I concur. Winthrop doesn't strike me as being scary in any way - it's a huge tourist draw (I am found there at least one time per year) and lots of cyclists and motorcyclists visit it. I've never been treated anything but nice there. Maybe it's the tourists driving the unfamiliar roads that are the issue? I do believe however, that some of the other smaller farming towns may not be so "accomodating" to cyclists...but not Winthrop.