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Biking Across America

Author: Teddy Burch
Issue: 2008 February

One day, Aaron and Laura Beese had a thought. Let's go to the highest point in each state. Then they rethought their plan. If they visited only the highest points they would miss much of the state. They gave Oklahoma as an example. “If we visited only the highest point in Oklahoma, in the far western portion of the panhandle, we would miss the rolling hills of the southeast and the buffalo roaming in the Wichita Mountains,” Aaron said. They wondered how many other landmarks and highlights they would miss in other states if they focused only on the high points.

Then, in a sudden rush of ideas, it hit. The mid-point! The exact geographic center! “This way, we are forced to do more than tap our toe in the corner or bag a solitary peak, but to cross an entire state and to see its very heart,” said Laura.

So the couple contacted a geography professor at the University of Oklahoma and an employee with the U.S. Geological Survey. Together they created a formula of precise calculations for determining the exact center for each state. Armed with this information and their GPS unit, these two Okies, Aaron from Newcastle and Laura from Deer Creek, set out on a Monday morning in April 2007, for a two year trek that would cover every state in the union.

Their vehicle of choice—a Tandem bicycle. While packing necessary clothes, sleep sacks, small cooking equipment and toiletries, they purposely avoided one particular item.

“When you notice that a watch is not among the dozens of items we elected to carry, you can be certain that this omission was not a mere oversight,” said Aaron. “In fact, the watches we are not carrying may symbolize our trip better than any item we are carrying. You see, as of 10:00 a.m. that morning, Laura and I officially entered ‘the slow life.’” he said.

The first state center they reached was a small neighborhood in north Oklahoma City. The two crossed creeks to get to the center, which lay in a lovely, undeveloped field, teeming with purple coneflowers, Indian Blankets, and many other wildflowers. A snapshot for their online journal and the two were back on their bicycle to continue what promised to be an adventure of a lifetime.

Aaron and Laura then traveled north to Edmond and east out to Lake Arcadia, the destination for the first night’s camp. “We swam until we were hungry, ate until we were full, then slept until we were rested. It seems that the ‘profound lesson of reception’ that we hope to learn from bicycle travel applies not only to our surroundings but our own bodies as well,” Aaron said.

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