INTRODUCTION

Tales from the Trails came about after I'd received a phone call months back from Ed Pedersen, a retired trial lawyer from Michigan and one of the kids in the photo above. He’s the small, light-haired one admiring his fish behind the smaller, dark-haired one who needs a haircut. Ed had called because he was planning a month long, 900+ mile bicycle trip through the Canadian Rockies to raise money for a charity called MCHS Human Services, something he's done for other charities periodically over the last several years. He suggested I sign up as a rider with him and two others. (Stay tuned! More on Fred and James in future posts.)

I reasoned with Ed, my oldest friend on the planet, that while I love the Rockies and the charity idea, bike riding had lost its appeal after the days he and I clothes-pinned baseball cards against our spokes to make our Sting-Rays sound like motorcycles. It was a compelling argument, and Ed’s only rebuttal was to cough the word “wimp” into the receiver before we went on to other topics.

But as a court room attorney as seasoned as an everything bagel, he called back two days later with a far better comeback and proceeded to pull a rabbit out of his hat. 

“Why don’t you drive the sag wagon, Lubejob?”, Ed suggested, dusting off a moniker I hadn't heard much since dangling that Coho off my fingers. “All you have to do is drive the gear to the next location in the morning and you'll have your whole day to hike, take pics, fish, finish writing your novel, or do whatever else you want! All while traveling through the Rockies! For an entire month! With your oldest friend on the planet! What’d’ya say, Lubejob! Did I mention it's all for charity?”

I must admit, my old friend presented a fine case. And when the argument fits, you have to commit. So, during the month of August, talesfromthetrailsss.blogspot.com will provide periodic reportage on Ed, Fred and James’ progress climbing 50.000 feet of elevation through British Columbia, and my progress finishing my book, writing this blog, and doing whatever else I find to do with my days along the trail.

More on the charity next time. https://mchsmi.org/