Giant Group, the parent company of Giant, Liv, Momentum, and CADEX, has once again teamed up with World Bicycle Relief and Zwift for its annual Ride Like King event. Now in its 17th year, this global celebration honors Giant Group founder King Liu’s enduring belief in the transformative power of bicycles. This year will include a series of warm-up rides May 12-15, followed by the three-day main event May 16-18.
Ride Like King brings together cyclists from across the globe to celebrate community, connection and purpose. Participants can join both virtual group rides on Zwift and outdoor rides within their local areas, all while supporting a powerful cause.
RLK17 includes contests, product giveaways, and meaningful opportunities to support World Bicycle Relief—a global nonprofit dedicated to empowering people and communities in need through the power of bicycles. Whether riding indoors or outside, participants can track their progress and amplify their impact through World Bicycle Relief’s dedicated fundraising hub. Ride Like King isn’t just about the kilometers—it’s about making a difference, one ride at a time.
“What started as a one-day internal event within Giant Group is now a weeklong celebration of cycling worldwide,” said Phoebe Liu, Giant Group CEO. “There are so many life-changing benefits of cycling, and with Ride Like King we can also ride to support communities in need through our partnerships with World Bicycle Relief and Zwift.”
Participants have a chance to be part of this change and help Giant Group donate one bike for every 500km ridden collectively—either on Zwift or on outdoor rides logged through World Bicycle Relief’s RLK17 campaign hub. The goal is to accumulate 350,000km or more to donate up to 700 bikes, which would surpass last year’s total of 600.
World Bicycle Relief
World Bicycle Relief provides specially designed, locally assembled Buffalo Bicycles to students, healthcare workers, and entrepreneurs in rural regions where distance is a barrier to opportunity. To date, the organization has delivered over 868,000 bicycles, transforming access to education, healthcare, and economic livelihood.
Buffalo Bicycles—manufactured by Giant Group and assembled by trained local teams—are engineered to endure long distances and rugged terrain, while remaining simple to maintain and repair. This ensures lasting impact in the communities they serve.
The RLK17 campaign hub gives riders everywhere the opportunity to take action and help fund more bicycles. It’s free to join, and participants can connect their fitness apps to have every kilometer count toward the goal of donating 700 bikes.
“Ride Like King is more than a ride—it’s a movement rooted in our shared belief that bicycles can change the world,” said Dave Neiswander, CEO of World Bicycle Relief. “Together with Giant Group and Zwift, we’re turning every pedal stroke into progress. These rides help mobilize students to stay in school, health workers to reach patients faster, and entrepreneurs to grow their businesses.”
RLK17 Zwift Rides
This year participants have more opportunities than ever to join Zwift rides and be part of the movement. It starts with a series of “Ride to Raise” warmup rides May 12-15, with rides scheduled every two hours on two different routes to choose from. The main event then kicks off May 16, with three days of “Celebration Rides.” These will be held every four hours, with 21 rides in total.
The Zwift rides are supported by Giant, Liv and CADEX pro riders from affiliated road and mountain bike teams, along with triathlete and gravel pros. Global and local Giant and Liv ambassadors will also be involved, leading Zwift rides and organizing outdoor events in their communities.
All Zwift participants will be assigned RLK17 kits, and participants will be able to unlock those kits upon completion of a ride. The main Celebration Rides will feature the 10th generation Giant TCR Advanced SL bikes for the open road rides and the latest generation Liv Langma Advanced SL bikes for women’s rides. Both these bikes were recently added to the Zwift platform in preparation of the RLK17 event. In addition, WBR Buffalo Bicycles will be featured on the final day. Warm-up rides will feature gravel route option offering the Giant Revolt Advanced Pro for open rides and Liv Devote Advanced Pro for women’s rides.
Beyond the bikes, CADEX 65 WheelSystems will be assigned for road rides, and CADEX AR35 WheelSystems for gravel rides.
Participants in Zwift rides will earn a chance to win limited edition RLK17 jerseys, along with a card signed by King Liu, during each of the main event rides. Three jerseys with cards will be given away through random drawings during each of the 21 main event rides on May 16-18. To join these rides, go the Zwift RLK17 event page at zwift.com/events/series/ride-like-king.
“We’re excited to partner with Giant Group for the eighth year in a row to elevate the Ride Like King experience,” said Zwift CEO & Co-Founder Eric Min. “The Giant and Liv community is one of the most active on Zwift, and we know they’ll rally in support of World Bicycle Relief. I am especially looking forward to leading one of the rides as well!”
Share your stories
More jerseys will be awarded to participants of local outdoor Ride Like King events in their own communities. Employees, retailers and friends of Giant and Liv are encouraged to ride May 12-18, and share stories and photos on their social media channels. To be eligible for prizes, riders can simply post photos from their rides to Facebook or Instagram with the #RideLikeKing hashtag on those dates.
Why We Ride Like King
In 2007, at age 73, King Liu prepared for and completed a 15-day, 927km ride around Taiwan. That ride sparked a renewed interest in King’s own cycling lifestyle and the benefits that cycling can have on health and fitness. To celebrate that passion for cycling, members of the Giant Group started Ride Like King in 2009 as a small event within the company.
In the following years King dedicated himself to longer cycling tours as he traveled to countries near and far to inspire people and governments to consider the positive impacts that cycling can create. King retired from his position as chairman of Giant in 2016, but the event continues to grow each year.
How to Get Started
To learn more about this year’s Ride Like King events, click here.
To register and find more information on World Bicycle Relief’s Ride Like King 17 campaign hub, click here and select “Join Us” to create an account. From there, set the dates to start May 12, 0:01 and end May 18, 23:59. (If you don’t set dates, only rides between May 12-18 will count toward the 350,000km goal.) Once the account is set up, select “Dashboard” from the drop-down menu, go to My Fitness Activity, connect to Strava or Fitbit, and set personal distance goals. Rides can also be added manually using the My Fitness Activity from the drop-down. Participants can also use their account to fundraise for WBR during RLK17.
For more details on all the Ride Like King events on Zwift, click here.