Tuesday, Nothing New

I saddled up for a good longish ride yesterday.  I had sold an item on Ebay and boxed it up with a prepaid parcel post label and it weighed a whopping 20 pounds.  I planned to take the heavyweight package to the post office and then ride into Albuquerque to deliver some used bike-wheel spokes to a friend who has a bent rear wheel resulting from a broken spoke, something I'm well familiar with.
I at first thought I'd tow my bike trailer to carry the heavy parcel but dreaded dragging that thing all the way into Albuquerque and back.  I decided to try bungee-ing it onto my front cargo bracket and see if it would fit, and stay there while I slowly bounced down our mile of rocky dirt road to the pavement.  3 bungee cords later I took off.  Mercy, does that extra weight alter the balance and manueverability of the bike.  Especially on the rocks and gravel, it really complicated handling the bike.  It's hard to believe the extra 20 pounds also slowed me down noticeably climbing the long hill toward the post office.
Finally I arrived at the P.O. and was mildly shocked they accepted my parcel without question or weighing-in or any comments at all.  The slightly threatening cumulus clouds overhead seemed to be gathering in the direction of Albuquerque and Tijeras canyon, so I waited a bit while eating a snack and guzzling water in the P.O. parking lot.  The clouds seemed to be getting even darker so I decided I didn't want to risk getting wet and turned around and rode home.  Much to my disappointment, the rain never happened.  It was cloudy and cooler all day... a perfect day for an Albuquerque bike ride.  BAH
I did, however, make better progress on finishing trim on our roof over our deck.  Jacque started painting the house exterior a couple weeks ago and has now petered out but I'm still completing some years-old unfinished business on house trim so it all  can be painted at once.
Beginning Battery Voltage: 13.8   --    Ending Voltage: Unk
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles:     5.85
Overall average speed            Moving Avg               Max Speed
04.5 MPH                                6.8 MPH                   25.2 MPH
Total Trip time                       Moving Time             Stopped Time
1 hour 18 mins                      51 mins   20 secs       26 mins 40 secs