The cross-country journey of a father and his son

If teenager Henry Shriver is asked at Sanford School for an essay on what he did on his summer vacation, he can write about an unusual adventure: bicycling across the country with his father, Greg, a University of Delaware professor.

“It changed our relationship from traditional father-and-son roles to two friends of different ages,” Henry said. “He’s still my father, but we’re closer now and we can joke with each other.”

“We had no conflicts,” Greg said, when asked about their relationship during their journey. “We kept it really simple, and we joked a lot. We missed our puppies, which gave us a story to tell every day and something to distract us from how many more miles we had to go.”

In March, they posted their itinerary on their Pedal On blog, https://northerntier2022.blogspot.com, and they followed up with more than 40 posts chronicling it all. They figured their journey would take 60 days to cover 3,300 miles across the northern part of America.

In gear at Michigan’s Silver Lake Park. “We were stunned by the cycling infrastructure western Michigan has to offer,” Greg and Henry blogged. Greg wants to return.

“It was his idea,” Henry said during an interview with his father. “And I got roped in.”

“I’m passionate about cycling and the freedom to be in a different spot every day,” Greg explained.

Their itinerary morphed in multiple ways, maybe a jaunt on mountain bikes,

South Haven, Michigan, was one of their campsites. On other nights, they stayed in hotels or with friends.

maybe an errant journey when GPS steered them wrong. That happens when they have the freedom of two wheels.

The Shrivers’ cross-country journey took 44 days to complete and encompassed as much as 88 miles a day, in temperatures that ranged from 38 degrees to as hot as 110 degrees and included several rainstorms that they welcomed along their route.

They chose a northern route – going from Pennsylvania through Maryland, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, Montana and Idaho before ending in Washington – because Greg wanted to experience the upper Midwest and the glacier country of the Cascades.

Greg estimated that he bikes 100 miles a week, including several commutes to and from Newark. Henry, who turned 16 a few days after their adventure ended, is active with the SoChesCo Hellbenders, a mountain biking team that his father co-founded.

A key highlight of the Shrivers’ trip was bicycling on Goingto-the-Sun Road in Montana’s Glacier National Park.

“It is beautiful, but it also had some of the worst traffic, and one of the scariest downhills,” Greg said. “I think we went up the hill as fast as we went down the hill.”

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Bonnie MacCulloch (Greg’s wife and Henry’s mother) joined them in the park with a rented pickup truck that lightened their load and eased their logistics. But before that – when Henry fell in Michigan and hurt his wrist or when Henry’s front tire had an issue – they were on their own.

Before she joined them in Montana, Bonnie ran the household back in Landenberg, including the care of puppies Suzy and Jim, whose activities kept them motivated during the ride.

Their days were mostly on their bikes, but they did schedule break days to relax, visit and even push themselves further – by renting mountain bikes. They succeeded with the support from family members, friends and strangers, Greg said. They spent nights in hotels, camped and stayed with friends.

“Along the way we had two random acts of kindness,” Greg wrote in a blog post from Lake Michigan. “The first one, by us, was moving a painted turtle across the road towards the pond she was heading to. Next, we came across a free lemonade stand right in the middle of our path.”

Food was a recurring element of the blog, including Coke and cookies to celebrate one mountain pass; popcorn, Twizzlers and grape Fanta when they saw “Top Gun Maverick” and five-dayold sandwiches from a gas station.

Potomac, Maryland, was memorable for two things: this staircase, a surprise not on their bike map, and where they dined eight years ago on their fi rst bike adventure.

They loved diners for their familiar carb- and protein-heavy breakfasts and grocery stores convenient to their accommodations (bananas were mentioned a lot). Dinner was often Mexican food or Domino’s pizza. “Domino’s delivers,” Henry said, “and it’s the same every time.”

Henry said his days started as early as 7 a.m. and ran as late as midnight, but there were many predictable evenings watching “The Office.” “On all of the hotel TVs, 99 percent had Comedy Central, and 99 percent of the time it was playing ‘The Office’ or ‘Seinfeld,’ ” he said. “Except for Wednesdays, they played ‘South Park,’ which we didn’t watch.

“But Freeform plays ‘The Office’ on Wednesdays. So Henry’s job was to get on Wi-Fi as quickly as possible, and then stream ‘The Office,’” Greg said.

Continued on Page 22 Shipping their bikes by air from Washington back to Pennsylvania turned out to be easy, Greg said. In this photo, wife and mother Bonnie MacColluch is seen with their luggage and equipment at the airport.

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Greg demurred when asked what the trip cost, but said once it was planned, he opened up his wallet so they were safe, clean and well-fed every day.

Their journey ended with a surprise greeting on the Pacific Ocean in Anacortes, Washington. Anya Maley – Henry’s friend since their days at a Montessori school in Hockessin -- and her parents Bill and Meg had prepared an emotional welcome on the beach.

“They took a lot of the blog pictures that we have been posting, printed them out and glued them onto Tibetan prayer flags, stretched out on a tree on the beach,” Greg said. “When we arrived, our entire trip was displayed on pictures in front of us, which was super cool. People on the beach were wandering up and asking what was going on. It was pretty special.”

Continued on Page 24 “This was probably the hardest ride we have had the entire adventure,” Greg and Henry blogged from Fergus Fall, Minnesota. The reason: a “wall of wind.”

They’re already thinking about another venture next summer. Michigan is Greg’s choice, for the “gorgeous scenery and spectacular infrastructure for bicycling.” He’s thinking about flying to Traverse City, Michigan, and then taking two weeks to bike back to Landenberg.

Henry is tossing around multiple itineraries – maybe

Henry by the campfi re in Big Horn, Montana.

Greg and Henry Shriver, relaxing in Ione, Washington.

Henry and Greg Shriver, ready to tackle Going-to-the-Sun Road, one of their trip’s highlights.

Michigan, Virginia, West Virginia or North Carolina. “I think that they would all be cool,” he said. “Maybe something mountain bike-related would be fun. Or going somewhere we’ve never been.”

“Reaching the end is certainly bittersweet,” they wrote in their blog upon reaching the Pacific, “but we are already planning our next bike travel adventure!”

Project time: 2 weeks 2 DAYS.

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