Interesting thoughts, Gary.  And what a great loop to roll out from your front door.  Bike touring is pretty darn cool.

As you know, I pulled a Bob for 2500 miles on the divide, loaded with at least double what you carried.  The first few days seemed slow, for sure, but I quickly got used to it, and it became simply "riding" not "wow this is slow."  The funny thing is that I thought I'd feel super light and strong, unloaded, when I got back.  That sensation never really happened.  Climbing was still hard without the Bob.

I guess I don't see a Bob as a bad option if you're on dirt roads and pavement.  Once you get over the slow feeling (which is there even with an ultralight load), you realize that it's still not hard to cover a lot of ground.  Paula and I had some 100 mile days, and in Montana we almost matched the pace I rode when I raced the GDR in '05.  !!

If you have to pick your bike up, or there are hills steep enough to warrant hiking... forget it...

Scott