Father-daughter tandem bike an entire state

It's not every day that someone decides to bike across an entire state.

But for Ahwatukee Foothills resident Steve Berry and his daughter Lauren it only took seven days to complete a 433-mile tandem-bicycle journey across a state where the wind comes sweeping down the plain.

They had some rain thrown at them for good measure as well.

The duo began their trek in Marietta, Okla., which is only miles from the Texas border, and landed in Caldwell, Kan., seven days later.

They experienced a full spectrum of weather conditions, from backwetting heat and humidity one day to five inches of downpour the next. The state provided hurdles for Steve and Lauren, who traveled from 30 to 70 miles per day.

What they ended up with is a story to tell and a father-daughter experience unlike any other.

"I sat behind him on a bike for a week," Lauren, 14, said. "That'll bond you."

Known as the Oklahoma Freewheel, the event paces riders for about seven hours of riding each day as more of a state tour than a race, Steve said. Riders face an array of landscape that differs from day to day.

"Contrary to popular belief, Oklahoma is not a flat state," Steve said. "There a lot of hills, which made some days more challenging than others."

The route is created months before the riders set off and is selected based on the distance between Oklahoman towns. Tour directors choose which towns will host the riders each night and the route is different every year.

Steve said one of the reasons he likes the event is because of the economic "bump" these towns receive when hundreds of bicyclists pass through each night.

"Some of those towns, I think we doubled the population when we pulled in," said Steve, a native Oklahoman. "It was great because (Lauren) got to go through some towns where my parents grew up."

This was the 30th year of the Oklahoma Freewheel event and the Berrys say they plan to do it again next year.

"It was fun because we had to depend on each other," said Lauren, a Desert Vista freshman. "It's cool to say I road a bike across the state of Oklahoma."

Contact writer: (480) 898-7916 or troemhild@ahwatukee.com.