I've travelled ("overlanding") the panamerican highway for roughly 2 1/2 years and I've always admired the people doing this on a bicycle. Since I'm back I've done much more bike touring than before and I do enjoy it a lot. The best thing about bike travelling is that speed, you really do get a sense of the landscape and the changing of it. On the other hand, a quick detour up to a mountain that you saw from the coast is not an easy feat and you will have to skip a lot of things that are not on your route.