Rural areas are great, sure, but increasing # of big cities are great for cycling. DC & neighboring areas are awash in bike lanes & the wide streets always helped even before. BikeShare program is ridiculously successful, one sees thousands of tourists etc using it. There are restaurants/hotels galore. With a phone it's easy to find a free bathroom. If one is crossing DC as part of a tour it's fairly easy whether using bike paths or roads. Actually it's probably safer to go straight thru DC than veer around where roads are faster & often no-shoulder.

OTOH big cities could be really irritating while car-touring in Germany etc. AutoBahns have great signage but city navigating can be rather confusing (navi is big help), parking can be near-impossible, speedy German drivers become impatient w/slow lost tourists etc. Sometimes one can drive for kilometers w/o even finding a place to pull over & check map.

Bike boxed and checked , had my last of my NL Guilders (pre Euro monetary union) Passport and travelers Checks pocket picked in
Shiphol AMS airport from my Backpack, between the check in and boarding .. Next Tour All that was put in a Money Belt

and I had to do a Little stripping off of my rain gear, etc. in Irish Bank lobbys to access my money belt to get my Debit card out
to buy Irish Punts or NI/British Currency.

International touring money/ATM/CC issues can be a real hassle though hopefully things getting better. At Amsterdam train station it turned out that their automatic ticket machines didn't accept US credit card so I ran into station to buy ticket from office. Office was nearing end of work shift w/4 folks standing around yakking & 1 agent slothfully dealing w/customers. Missed the train so had to book a flight instead. Later learned that Amsterdam train office is notorious for surly service.

Keeping the beer cold. Making sure I get the beer before I get to the campsite. Buying enough beer so I don't have to go off on a beer run while cooking dinner. Buying the beer 30km away from the campsite because the map doesn't show any facilities nearby. Getting to the campsite to discover there is a supermarket and 3 convenience stores nearby. Starting the day hungover with a climb straight up. Weighing myself at the end of a trip and discovering I haven't lost any weight because I've drunk so much beer.