Planning a Casual Winery Tour of the Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma, CA

PLANNING A CASUAL BICYCLE TOUR OF THE DRY CREEK VALLEY

For your first day of casual riding in Sonoma County we always suggest the Dry Creek Valley Out & Back. It's the perfect combination of light traffic, amazing views and great places to visit.

For more adventurous options check out our Maps & Routes page...

Once you have your date set a little planning will insure that you have a wonderful day.

Click here for groups of 6 or more people...

For Groups of less than 6 People:

One thing to do ahead of time:

1#) Choose and reserve bikes

We always suggest reserving your bikes ahead of time to ensure that we have them available for you.

For casual touring our most popular bike is the Specialized Crossroads Hybrid. It has an upright comfortable riding position, is equipped with an insulated rear trunk bag and handle bar bag, and is perfect for up to 25 or 30 miles. For more active riders wishing to go a longer distance or have a livelier ride our Specialized Sirrus lightweight hybrid is a great choice. Of course, we also have Road and Tandem Bikes available as well. All bikes come equipped with locks & helmets.

What time to start:

With so much to do and see in the Dry Creek Valley, we recommend allowing yourself and your group enough time to enjoy the day at a leisurely pace. Picking up your bikes before 10:30 am (we open at 9 am), especially on warmer days, also allows you to do the majority of your riding before the peak heat of the day. We suggest you ride to your furthest destination first, and then make a few stops on your way back including lunch.

Planning your stops:

With a group of less than six it’s easy because you won't need reservations at most of the wineries, so you can wait to choose where to stop.

If you have beginner riders who are not accustomed to biking then a popular destination would be the "mid valley" area (12 miles round trip). If you’re more active or accustom to biking then you may find the "up valley" area (25 miles round trip) is a comfortable ride.

We recommend you make your first stop to pick up a picnic lunch at one of our recommended spots, either in town at Oakville Grocery or Shed, or, once you’ve reached mid valley at the Dry Creek Store. Please note that on weekends the Dry Creek Store can be very busy at lunch time, so you may want to consider an in town option to beat the rush. Our rental bikes are equipped with insulated rear trunk bags to make it easy to carry it with you; so you bike to the "mid Valley" or "up valley" areas and enjoy your lunch when you’re ready.

If you are not making any additional stops on the return route:

HEAD BACK BEFORE 4:00PM FROM "MID VALLEY"!
HEAD BACK BEFORE 3:00 PM FROM "UP VALLEY"!

If you plan on making another suggested stop in "Healdsburg Town" Area

HEAD BACK BEFORE 3:00PM FROM "MID VALLEY"!
HEAD BACK BEFORE 2:00 PM FROM "UP VALLEY"!

This will keep your return ride relaxing and enjoyable and allow you to return your bikes prior to closing at 5pm.

Typical Itinerary- Beginner Riders to "Mid Valley"

6.5 hours- 12 miles approximate ride distance

10:00 AM -Depart Wine Country Bikes

11:15 AM -Pick up Lunch at Dry Creek Store

11:45 PM -Visit "Mid Valley" Area Winery #1

12:30 PM Depart "Mid Valley" Winery #1

1:00 PM Visit and have lunch at "Mid Valley" winery #2

2:15 PM -Depart "Mid Valley" Area #2

3:30 PM -Visit "Healdsburg Town" Area Winery or Attraction #3

4:30 PM-Return to Wine Country Bikes

Typical Itinerary- Moderate or better riders to "Up Valley"

6.5 hours- 26 miles approximate ride distance

9:45 AM -Depart Wine Country Bikes

10:45 AM -Pick up Lunch at Dry Creek Store

12:00 PM -Visit "Up Valley" Area Winery #1– have lunch if hungry

12:45 PM –Depart "Up Valley" Winery #1

1:45 PM -Visit "Mid Valley" Winery #2 – have lunch if hungry and didn’t already eat it.

2:30 PM -Depart "Mid Valley" Area

3:30 PM -Visit "Healdsburg Town" Area Winery or Attraction #3

4:30 PM-Return to Wine Country Bikes

Any questions? Shoot us an email at: info@getawayadventures.com or call us at: 707-568-3040

Click here for groups of less than 6 people...

For Groups of 6 or more people:

IMPORTANT: The wineries in our area typically will not accept groups over 6 unless they have an appointment.

So, once you have your date set, it takes just a little planning to insure that you have a wonderful day...

You’ll need to arrange your stops ahead of time and then keep your group on a basic schedule throughout the day, and, of course, you’ll also want to have a great plan for lunch. If you’d rather not worry about any of this, consider one of our Classic Guided Day Tours and we’ll take care of all of the details.

For casual riding groups we always suggest the Dry Creek Valley Out & Back. It's the perfect combination of light traffic, amazing views and great places to visit.

To find route options for more adventurous groups check out our Maps & Routes page...

3 Things to do ahead of time:

#1) Reserve your bikes

We always suggest reserving your bikes ahead of time to ensure that we have them available for you.

For casual riding our most popular bikes are the Trek Verve 3 Hybrid and they’re the bike we recommend for casual group tours. It has an upright comfortable riding position, is equipped with an insulated rear trunk bag and handle bar bag, and is perfect for up to 25 or 30 miles.

There are two options for reserving bikes:

One person reserves & pays for all the bike rentals- If you are a group organizer and this is your preferred method, we will ask for a 50% deposit to hold the bikes and you will need to gather each participant’s name and height. Bike sizes can be guaranteed upon receipt of the rider’s heights. Please contact us for full terms & conditions and to make your arrangements.

Riders reserve individually – If you would like to have each member of your group responsible for their own reservation we still suggest you contact us to let us know about your group so we can be ready to get you outfitted and on your way as quickly and smoothly as possible- it will help us to know your approximate group size and planned arrival time. We will suggest everyone use an organizers name for a group code when reserving so we will recognize your reservations as they come in.

#2) Plan your stops

Two winery visits are typically just right for most groups. Contact the wineries directly for reservations.

With groups requiring reservations, we always recommend choosing wineries in the “Mid Valley” and “Healdsburg Town” areas. This gives you the most flexibility in planning your day and adjusting the riding distance for your group.

We suggest you plan to visit one winery in the “Mid Valley” and have your lunch (most groups typically schedule this appointment about 1.5 hours after their meeting time at Wine Country Bikes). Then plan your second stop in the “Healdsburg Town” (most groups schedule this stop about 2.5 hours after the first stop).

#3) Plan your lunch

You will want to order your lunch ahead of time from one of our suggested spots- Oakville Grocery is a great choice for groups. Order ahead by phone -preferably at least the day before for larger groups. You can pick it up on your way here in the morning and then load it into insulated trunk carriers on your bikes. We can provide frozen water bottles to keep your goodies cold if you need to.