Bicyclists will be out in force in Bangkok and other provinces on Sunday for warmup spins on the 'Bike for Dad' routes in preparation for the big event next month.
About 300 cyclists are expected to take part in the rehearsal on the 29-kilometre route in the capital starting at 3pm. Police will deploy 1,500 officers to direct traffic along the way.
Police will try to keep car traffic congestion to a minimum by closing sections of roads only for the brief periods when cyclists are approaching, said Pol Col Phusit Wisetkamin, deputy commander of the Traffic Police Division. The rehearsal could take about three hours, he added.
In other provinces, governors will lead the rehearsals, while the routes and distances vary.
Krissada Boonrach, the permanent secretary for the Interior Ministry, said all provinces were ready for the trial runs on Sunday. Cyclists in several provinces have already been staging outings every weekend to prepare for the event.
His Royal Highness Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn will lead all cyclists in Bangkok on Dec 11 to honour His Majesty the King, whose 88th birthday falls on Dec 5.
More than 607,000 people, 9,800 of them living in other countries, have registered to be part of the occasion, according to figures from the organisers on the Bike for Dad website.
