In a pro golf first, thousands of fans expected to ride bikes to Solheim Cup, so we gave it the ol' Dutch try

CROMVOIRT, Netherlands — American tourists tend to stand out in Europe, especially when one is shaking off the rust of not riding an e-bike for a year. But there I was on Tuesday morning, getting ready for a six-mile bike excursion, starting from the city of Den Bosch to Bernardus Golf Club, where the Solheim Cup is being played this week. I wanted to do the same thing fans are asked to do in order to attend the matches.

When in Rome or the Netherlands …

The biking culture here is awesome. The Dutch are to bicycling as New Yorkers are to the subway. It’s a way of life.

Bicyclists fly by in the market square—young, old, fast and slow. On my first day here, I felt a gust of wind blow my hair as one bicyclist charged past me. I could’ve reached out and touched him. You have to have your head on a swivel if you’re walking and must be aware of your surroundings or you could end up with tread marks on your back.

U.S. team assistant captain Kristy McPherson found this out quickly.

“You’ve got to be on your toes. They [bikers] get the right of way, which I didn’t know,” McPherson said. “It’s a little dangerous if you’re not paying attention. And I don’t like to pay attention a lot.”

The reason for my own bike ride? For the adventure, of course, but also get a taste of what it could be like for thousands of Solheim Cup spectators this week. For likely the first time in golf history, organizers—in this case, IMG—are encouraging the public to bike to the event instead of take shuttles. The hope is that doing so will relieve congestion on the narrow roads that lead to the course.

There is no car service available, no Uber lots and no parking for anyone. Only shuttles and bikes.

Roy Hirs, the mobility manager of the Solheim Cup, said he expects at least 5,000 to 6,000 bikes per day to arrive at Bernardus for the competition days Friday through Sunday. Unfortunately, the current forecast calls for a 35-percent chance of rain on Friday and 60- percent chance on Sunday. The Dutch will have a nice opportunity to show how dedicated to biking they are, and the shuttle system could be tested as well.

“Riding a bike depends on the weather,” Hirs said. “Weather like today—definitely, everyone is on a bike. When it’s pouring rain, some people take the shuttle instead of a bike. There’s no roof on this golf course, so you will be wet. You have to put on good clothes. Bad weather doesn’t exist. Only bad clothing.”

Before I had even started pedaling on my 25-minute trek to Bernardus, two women from Michigan stopped to chat. They asked about taking bikes to the course and had questions about how, when and why. They were here for the Solheim Cup, too.

There’s a planned railway strike on Wednesday in the Netherlands, two days before the Cup competition begins. Another wrinkle. The women decided because of that they won’t be going to the practice that day, but they’ll be back Thursday. Maybe they’ll go via bike.

According to its government website, the Netherlands is the No. 1 country in the world for bike usage among its citizens, with at least 17 million people sharing 22.8 million bicycles. Bikes, the site reports, fill one-quarter of the country’s transportation needs.

Biking culture is groovy with European assistant captain and Englishwoman Mel Reid.

“I've got into biking, actually, because I've moved to Colorado,” Reid said. “So I'm a big, big fan of it. It's cool. It's different, isn't it? I think it's cool for spectators to be able to come in on a bike, get your bit of exercise in, and then get some exercise on the way home after a couple of beers. It's perfect.”

Both captains, Angela Stanford of the U.S. and Anna Nordqvist of Europe, used tandem bikes with assistant captains to make the trek to and from the course last year for a one-year-out press promotion.

I made the journey with Sarah Kellam, the LPGA’s senior manager of content and narrative strategy. We had separate bikes and checked them out from my hotel. Nathan Blaas, a front desk hotel manager, gave us a couple of tips and sent us on our way. He, too, is an avid biker and rides four miles each way to work and he wears a shirt and tie for his job. He uses a pedal bike, not an e-bike, so he gets in a good workout.

“We have a very good infrastructure. Everywhere it’s safe for bikes,” Blaas said. “I was in Spain last year and I got a bike, and I said. ‘I can’t do this.’”

Not in Spain but definitely in the Netherlands, where there are bike lanes and trails everywhere, and the signage to accompany them.

Harry Owen, the vice president of golf at IMG, has been here for three weeks preparing for the Solheim Cup. He flew in from England and then took a train from Amsterdam to Den Bosch, where he’s staying. He has ridden a bike to the course every day. Rain or shine.

Owen worked with Hirs, the mobility manager, and got the bike bug from him. Owen lives in London, so he doesn’t dream of biking there. “Cars and cycling in London just don’t mix,” Owen said.

“I’m from England and, traditionally, we’d normally expect to drive to a golf tournament and by coming to the Netherlands, cycling is in the DNA of the Dutch people.”

Four years ago, they discussed the F1 Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort in the Netherlands, where Hirs has helped fans bike to that event—one that’s a much larger scale.

“He has 130,000 spectators and around 30,000 cycle,” Hirs said. “We needed to go see it because it’s obviously a huge change for us to ask people to cycle for a golf tournament … once I saw it in action, I thought we needed to be doing this. This is unique to the Netherlands.”

Part of traveling is learning the culture and you can learn a lot about the Dutch by talking bikes and riding bikes.

“There are more bikes in the Netherlands than cars,” Hirs said. “Every grownup in the Netherlands has approximately two bikes. One for going to work, school and being with friends and one for sport. People bike starting from [ages] 2 to 4 years. They go to school on a bike, sports on a bike, wherever they want to go. It’s in our DNA, cycling.”

Back to our biking. Kellam was on an e-bike for the first time, and if you’ve never ridden one, they take some time to get used to, no question. My first experience on one was an e-bike tour on 17-Mile Drive in Monterey. I was questioning my life choices on that day. I fell early on in practicing around a parking lot for that ride, but once you get used to the balance and hopping on and off, you’re golden.

Kellam fell the first time she tried to navigate that. She instantly jumped back up like a pro, and a nice Dutchman looked out his window and asked if she was OK. She gave a thumbs up and off we went.

We made a couple wrong turns, but no big deal. One thing that’s needed is a cellphone holder so you can use Google Maps. We kept stopping along the ride so Kellum could check her phone to make sure we were on the right path.

We biked by cows and open spaces, lots of lush, green acres and even a rescue dog sanctuary. There were birds chirping, just like Owen and Hirs talked about.

The final two-mile stretch to the course is a long but small road (think tight fairways). It certainly doesn’t seem like it’s made for cars to go in both directions. We never ran into that scenario, thankfully. We made it and parked our bikes and locked them. Keys are used to lock the wheel.

“Every bike lane has a number,” Hirs said. “That’s a luxury here. Normally you park your bike and it’s like parking your car in a huge car park. It’s the same thing.”

It wasn’t raining when we made the trek, but it called for rain later, and sure enough, the wet stuff came down. I’m sure the Dutch say it’s no big deal, but in full disclosure, we got an LPGA official to hall the bikes back in a van. I didn’t tell that to Owen and Hirs. I took a shuttle back to Den Bosch and there were many bikers passing us as the shuttle bus was stuck in rush hour traffic.

The philosophy is to think of the event starting before you get to the course.

“It’s a lovely tour, from the Den Bosch Railway Station to here,” Hirs said. “It’s a quiet route through nature, where you can see birds flying. It’s really quiet there. It’s a really nice experience to come here. The event really starts at the park where you pick up your bike. Then you drive here, walk here at the golf course and then back on your bike where it’s really quiet.”

The Dutch biking culture will be shared with those who are here in person and on the broadcast as well. As for me, no one’s going to call anytime soon to give me a spot in the Tour de France.