For me, the main benefit is being able to draw great big orange loops on Strava maps; to be able to cover 50, 60, 70 miles with nothing more than a couple of bottles of water.
This is what fascinated me about bikes when I was first allowed to ride to my friend’s house a mile from my house as a child and continues to fascinate me to this day.
The challenge of riding off road still fascinates me, but the sheer thrill of covering huge distances at speed is what keeps me coming back to road biking.
Oh, and it makes me fitter too… 😉