Having ridden a road bike from coast to coast, twice, I started on recumbent because of riding with my SO, she rides at slow speeds.. too slow for me to ride a regular bike along, hurts my butt too much to be cruising the neighborhool at 8-12 mph... then I tried riding my recumbent with regular road bike group rides.. turned out that I can keep pace with the group rides on my recumbent without any problem... even on the hils.
I still ride my road bike with large groups at good pace with training in mind.. but for general riding that I just want to enjoy the riding company, enjoy the scenery, finish the ride without the regular aches and pains.. I ride my recumbent.