At any cycling event female bikers are always outnumbered by their male counterparts. But that is not likely to be the case in the upcoming "bike caravan" scheduled for the first Saturday of August.
Titled in Thai as "Caravan Singha Tam Ha Sua Phu Ying Pai Bok Rak Mae", this group ride with an insanely long name is to be held especially for women. Co-organised by the Tourism Authority of Thailand and Coffee Bike Club, the event is a prelude to the National Mother's Day which falls on Aug 12, coinciding with the birthday of Her Majesty the Queen.
Participating cyclists (the number of which will be limited to 500) will spend the day exploring temples and historical sites in Bangkok's old town known as Rattanakosin Island and nearby areas on two wheels. After the ride, everybody will gather at Sanam Luang, the open ground in front of the Grand Palace, to sing the Kha Nam Nom song together to show gratitude to mothers throughout the Kingdom.
In the morning of Saturday, Aug 6 (the exact time is yet to be announced), all participants will start from Siam Niramit theatre on Thiam Ruam Mit road and cycle en masse for 15km to the Democracy Monument on Ratchadamnoen Avenue where they will split into three smaller groups, each going on different route as follows:
- Route No.1, 16.4km long, will focus on life in the old town with the National Museum as the highlight.
- Route No.2, 15.3km long, will include several important Buddhist temples, such as Wat Ratchabophit and Wat Rat Pradit.
- Route No.3, 20km long, will take riders to palaces in the Dusit area.
All routes, as mentioned earlier, will end at Sanam Luang where the three groups will rejoin.
Online application, which is free of charge, will open from 10am this Saturday when the link for registration is provided on the event's Facebook page (www.facebook.com/ladycycling/timeline). On the ride day, registered bikers will be given a jersey depicting a cartoon picture similar to that on the event's poster.
By the way, it's not that men are forbidden from the event. Male cyclists can also join but they will not get the free jerseys and must tag along at the back end of the riding groups.
