Don't you think there is a problem of cramming so much in so little time? Or doing fairly short excursions rather than a long one?
During the year, my bicycle trips are around town, within a day's ride. But when comes the summer holidays, I pack the tent, sleeping bag and gear and go touring. I tour on roads because it's what I like best and what works best in our area (too many bugs in the forests), but if I were to prefer off-road cycling, it would be fairly easy to leave home with a loaded MTB and tour on really "bad" forest roads and trails.
As to "why I don't drive 2-3 hours before I cycle", I see a few reasons:
– I don't find it ecological/reasonable to burn gasoline just to have fun... especially since I can have fun locally.
– Apart from utility cycling or walking, I cycle or walk to relax. What would be the point of adding a stressful drive before and especially after the relaxing part? For the same reason, I skied when I lived in Trois-Rivières and could go cross-country after a 1-km walk. Now I cycle throughout Winter instead.
– After a full cycling day, I'm tired. I don't want to be a sleepy driver on the road.