Chiang Mai and the surrounding countryside make for excellent cycling. The old city moat road is flat and calm enough for an easy loop, and several operators offer guided day tours through rice fields, hill tribe villages, and orchard country on the outskirts.
The Ping River valley to the east offers a pleasant half-day ride through small villages, passing market gardens and traditional wooden houses. The road to Bo Sang (the umbrella village) along Highway 1006 is popular — flat, well-surfaced, and passing through handicraft workshops the whole way. Several guesthouses in the old city rent bicycles by the day.