Whet the appetite with this:

Daily News Digest

Breakfast !!!! after 7am usually
Sailom joy café – great coffee and food … some upmarket western feel places around – go this one for your quality laid back Asian experience. Lots of ex-pats who cycle go here.
http://www.tripadvisor.com.au/ShowUserReviews-g293917-d2053379-r114949929-Sailomjoy-Chiang_Mai.html

or the Blue Diamond – different feel … yoganistas a bit of garden etc.
http://www.tripadvisor.com.au/Restaurant_Review-g293917-d1218462-Reviews-Blue_Diamond_Breakfast_Club-Chiang_Mai.html

no shortage of great food places.

Company that you might be able to hire a basic road bike from:

http://crouchingtigertours.com/

(located not that far from the airport)

Reasonable mtbs etc. hired by a lot of guest houses etc. in the various tourist districts. NB a puncture is “yours” i.e. you get to replace … Likewise a worn tyre (!) check those. Buy a spare (bikes shops or big super markets – the latter are like Target / K-mart etc.) Not sure if they’ll provide a pump.

Bike shops – pretty good lists here:
http://www.chiangmaicycling.org/bicycleshops.html
the following list includes some within ‘the Province of ChiangMai’ – NB it is a big province, so check maps first
http://bicyclethailand.com/bicycle-shops-in-chiang-mai-province-thailand/

There are some shops that are ‘Thai bike’ – these were quite basic but are moving gradually up market and following trends e.g. fixie stuff in bright colours you can get basic parts if needed and suitable.
Jacky Bike is pretty sophisticated… as are a few others. More every year.

Clubs:

Scroll through to find as appropriate:
http://bicyclethailand.com/clubs-links/

I have a feeling that Soi Tan Road Cycling Team might be Thai only … just never seen westerners with them … but if you get lucky on a run back down the mountain (they seem to meet/group half way to the Temple on weekday afternoons) you can get a real sense of what ‘owning the road’ means! These guys will smash it through traffic … an interesting experience. Remember – lots of them are Buddhists and have a different outlook on risk and consequence … ride carefully!

Sunday cycling club meets at the Thapae gate … from 7am but nothing much happens til an hour or so later. they might start and then stop somewhere almost immediately – before they really get on with going anywhere. It’s their ride – relax into it. A good place to meet people (many Thais also) but this is more of an advocacy / environmental group. They may ride to a temple, an ecological project or a flower show – whatever. Arrive after 7am … get a coffee and maybe breakfast etc. before.

They often ride somewhere and then stop to eat (share food – they may well stop at a market before leaving ChiangMai)
http://northernthailand.com/a/en/chiangmai-clubs/49-chiang-mai-sunday-cycling-club.html?showall=1
http://bicyclethailand.com/chiang-mai-sunday-cycling-club/

club website – in Thai! Google translate job
http://www.cmcycling.org/

Some rides – hopefully I made mine public
The Samoeng loop – solid 90ish km ride … if ridden anti-clockwise, some solid work in the 2nd climb of 300 odd metres.

http://www.bikemap.net/en/route/488523

Doi Suthep – to the Temple (you can keep climbing to the Palace … or go beyond – to the ‘plantation’ – then you have to come back on the same route or 2nd map reference if you have decent mtb bike … and GPS)

http://www.bikemap.net/en/route/51118

http://www.bikemap.net/en/route/910101

ride ideas – no maps, just some brief broad description … rides along the Ping river are good when you get out of town. Riding ‘inside the moat’ in the old city is good fun.
http://www.chiangmaicycling.org/cycling.html