Everyone has a story

The point of traveling on a bike is to be accessible to people, Aaron said. People are much more inclined to talk to you and even give you a place to stay if you are on a bike, he said.

He said he went on a bike trip from Virginia to Alaska a few years ago, and by the end of the trip he was bold enough to knock on a door and ask people if he could camp on their lawn.

“I just realized that people like to be a part of a big adventure like this,” he said.

The bike also lets them travel slowly enough to experience life in that state, Laura said. She said she’s come to adhere to Aaron’s philosophy that travel is all about the people you meet. Everyone has a story, she said.

“And here we are, by geographic whim, choosing 50 people,” Aaron said. “Because we definitely, no matter what, want to meet the person who lives closest to the geographic center and spend a day with them and see what their life is like and learn what we can from their experience. There’s at least 50 stories there.”

Hopes and fears

When asked about safety issues, Laura said she’s had to change her perception of what is safe.

“I’ve just thought a lot about it, because I’ve been stretched a lot lately in what my perception of safety is,” she said. “I perceive that I’m safe because it’s comfortable here, because it’s familiar to me. I perceive the unfamiliar as unsafe. But really when I sit down and put the two side by side, riding on a bike on a tiny road that no one goes down where you’ve got people who are caring for my welfare, I’m so much more safe than when I’m driving in my car where no one cares for my welfare. That was a big thing for me to realize.”

For example, on their trial run a few weeks ago, the Beeses traveled to northwest Oklahoma. They said people were incredibly kind to them, even putting them up in a hotel for free when a bad storm moved into the area.

Besides, Laura said, they’ll have nothing worth stealing. The unusual German bike would be pretty hard to conceal, too, she said.

The couple said they are excited about seeing parts of the country they have never been to before and sharing experiences in places only one of them has been to.

Aaron said he is excited about the Wisconsin part of the trip. A bike tour will be going through the state at the same time as the Beeses. They have planned to meet up at the geographical center of the state, which happens to be a stop on the bike tour.

“That’ll just be fun to share part of our journey with people who also enjoy traveling by bike,” Aaron said.

Laura said, for her, it’s all about the old friends they will visit and the people she will meet along the way.