I live in the small town of Monson in Western MA. The terrain is mostly rolling hills and there are no bike lanes anywhere. The nearest MUP is located about 19 miles away, so I rarely ever use it unless I want to make it a long day. Rt 20 (aka Boston Rd) probably has the widest shoulders that I know of in the area from Palmer to Springfield. The psl is 45mph and there can be a lot of traffic on it. Besides that, many roads can have narrow shoulders. Now that winter is upon us, I see a lady out riding from time to time, but no one else. Even during the summer I'll be luckly if I see another bicyclist during my 19 mile commute. I've never seen another trike on the roads, but I did see one a while back on the MUP before I owned mine. Riding my trike, I get quite a bit of respect from other road users. Drivers seem to tolerate me and are usually patient despite all the impatient ones that I come across everytime I drive my car. Overall, I love riding my trike and commuting around my area. It would be great to see more people riding out on the roads though.
This is Rt 20 with the wide shoulders:
http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ie...bp=12,250,,0,5
Here's examples of some main roads that I ride on:
http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ie...bp=12,170,,0,5
http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ie...,0.062656&z=14
http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ie...,0.062656&z=14