While I prefer the milk crate method of transporting goods on bike, I know that many people prefer to use bags.

Carrying over a hundred pounds never felt so painful.

The caveat to the bag method, is the bag itself.

At the most inopportune moment the bag will swing itself around to the front and hit your knees or start choking you or if you are lucky enough, both. You keep pushing it back on your back but after a couple miles of the constant pushing denial begins to settle in. Do you keep trying or give up and deal with the beat up knees? 

I don’t remember having these problems last year, but then again I was riding a big fat cruiser with a front basket. I intuitively knew that was the place to store my belongings and the occasional watermelon.

Giant wire basket was the gateway to the plastic milkcrate.

If you are like me you’ll just say screw it and knot your strap so that it is short enough and will stay on your back. Then the giant knot sitting on your shoulder starts to rear it’s ugly head. So, when you make your way home you swear off all bags and ratchet strap a milk crate to your bike. It is so firmly attached to my bike that I have a hard time imagining not having it there. That is where I hold my bag, groceries, extra bottles of water, patch kit, and whatever else you can imagine. I understand not all people can make this type of commitment to a milk crate and permanently affix it to their bike. My husband tried it and after one grocery run he came home and swore off all milk crates and doesn’t even feel comfortable with a back rack on his bike. 

You won’t see my husband riding around like this.
http://www.cicle.org

He’s a bag type of guy.

So, I understand this and I am currently in the design stages of the perfect cycling bag.

What makes the perfect cycling bag? Apparently it needs to be large enough to carry all of your earthly possessions and enough beer to drown out your sorrows that you have to carry all of your earthly possessions in a bag on your back while riding your bike. Something like that, anyways.

The first prototype was constructed Wednesday evening and finished in time for the FBC ride. My husband was my official bag tester and assured me that while the bag needs a few things adjusted it handled it’s first ride well enough. Future bags would need a U-lock holster and a cell phone pocket and maybe even a place to put a water bottle or two. He has officially dubbed the bag his official grocery bag, though, so none of those things will be added to this particular bag.

But what are the essential bag accessories or design aspects?

Let me know in the comments or email those that top your personal list to funkstitch at gmail dot com