Well, for a short answer, I'd say "Not really". Lots of stop lights and not many roads that you can get going on for any distance, other than the Island Highway. The ride from Nanaimo to Parksville (35km) on the highway is probably the nicest ride I've ever done around here, but that was almost 20 years ago back when I had my first road bike!

We only have two paths - the E&N trailway is really short (8km). The Parkway Trailway is 20km but full of really short and steeps with lots of blind spots where you can't see the occasional dog walker or kid weaving across the path ahead of you.

The roads in Cedar (rural area) are popular place to road ride around here, but I haven't as of yet tried them. I've been mountain biking and commuting (15 minutes) for the last 10 years or so, and haven't tried many road routes. I know from driving that the roads are pretty narrow and people tend to drive fast.

Compared to other cities I've lived in (Ottawa, Winnipeg), Nanaimo is not very roadie friendly.