New roads, new places, new traveling companions are a joy to every cyclist. Man is a traveling creature and cycling suits him well. It's not the distance traveled, but the sensations of traveling that man needs, and cycling provides those in abundance. Just so long as the picture changes round every bend in the road, just so long as your legs feel the road and the hills, just so long as the unknown road invites you to come another mile, so long shall the joys of cycle touring be with you.
Good cycle-touring routes give you a variety of experience. Main highways do not do this- they are generally too straight, the grades are too consistent, the distances between interesting places or between changes in the view are too long. Riding on main roads is therefore often boring. Riding in flat country is also dull- nothing but the unreachable horizon before you, the wind in your face, every mile like every other mile. These are the places you grind out the miles and cheer when you complete them.
The places that are fun are the small-scale places, where the road twists and winds, where there are many small roads to choose from, where there are hills to climb and to coast, where little creeks and ponds hide round every bend, where there are funny-shaped rocks or interesting trees, where every house and farm is different from the others. These are the places you should find.