Went to Vote Early - On the Bike, of Course

Monday GPS/APRS tracking
Jacque set the example by voting early so I decided I would too, but I wanted to ride the bike down to the early voting center in Tijeras.
We had a couple bags of surplus junque to take to the thrift store so I dug out the olde bike trailer and strapped the stuff on.

I watched the trailer in the rear view mirror and it seemed to be riding stable with no problems.  As I rode down our rocky goat-path road toward the pavement of Frost Road, however, I noticed some loud banging coming from the trailer, and as I coasted down the last hill toward the pavement, I noticed something fall out of the trailer so I stopped.  I noticed broken glass and some items evidently having torn through the plastic container bag.  I unstrapped the bag, and sure enough, a large hole had torn through.  Rather than risk having more stuff rip through the bag, I disconnected the trailer and hid it in the trees and rode on to Tijeras to vote without benefit of the trailer.  I could always deliver that stuff later anyway.
Stopped at the local East Mountain Video store to return a DVD we'd rented over the weekend, then finished coasting the mostly downhill slope to Tijeras.  The wind had come up so strong I had to pedal much of the way.... DOWNHILL.  Disgusting to have to exert oneself to go downhill.  BAH
I was pleasantly surprised at the voting center:  I had to answer several questions about my identity, such as my address, year of birth, etc, all of which are readily visible to the official manning the computer database of registered voters.  New Mexico Yellow-Dog Democrats have fought against all proposed measures for implementing voter ID to prevent voting fraud for years. 
Just a week or so ago, however, someone prominent loudly complained when he went to vote early and was denied the privilege because someone ELSE had already voted using his name.  The outcry about this has been substantial, and evidently this simple method of ensuring you are actually who you claim you are - withOUT requiring any form of ID - is the result.  I thanked the official for so questioning me.   The ballot form was long and complicated, and as I slowly filled it out, I overheard one potential voter FAILING to answer the identity questions.  She claimed she "Just Couldn't Remember" such things as her home address, year of birth, and other "complex questions".  They didn't let her vote, thank goodness.
On the way home, uphill, I was surprised when a small motorcycle slowed next to me and matched my slow uphill speed parallel to me as I climbed a few hundred more feet.  The operator wanted to talk, so I pulled over and we chatted. (I was on the bike trail next to North-14).  He said he'd seen me a couple days ago again riding down in Tijeras and wanted to know all about the recumbent, how many gears it had, what the electronics stuff was, etc, etc.  He seemed suitably impressed.  He was an older guy (Probably almost as old as me) and finally rode off, leaving me to my slow 6-something MPH climb up North 14.  Thankfully on this return leg of the trip the wind was mostly at my back.... a much more pleasant direction for the wind to be blowing.
Stats from the GPS: Total Miles:  18.86
Overall average speed            Moving Avg               Max Speed
6.5 MPH                                  8.8 MPH                    32.9 MPH
Total Trip time                       Moving Time             Stopped Time
2 hours 54 mins                    2 hours 7 mins           47 minutes