Biking with my Girls

Look at my new toy! A bike trailer for my girlies to ride in.

I got it for my birthday. But I didn't have a chance to use it until yesterday. In fact, it was still in the box. After a few mins assembling it and attaching it to my bike, the girls climbed in. I handed them they're dinner, a la Mermaids. (Y'all remember that movie? The mom, Cher, fed the kids appetizers/party food for dinner. We had leftovers from the Easter party.) That's the key to keeping the fighting to a min, snacks. Good thing the like fruits and veggies. I'd feel silly giving them chips so they'll be quite while I exercise.

I'm super surprised with the quality of this trailer. It was very in expensive. One of my fav friends, Travis, turned me on to nashbar.com.

 MM & Li packed in to the Trailer with dinner.

 Unfortunately, I have no stats. In my excitement, I forgot to grab my Garmin. I know I rode for 40mins and I figure about 7-8mi. Clearly, I'm not speedy on the bike either. What evs. After the first block, my thighs were burning. After about 1.5mi, I wanted to turn for home. It's quite a resistance workout pulling 80lbs on a bike. But I was determined to ride for 40mins. As you know, I've run 3 half-marathons in the last year. I am tough and strong and my legs can take a beating. But geez louise that was a struggle. I had to stop to catch my breath after 20mins. Than after another 10mins. But I made it the full 40mins.

I'm super new to the biking scene and I have a few questions I'd love for people in the know to answer...

1.  I get sore spots on my hands. Should I just suck it up or buy padded biking gloves? Is that a silly thing that wimps do?
2. How do I find a comfortable pace? Even without the kiddos, I'm struggling to find and pace I can go the distance.
3. Are they're workouts/training plans that help with speed and endurance, like with running?

 Thanks for the info.