We read often enough about how some places are bike-crazy when it comes to commuting and getting about town generally, but what has anyone observed about the differences in road cycling communities from place to place?

Has anyone ridden extensively - with local groups, especially - in the US as well as Europe or some other country with a sizeable road riding communities, and have any observations on how they compare? Here's why I ask: Reading elsewhere about a sort of cycling training vacation in Spain brought to mind something I noticed about the riding I'd done in Italy and where it put me among what had been recorded by others on the same roads.

Here, I do about average overall - poorly on some segments, very well on others. But I noticed that even on rides where I felt we were riding as well as I ever do here, there my standings were consistently low - surprisingly low in many cases. But I also noticed that the number of riders recorded was relatively low, too. Perhaps that had to do with the fact that the nearest city of much size was about 80km away and the nearest "metropolis" (Milan) was more than 250km away.

Maybe only the most serious cyclists had occasion to ride those routes, whereas the routes I normally take are right next to the most populous city in the US? Maybe Italians (or at least Italian Freds) don't like Strava?