matt,
Mines Road / Mt. Hamilton ( my normal route ) is incredibly desolate, considering you're 50 mi away from the millions of peeps in San Jose / East Bay.
The road is gnarly, bumpy, gravely, tight... really more of a super-motard road or small bike road.
But I don't care, I love throwing the bandit around, hitting dips mid-corner and having the pegs go scrape.
I almost always ride with another biker --- mostly because I enjoy the company, but also "just in case." And back there, if you get hurt bad enough, it almost always means a helicopter ride out because it'd just take so damned long for a car to get to you.
I'd like to ride in another country ( Swiss Alps !); my biggest fear riding in another country is not understanding a particular rule of the road ( or being confused by a sign ). Or doing a wheely in England and getting thrown in the slammer with a bunch of drunk football fans... :)