We start our journey by transferring out of Chiang Mai to avoid traffic and set our bikes up by the beautiful Royal Park Rajapruek. Our ride continues up through the narrow valley and continue on a bigger road that undulates through fruit orchards and lush plantations. After our warm up we will have our first long ascent, of about 10 kms up to 810 m. We then head to the village of Samoeng for lunch. After lunch we have some more hills before we ride down through the valley of the Mae Sa River.
If you look west from Chiang Mai you’ll see the mountain of Doi Suthep, it looks rather imposing, but luckily there’s a lovely loop around this mountain to the peaceful district of Samoeng. Using a road bike is the best way of achieving the 75–km loop around the mountain and back to Chiang Mai. The good tarmac roads, the undulating terrain and the lush green scenery make it a perfect way to explore the Lanna countryside. We start our journey by transferring out of Chiang Mai to avoid traffic and set our bikes up by the Royal Park Rajapruek. From here we cycle on a quiet country road through a fertile forest that also gives us our first taste of climbing. We continue on a bigger road that undulates through fruit orchards and lush plantations. After 10 kms of warm up we’ll have our first long ascent, of about 10 kms up to 810 m. Some steep sharp await on the descent. We then head to the village of Samoeng for lunch. This area was the first settlement of the Lanna people, who were escaping from a Burmese conquer in the 18th century. Back on the bikes for more hills! The first is a doozy, 600 m in 8 kms! We stop at the top for views of the Samoeng Forest. Our ride continues down through the valley of the Mae Sa River where we’ll see many greenhouses and other fields cultivated by the Hmong ethnic group. We end our ride on a flat canal road, giving our legs some recovery from the climbing. We transfer back to Chiang Mai to avoid traffic.
In total the climbing and descending is just under 2,000 m. Not bad stats for a day out on the bike!