He refers to himself as an American. A muddy, filthy, cranky American. Kalamazoo resident Mark Wedel got that filthy by riding a bicycle along the trails of the Great Allegheny Passage and Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Towpath in May 2017. He wanted to experience the solo ride but he also wanted to reach Washington D.C. to express his crankiness about the results of the 2016 presidential election. Wedel writes about his journey in Mule Skinner Blues. By ZINTA AISTARS