I have just returned from a great weekend in Chiang Rai, discovering that despite the recent earthquake all is well in the lovely northern city. In a momentary departure from my usual topics of food and travel images, I went to see the Singha 12 Hour Endurance 2014, a challenging cycling event that attracted competitors from all over Thailand. It was held at Singha Park, just seven kilometres outside of the city and a popular spot for locals to enjoy the countryside, explore the cycle routes at a leisurely pace, and dine at the restaurant.

In recent years, interest in cycling has increased dramatically and the Thai beer brand, Singha, now organises a series of major country-wide cycling events. On Saturday, dozens of sports fans donned Lycra shorts and sculptured headgear, mounted some seriously expensive bikes, and battled it out over rough terrain.

For someone like myself who prefers his bike with an engine, it was exhausting just watching. However, I can see the benefit of slipping a pair of Lycra cycling shorts under jeans on my next off-road motorcycling trip. They are certainly well padded and could save a lot of grief after 12 hours in the saddle!

Singha Park in Chiang Rai is open daily from 7 a.m. – 6 p.m. The expansive park includes tea plantations, a farm, the Barn House Cycle Shop where you can hire bikes, and a series of zip lines. You can find out more information here www.boonrawdfarm.com

I’ll post Chiang Rai highlights later in the week and images of the fantastic northern food and markets the city has to offer.