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

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!

This awesome pair loved their ebike tour! They spent the entire day on the egreenery bikes and Joe is reeeeeaallllly interested in purchasing one now! He even sent me a fantastic email stating how amazing the bikes were and Jane told me that it was the most fun they had on their 4-day Napa vacation! We’re glad we can assist (pedal-assist that is!).

Joe & Jane

Thanks Joe for wearing the green shirt on your ride – OH so appropriate! See you guys next time!

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!

One of the reasons why I created this blog was to reiterate what our ebike riders experienced. We’ve only had positive feedback from ALL of our guests who tend to come back with stories of their *electrifying* journeys on the ebikes in Napa, Yountville, St. Helena and Calistoga (yes, we had a couple of determined New Yorkers in their 60′s who rode all the way to Calistoga via Silverado Trail to visit a vineyard! I will eventually write a post about that soon!).  Just recently, we’ve had a couple get engaged on our egreenery bikes (check out the huge bling on our Facebook page) – had a couple ride their bikes 2 days after their Napa nuptials and had a wife who was FINALLY able to ride with her bike-enthused husband!

Baskets filled with goodies!

Over the fantastic Memorial Day weekend, we had a fun couple from Miami, Florida, who went all over town looking for Change of Greenery. For some reason, they thought we were located at a different hotel and their concierge had called me to ask where our location was at. Thirty minutes later, a couple was at my door wanting to reserve 2 ebikes for the following day after their 5:30am balloon ride.

They arrived at 1pm the next day and they came back 7 hours later elated! They had told me that they had trekked to one of our partners, O’Brien’s Estate Winery, where they had delicious wine tastings and even got a private tour of the vineyard from Bart O’Brien himself. Mr. O’Brien has an amazing IT (Information Technology) past and has an incredible love story to tell. I won’t blurt them out online, you’ll just have to find out for yourself about this individual by visiting him and the winery himself. Impressed by Mr. O’Brien, his passion for wine and their love of Seduction, they signed up as Wine Club Members!

After O’Brien’s, they got their 2-for-1 wine tasting at another one of our Napa Valley Green Card partners, Domaine Chandon. After Chandon, they headed to the town of Yountville where they had wine tastings from Cornerstone Cellars and ate at Bistro Jeanty. They raved about their ham sammich and said it was sooooooo scrumptious and delicious! They made their way up to Silverado Trail and came back to The Napa Valley Marriott Hotel & Spa to return the ebikes.

Their baskets were filled with bottles of wines from Domaine Chandon and Cornerstone Cellars! It was a successful day for these glowing ebikers! They did a total of 22 miles on a beautiful day!

They told me that they had so much fun on the ebikes that they winded up losing track of time! Well we are glad you did! Thanks to Jenn & BJ! We hope you make it back again soon and we’re glad we helped make your trip so memorable!