Originally Posted by Bikemiker
All other things being equal, which do you prefer? Let's give this hypothetical road a bit of everything. Some climbs, some flats, some descents, some curves and some straight sections, one lane in each direction, with a posted speed limit of 55 and traffic speeds varying accordingly. Do you feel more comfortable with a large comfortable shoulder width, but with heavy traffic volume, or a narrow to non-existent shoulder, but with a lower traffic volume? If you are planning a tour and this information is available to you, does it play a large factor in planning your route, or is it more important for you to just go where you want?
Whew, tough question. I think THE best solution is -
For roads with high traffic volumes a wide shoulder is needed.
For roads with low traffic volume, then a wide shoulder is not needed, but with lower speed.
But high traffic Vs. low traffic is differant for many people. When i first moved to this province I had read a bicycle touring book for the province that stated a particular road was low to moderate traffic. When I finally rode my bike on the thing I was surprised what the author considered low traffic!
However, to answer you question a bit better, IF a road is truly low traffic volume then I'd prefer the second choice and would base a tour/ride on that. High traffic/wide road just means (typically) more noise, no scenery, no convienences, bypass the interesting spots, etc.
Digger