Solheim Cup fans arrive the Dutch way, with thousands of bikes at Bernardus Golf

DEN BOSCH, Netherlands (AP) — How else would you get to a golf tournament in the Netherlands?

The Solheim Cup between the United States and Europe at the Bernardus Golf course in rural North Brabant province is encouraging the thousands of fans lining the fairways to arrive the Dutch way — on two wheels using pedal power.

Janet Metcalfe, a 58-year-old retiree from Cheshire in England, was happy to saddle up for a 30-minute ride from her hotel in nearby Vught to the course.

“It’s just been a typically Dutch thing,” she said after parking her bike in the rows of racks provided for fans. “Absolutely brilliant.”

She was impressed by the other road users in the Netherlands where cycling and giving way to bikes is ingrained in the national DNA.

“Being British, we don’t trust that the traffic will stop but it does, every single time,” she said.

Riding to the course is an easy way to avoid waiting for a crowded shuttle bus. The last edition of the tournament, at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Virginia, was hit by transport issues that saw half-empty stands on the first morning of the event.

More bikes than people

The Netherlands is renowned as a paradise for cyclists.

According to the national statistics office, the nation of 18 million people and 23 million bikes has some 153,000 kilometers (95,000 miles) of “paths and roads where cyclists are welcome” including dedicated bike paths and roads with cycle lanes.

Those include the bucolic 9-kilometer (5 1/2-mile) ride from the railway station in Den Bosch to Bernardus through farmers’ fields where cattle graze in scenes reminiscent of a Paulus Potter Golden Age painting.

Chris Thompson, 82, from Dorset in England, is a seasoned bike rider, who had no trouble with the morning ride.

“Piece of cake,” he said. “This is superbly organized. You would have to be silly to make mistakes” with the well-signposted route.

The only problems? Finding your ride among the thousands of bikes in the parking area as the crowds head for home and maybe a bit of tenderness for cycling novices.

“There are a few sore points,” said Metcalfe.

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