The solo ride to victory in the last stage by Adne van Engelen was less than 24 hours ago, and the BIKE AID riders are already back at the airport. They are heading north, to Chiang Mai to be precise. In addition to the great training conditions that the region around the city has to offer, the headquarters of KAZE is located here.
At the airport, a bus with large KAZE lettering was already waiting for the riders to take them to the cycling hotel "Vanilla Residence". What a service! The following evening, the Thai bike producer invited the team to dinner. You could feel their euphoria due to the extremely successful Tour of Thailand. Congratulations poured in and the riders reported on the highly eventful last week.
Just one day later, the team had the opportunity to visit KAZE in their new headquarters. The state-of-the-art complex of buildings has everything to offer that makes the heart of a cyclist beat faster. The entrance area leads directly into the spacious showroom with a perfectly equipped and tidy workshop. Right next to it a small coffee corner with a stainless steel espresso machine. The faces of the riders said it all. They are thrilled. But it gets even better. The elegant wooden staircase leads to the conference room on the second floor. Here, a surprise awaited them. The new team bikes for the coming season, which no one has seen yet! Equipped with the latest components, lighter, more aerodynamic and at the cutting edge of technology and design. The team was amazed and took a close look at each of the three models. Engineers and designers from KAZE explained the idea behind the frames and the anticipation for the 2022 season kept rising. The bikes are something to look forward to, pictures will follow soon!
Next up was a spontaneous photo shoot at KAZE's studio. Showing the riders the new models for the coming year beforehand proved to be a good idea. They had to smile non-stop and were visibly having fun in front of the camera. They were also amazed by the large warehouse and assembly hall. From folding bikes to smart trainers, they tested everything. When saying goodbye, you could see the enthusiasm for the team and the pride in their successes on the faces of all KAZE employees. Such recognition is not at all self-evident and it flattered the riders a lot.
Just a few days later, KAZE surprised the team once again with the great cycling community of Chiang Mai that they have helped to build over the years. Together with the 55 Cycling Club, who organize great group rides every week, they put up a BIKE AID event that left the team speechless! At 7am on Saturday morning, more than 100 cyclists gathered for the "Ride with BIKE AID" event to ride 120 kilometers with the team. Escorted by several scooters and cars, the group headed south along one of the major highways. The BIKE AID team was extremely popular. They took numerous selfies on the bike and had many talks. The mood was very relaxed and you could also tell our riders enjoyed getting in touch with fans and other interested cyclists. 10 kilometers before the planned coffee stop, the leisurely ride turned into a race, with the goal of being the first to arrive at the stop. The BIKE AID train quickly took the lead. A few well-trained athletes managed to keep up with it and reached the café together with the team. Again, the planning was well done. Coffee and cake were already prepared and quickly everyone had a cup in their hands. The participants were happy about the gifts presented by BIKE AID, which they could win and also the organizers KAZE and the 55 Cycling Club visibly enjoyed this extremely successful event! After a short break, it went back to Chiang Mai on the same way in bright sunshine.
The experiences and impressions of these days were simply outstanding! No one could have imagined that KAZE would manage to give the team such a great time within a few days. It's great to have a partner with whom you also get along so well personally, away from cycling. There was a lot of laughing and chatting, but also honest exchanges to further optimize the performance of the bikes.
At this point we want to say a big thank you to KAZE for the already great time and the unique events. We look forward to working with you again this year!
