Couch to Camping 2024

It was summer of 1988. I was still a teen. I was struggling this old Cannondale up and down the hills in the Finger Lakes region of upstate New York. My cousin L. and I had decided to do a supported five hundred mile trip from Boston to Niagra Falls. I think we were not smart enough to have found a flat route, and we had a bit of an invincibility complex.

Fast forward to 2024 and here I was, 53 years old, having set aside all that fun (and sweat) in the crush of life and other priorities. The Cannondale has been hanging in the garage, loved, but all sad flat tires and cobwebs.

So this year I finally realized if I didn’t get back into cycling soon, there was a decent chance I could arrive at the end of my days never having done it.

But don’t worry, the rest of this story promises much more fun, and not at all this bleak.

I got myself a new bike this spring – the second one ever. A beautiful, rugged Kona Sutra, and I am working my way back up to bicycling adventures. This time less racing, more camping.

Maybe you are new to the sport, or maybe you are rejoining as I am. A lot has changed. The new gear is pretty magical, but it still has that old cycling-gadget fun. I am hoping to put up some trips here, some explainers, and some gear reviews. If I work up the courage there might even be some YouTube videos, at The Pragmatic Cyclist – YouTube.

Cheers,

Merrill Aldrich, May 2024