12 Miles with a Loaded Trailer

Today's APRS Tracking
I made a high level decision over the weekend (Actually during Stake Conference when our Stake President encouraged us to get fit) that I would start trying to ride every day, long or short, and get started early in the mornings so I could beat the heat more easily.
AND - with all that fired-up committment - it was still after 10:00 AM when I finally rolled out this morning.  I was waffling between a long ride around the N-14 / Route 66 / Sedillo Hill loop and just riding down to the local thrift shop with a load of giveaway stuff that Jacque gathered up while cleaning house last week, and decided pulling the trailer a few miles with the bike would burn more carbs than a comparatively loadless ride with twice as many miles involved.  The 2 small grocery and 1 X-large trash bag were not easy to tie down to the trailer so it might survive the trip, but with the help of multiple bungee cords and an old cargo net I haven't used in years, I finally got it all under control and clearing the wheels on the bike trailer.

Unbelievably, this load stayed intact until I was able to deliver it 6 - something miles distant at the Talking Talons Thrift Store in Cedar Crest.  I was mildly surprised to be able to pedal this "train" the entire distance without dismounting and having to walk/push the rig, except of course the last 30 feet of the steep incline to the pavement of Frost Road from our ill famed goat-path dirt "road", which I can rarely ride entirely even without the burden of a loaded trailer slowing me down.
The trailer again rode and towed quite well, considering its lack of suspension.  It rides better loaded than unloaded.... but I noticed pulling it back uphill towards home it was not much easier to pull even 20 or so pounds lighter.
As I was chugging and puffing my way back up Marco Polo Hill on N-14 I was startled to hear a voice, as though right beside me, saying "I like your bike and trailer!"  These derned cyclists.... they can sneak right up on you from behind without you even noticing.  This certainly wasn't an unpleasant encounter, though, she's almost as good - looking on a bike as Jacque.

She slowed down enough to converse with me for a mile or so, asking about all the "stuff" I have on the bike, appropriately impressed when I explained about the GPS, internet APRS tracking system, Ham Radio, etc, etc.  She showed me her handlebar mounted Iphone and said she was running some sort of tracking app but that it ran her battery down too quickly.  I suggested she try a small solar panel to keep it charged and she agreed that would probably help, and her husband already had one not being used currently that could be tried.
She finally tired of soft-pedaling just to yack with me and sped off.
Even though slowed by the now-empty trailer, it was again surprising to see, again, how relatively easy it is to climb that hill northbound compared to the lung-buster effort going southbound.  To the bare eye, the northbound route LOOKS steeper, but it just ain't so.
Beginning Battery Voltage: 13.0   --    Ending Voltage: 12.7
Lowest Temp:   79 F                 Highest Temp:  94 degrees F
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles:     12.45
Overall average speed            Moving Avg               Max Speed
5.3 MPH                                 7.3 MPH                   35.0 MPH
Total Trip time                       Moving Time             Stopped Time
2 hours 22 mins                      1 hour  42 mins         39 minutes