Sooo...
Today I took the kids on a long bike ride, without any other adult assistance. That's a first for me, folks! It went really well, probably because we were well-prepared for about any contingency. We had helmets and gloves, lunches, 2+ bottles of water per person, a first aid kit, a spare tube for all three types of tires we were using, a tool kit and tire pump, my wallet and cellphone...
Didn't really think, ahead of time, how much all that stuff was going to weigh. Aidan rode his bike, I rode my bike, towing Esme on the trailer-bike, which makes kind of a tandem - grown-up in the front, kid in the back. The trailer-bike has pedals, and Esme can either pedal, or not. It's slightly easier if she does, but not much! I figured I was propelling about 250 pounds, if you count the bikes, the people, the backpacks and contents...I'm a little tired now. We stopped a few times - once to eat lunch - and made about a twelve-mile trip in about three hours. Yay us!