call (707) 252-7810 ahead in advance for availability!

From The Napa Valley Marriott’s Facebook Page.

Their Facebook page is awesome because they’re always having contests for freebies unlike any other that I’ve seen! So become a fan as well as becoming a Change of Greenery fan!

Change of Greenery Electric Bicycle Rentals and More is going to be SLAMMED this weekend but we still have a few more bikes left so reserve now! We are excited that the Napa summer season is here! The weather IS amazing! Today, we reserved bikes for a family of 4 and they don’t want to do wine tasting tomorrow and they want to go off the beaten path, so we  decided to create a fun 27-mile bike loop for them that doesn’t have as many partners like the Silverado Loop.

Dry Creek Road Bike Loop

Behind the Napa Valley Marriott is a long road called Dry Creek Road which slowly but surely inclines in the hills. Once you make a right on Oakville Grade from Dry Creek, you’ll be going higher and higher until you see some amazing breath taking views of Napa Valley and then it’s a roller coaster ride thereafter! I do have our partners’ location just in case you want to stop and take a break – grab some water or a snack! Our partners are more than happy to help our bike riders out in anyway possible!

When using our mountain ebikes on inclines, put the ebikes in 1st or 2nd gear and use the pedal-assist. Trust me when I say that it helps out tremendously as I rode this climb last week with ease! NO WAY, NO HOW would I be able to do this with a regular bike… nor would I attempt to because of the lack of cell phone coverage if I did this alone.

Since I have mapped out some of our partners on the map, I did put some cute warning signs on the map! Since O’Brien’s Estate Winery is within the vicinity, I enclosed their location, but gave a nice little forewarning…

Do Not Go Here!

O’Brien’s Estate Winery has been The #1 Favorite for Change of Greenery’s bike riders for the past 2 months. Not kidding. I told a couple today to avoid that place as I’ve heard soooooo many good things about O’Brien’s from our ebike riders, that I feel that our other winery partners aren’t getting a chance. Well guess what? The couple today winded up going to O’Brien’s Estate Winery LAST. I called them close to 7pm because I was getting worried about them (Wineries tend to have their last pour at  4:30pm and I was FEARING the WORST!). When I got a hold of them via cell phone, they told me they have been hanging out with Bart O’Brien since 5:15pm! They came over after they closed and Mr. O’Brien let them in! Talk about customer service! Sheesh! I’m tellin’ ya – there’s always a party at O’Brien’s and I hope it might have something to do with the egreenery bikes because when the O’Brien clan sees that they pulled up with the bikes, it’s just a fabulous celebration! You just have to go there to see what it’s about I suppose…

I also got a nice handwritten note in regards to Page Wine Cellars in Yountville, CA telling me that they had an AMAZING time there from Egan. They were so impressed with their wines, they became wine club members! Yay! It’s seldom that I get a handwritten note so I was appreciative! I met Egan last week and WOW – what a genuinely nice guy! Highly recommended to visit!

Also, if you decide to do this 27-mile Dry Creek Road, be sure to check out Baldacci’s Vineyards, which is the first vineyard on the right when you get on Silverado Trail. They have a 60 degree cave so they would be PERFECT to visit to get a cool break after doing those climbs! Mike and Fran are the peeps to ask for.

Baldacci's Vineyards

I’m pretty positive that if you tell them you just did the Oakville Grade incline, they’ll understand why you URGENTLY need to visit the cave! Heehoo! Yeah – they ROCK!

Ebikes and partners go hand in hand!!!

BTW, I think we’re going to be launching some fantastic fun around Napa on Sundays, so stay tuned!

I just booked a party of 4 for later this month for guests (a beauty queen) staying at The Napa Valley Marriott and Spa. It turns out she has represented a southwest state! She’s a complete stunner! I can’t wait to meet her. I hope she’ll let me take pictures and post them on this blog. Stay tuned!

nascar sprint cup series

In other news, it turns out that next weekend, Napa will be packed due to NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at Infineon Raceway so it should be a very packed Napa Valley on top of the GayPride Festivities! Make sure you reserve your electric bike before they’re all gone! Remember, you don’t have to be a guest at the NV Marriott to rent our bikes. Everyone is always welcomed here!

Napa Valley Gay Pride Week 2010

“You Can Leave Your Hat On!” LGBTQ Pride event is going on for one week from June 13 – June 20, 2010. You can purchase your ticket here. Proceeds from this event will be donated to the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life on behalf of Team Unity League. Get a group of people together and rent electric bicycles in Napa and parade around town with the Napa Valley Green Card any day of the week for this special celebration! Already bringing a bike? No problem! Find a non-cycling buddy to ride with you and benefit from the card!

Ideas for an electric bike in Napa during this event:

Sunday, June 13 - Ride to Fuller Park from The Napa Valley Marriott for the LGBTQ Family Picnic and head over to Ceja Vineyards, Toolbox Wine Company, Gustavo Thrace, Mason Cellars, Taste at Oxbow for complimentary wine tastings and 2-for-1 wine tastings.

Thursday, June 16 – It’s Pride Night at The Chef’s Market – Ride Your Electric Bike and eat, drink and be merry!

Sunday, June 20 – Ride your electric bike to Bardessono for the “Ibiza Chill Out by the pool” after the “Recovery Brunch” at The Napa Valley Marriott Hotel and Spa, where we are conveniently located and see the gorgeous scenery along Solano Ave and make a pitstop over to Trefethen Vineyards, O’Brien’s Estate and Domaine Chandon for 2-for-1 wine tastings!

Change of Greenery’s electric bike rentals are $75.00 for the entire day and this includes a basket for all your goodies, a combination lock, helmet, roadside assistance and wine pickup. These bikes go in excess of 30 miles and we have 30 partners for you to choose from to get complimentary wine tastings, 2-for-1 wine tastings, a free piece of chocolate from Anette’s at The Public Oxbow Market and more.

Mention PFLAG and we’ll donate 10% to PFLAG North Bay.

Also note – anyone dressing like Cher will get a complimentary all-day bike rental!!

We want Cher on a bike!

The Crazy 8 riding down Yountville-Crossing

What a treat to have these bike riders toil around Napa Valley on our electric bikes last Saturday! Bruce, “the ringleader” asked me earlier, “Where to go?” and I instantly thought of my last few riders raving about O’Brien’s Estate Winery and I knew Mr. O’Brien would not let them down! I quickly called the estate ahead in advance to make sure they got in. I also made lunch reservations for them at the phenomenal Hurley’s Restaurant. They have an amazing patio smack dab in the middle of Yountville that’s just perfect for people watching on Washington St! After shooting off more ebike riders on their Napa Valley ebike trek, I had some free time in the afternoon and thought it would be fantastic to pull out the Canon SLR and take shots around the valley of my “Crazy 8″! I dubbed them “The Crazy 8″ because as soon as they jumped out of their Jeep convertible to pick up the ebikes in the morning, they all jumped on the ebikes and the boys were just whizzing along fearlessly and flying by in the parking lot! I stood there saying to myself, “Ummmm…. Guys??!!!”

Here are some shots I took of them at Hurley’s and driving down Yountville towards beautiful Silverado Trail. I am not by any means a professional photographer, but I’m slowly but surely learning!

The fun part of the short photo shoot was watching them cruise past the “regular” bike riders effortlessly and picking up their wine purchases from O’Brien’s and Domaine Chandon. Hey – you can send me to Domaine Chandon anytime! I love going through their beautiful property!!!

ebikes in Yountville

Hurley's Restaurant, Yountville, CA

Enjoying the sun on the patio

Let's Go Here!

Leaving Ma(i)sonry and Yountville

Whizzing down Yountville-Cross on an electric bike

Luscious Napa Valley Greenery!

Fearless Bruce, the adventure seeker!

Thanks Crazy 8 for letting me take photos of you guys!  You guys are too much fun and way too awesome! I hope to see you again on your next trip to Napa!