You will find all types of bikes being used for commuting. MTB, Road, Hybrid, even 'bents. The roads are going to depend largely on where you are. You will have everything from the most modern 4 lane road down to 2 lane chip seal.
For back packing I would suggest also checking out the Crockett National forest in East Texas, a well as the areas around the Southeast Oklahoma area. It doesn't get much press but we do actually have some pretty good areas that are less than 4 hours away.