Awesome, thanks for the great info everyone!

I don't suppose anybody knows just how steep the worst parts of road are, or how long they go? And how much more difficult is it to climb dirt hills than paved ones? I don't have an MTB or CXB, so renting one vs the other would be pretty easy. Maybe the MTB would be better for the low gearing, I was thinking drop bars would be nice, though, for a 30 mile round trip...

Sounds like I'm better off going early in the season because of water?