The Pragmatic Cyclist

Welcome to The Pragmatic Cyclist

  • Since the temperature’s plummeted and my bike has been relegated to the basement, I haven’t posted much. But lately I have the itch to plan the coming season’s adventures. Much to my surprise, Mrs. Pragmatic expressed that she was a little envious of my trips in 2024 and might like to try coming along! She’s indicated that she’s nervous about the physical demands or if she could keep up with me. (In…

  • So let’s talk about gearing for a bit. I got back into cycling this year after a long absence, and really wanted to try camping and longer tours. I researched touring/adventure bikes and settled on the Kona Sutra. This bike shipped with a Shimano GRX-shifted 2×10 (2 gears in the front and 10 in the back) that was advertised as a “go-anywhere” setup. The problem is, it became apparent pretty quickly to…

  • My first season is winding down. I have one more overnight this weekend to round it out. I have built up a decent checklist for all the gear this year, which has been invaluable in not forgetting stuff! I keep it in Google Sheets, so I can fill it in on my phone, plus reuse and refine it trip over trip. I made a public template of the list. If you want…

  • OK so this journey started in March with a new bike and a commitment to get out of my chair and back on the road. Tomorrow morning starts the first real ride, 230-ish miles through The Driftless, southeast Minnesota and western Wisconsin. I won’t post during the trip, but I hope to take a great pile of photos and video for when I return. Thank you to all the online inspirations and…

  • This chair is so popular and so heavily reviewed it’s almost a cliche. I can’t really say more than others have about it. It’s a luxury to have a chair on the trail, but at my age it’s really nice to be able to sit down and relax at the end of a long day, and while cooking, etc. I give you the Helinox moderately-cheaper-than-chair-zero Chair One. Sneaker for scale. Also I…

  • As I researched bikepacking the folks with a lot of miles and a lot of nights behind them would often say “you can economize in a lot of ways, but if you have a little money put it in your sleeping gear.” Whether backpacking or bikepacking, it rings true that in order to have a good adventure – fun – you can’t be suffering all night every night. So I did a…

  • Overtaking walkers and joggers is constant activity on cycling paths, and not all of them are paying attention. You can holler, which works, but I figured a bell would be a convenience. I found a very small one in the Spurcycle Compact Bell, which was important because I don’t have a lot of space left on the bars, around my handlebar bag and the Peak Design Out Front phone mount, and my…

  • I am so stoked about my frame bags that even my stoke is stoked. Frame bags are definitely in fashion, but to be honest I hesitated a little on this purchase. They are perhaps the most expensive per liter of volume of any bag, for someone short like me. The problem is I like having water bottles in my frame, plus I am not a tall guy, so the available space within…

  • The one big miscalculation I made on my first two overnights was a simple one: I underestimated the terrifying and relentless onslaught of mosquitos*. There where hundreds, or thousands, and for some reason they insisted on attacking my ankles. Then I discovered I don’t sleep well at all when my feet itch. Go figure. * Edited to add: Mostly at the camp site. If you’re moving at a decent pace, most bugs…

  • My home on the road is the Nemo OSMO Dragonfly 2 Person Bikepacking tent. I had to buy this based on reviews but I am not sorry – this is a wonderful, easy, fun tent that lets me look at the stars on a clear night but has also protected me in an all-night torrential downpour. The main criteria when I was picking a tent to take on the bike: The Dragonfly…