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I'm going to stick my neck out here and voice my personal opinion on this subject having just returned from a 700 mile loaded self-supported trike tour and a 1000 mile trike tour up the aca east coast route this summer. Having owned a 2007 Road and also my present Trice T trikes I sold the Road and kept the T and have done the 2 aforementioned trips on it as well as many day rides. In my experience, the Road is faster and more fun for day rides, however the attributes that make it so make it a less than ideal touring machine. It is stiff/unsuspended, low, and unforgiving in the real world range of road surfaces one is likely to encounter daily on a long distance loaded tour. I tried big apples and that helps, some. Overall the Trice is about comfort, and for those of you who are armchair tourists and have never really gone on the road day after day after day will find out this is true for most folks when you are on the road. Afterall we ride recumbents because DF bikes are really brutal on most bodies, so why not maximize the comfort factor? The Trice has rear suspension and a steel cruciform, both of which contribute to a MUCH smoother ride over chip n seal roads and dirt trails (I rode the T on the C & O canal to the GAP rail trail to end the summer tour). I compared the Expedition to the T on a section of off road trail and it was MUCH slower running over ruts, rocks and and rough dirt. I met a fellow triker on my recent tour who contributes here - TractorTom, who rides a Trail (quite quickly I might add) and we rode about 50 miles together over a variety of road surfaces and the side by side comparisons of the way the 2 trikes dealt with shock from holes and rough pavement were very obvious.
All that being said, you can ride anything pretty much anywhere ( many years ago I rode skinny tired cyclocross bikes in hardcore mountain bike races) Lucinda riding the Southern tier on a Road, or Heidi riding a Trimuter down the Great Divide Mt. Bike route and farther, but this thread was about the best touring trike. I submit that if Catrike wants to have a real long distance loaded touring machine, they should think how to produce one with suspension. Because on long tours, you cant choose your roads like on day rides, they choose you. They also need to give some thought to carrying capacity. The Road and Expedition are limited to one set of rear panniers. Lucinda moteled the entire Southern tier on her trip but most tourists prefer the option of carrying full camping gear. Thats hard for most folks to do without using Arkel RT-60s or 2 sets of Ortlieb panniers.

I though I might have touched a nerve with some posters here with my opinions ( and please remember they are just my opinions based on my experiences). But what I'm talking about is what I have found works well for loaded, self supported touring. I don't sell Trice or have any loyaly to them as a brand (or any brand period). In my travels, people frequently ask me about trikes, and if they say they want one I usually recommend a Catrike as the best value in a recumbent trike you can buy. My first trike tour was this summer and rode from St. Augustine FL to Pittsburg PA via the aca east coast route to DC to C & O canal to GAP rail trail to Pittsburg. I wanted a trike with the following attributes: considering the route: high ground clearance for riding in the dirt, lots of shock absorbtion for rough roads, ruggedness of frame and components, and ability to carry my gear. I opted for large Ortlieb rear panniers for my Trice T and if I was traveling in colder weather, I would have needed more capacity, i.e. : Arkel RT-60s, my Road would not have room for the Arkels, and I didn't want to have to stack gear way up high on my rear rack messing with the trikes CG. The Trice is the only trike there is that can carry a standard touring handlebar bag, something I found to be an enourmous asset everyday as it held my ACA route map and wallet, camera, Iphone, etc.I almost bought a Greenspeed GTE or a HPV Scorpion FX because I can carry front and rear ortlieb bags like I would on an DF tourig bike. The Road has 3.5" ground clearance vs. the T's 7", and then there is the ultra stiff frame of the Catrike. I did try big apples and it helped but not nearly as much as suspension. I got the Trice with the Idea of doing the whole ACA Great Divide mountain bike route which follows the Continental Divide from Canada to Mexico on dirt roads and trails after reading a crazyguyonabike journal by a woman who rode the whole thing on a Trimuter trike a few years ago. After riding the C & O this summer I have decided that because of the width of the trike for off pavement touring, I would definately not use a trike for the Great divide tour. One wheel riding out of the track in single or doubletrack for any distance= not fun. As I said before, I have no need to prove anything or have loyalty to a brand, I just want to use what works best from my point of view. The bottom line though is you can make anything work. Lucinda loves her Road, Mal and Lee have traveled far more miles than I have on trikes all over the world and also really are elated with their Roads. Have anyof them bought 2 or 3 different trikes and ridden them for hundreds of miles like I have before making their choice as to which is the best trike for touring, I don't know. I as I said I used panniers for my tour this summer and just completed a 700 mile lap of Florida on the Trice using my Burley Nomad just to compare. I won't ramble on about that but basically a trailer worked pretty well. Six of one , half dozen of another I'd say about the trailer vs. bag debate. I have decided however to use a full suspension Optima Orca recumbent bike for the Great divide off road trek this summer. I figure, why beat my head against the wall for no apparant reason.
And my comment about Lucinda was in no way meant to demean her accomplishment. I very much admire her or anyone who thinks for themselves and thinks outside of the box in thier approach to adventuring. My comment was related only the carrying capacity available to the Old Man Mountain Sherpa rack. The title of this thread was -What is the best touring trike. I merely addressed that question as I have seen others discuss brands other than Catrike. Didn't know it was verboten. Peer pressure makes a lousy companion on a long tour if you have made the wrong trike choice.