We're on a relatively small island, and in the south end of the island, where we live, we've got a combination of ...

-- half the roads are paved and half are gravel
-- there aren't a lot of roads because it is so hilly/mountainous and because of the amount of water around (bays, rivers, etc.)
-- narrow roads with little or no shoulders
-- fairly heavily populated area ... we're in a suburb of a somewhat sprawling city. Sprawling because of the mountainous terrain and all those bays, rivers, etc.
-- and busy roads

We rarely ride from home ... just not much in the way of good riding. So we usually drive to our start locations.

About once every 6 weeks or so, we go up north for a weekend where the cycling is much better ... so that's nice.

And the last time we were in the Vancouver area was 2 years ago.