DogBoy

I'm trying to ride more/drive less, and lately I've been getting the groceries with the bike. I have a few questions from the pros...

First, I'm using a single kid trailer with a 75 lb limit. This doesn't seem to be a problem until you put 20 lbs of kitty litter, cat food, 2 gals of milk and a few 2 liters of soda in it.... I had the thing busting at the seams with just 1 week of groceries for a family of 4. Do you folks just use larger storage capacity (bikes at work trailer/xtracycle etc?) or do you just go more frequently?

Next, if you do use a trailer, how do you secure it? My grocery store does have a rack and I lock my bike, but unless I totally undo the hitch and lock the trailer to the bike or rack there is no way to secure it. I've been just taking a chance that I'm in a low crime area and it will be there, but I'm nervous about it. Does anyone have any good ideas about how to secure a bike and a trailer without having to undo the hitch?

Lastly...I commute, and have not problem riding on roads, but my commute speed is about 15 mph. Loaded down with a trailer and 100 lbs of groceries I can only do about 7-8 mph without strenuous effort. I find myself using the MUP instead of the road, even though this causes me some nervousness when crossing the freeway onramps. Do you ride the same (ie on roads) even when loaded? I'm thinking I'm going to do that next time, but for some reason I think 7-8 mph vs 40 mph is much worse than 15 mph vs 40 mph.

Thanks for the input.