I think the only scenic route from GWB is 9W. It is tree lined and has an ample shoulder to ride on. From North Bergen I would go to the Hudson Valley to ride. The New Paltz area is nice, but a sort of tourist trap on Sunday afternoons with the traffic that goes with in. Walden, Pine Bush and Montgomery are nice areas to ride. It seems like the laws regarding the construction of roads are different in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Speed limits in New York seem to be higher than the same type in New Jersey. In Pennsylvania, the only roads that have a shoulder are the main roads like 202... Close to the border with New Jersey, all the roads are busy with no shoulder.
The closest “great riding” area to North Bergen is a car trip to Central Hunterdon County, within your 80 mile limit. During the summer, Sunday afternoons are great here. No traffic because everyone is stuck on the Garden State Parkway coming home from the Jersey Shore. Little to no traffic on a 35 mile ride. With Pittstown, Croton, Sergeantsville, and Frenchtown areas, you can't go wrong.
You could do a “real estate” ride on the side streets of Bergen County, but you couldn't do any kind of mileage like that.
Growing up in Union County, I am aware of riding on the side streets and finding paths that connect the dead ends. I still enjoy that type of riding. When you join a bike club, the rides always have a destination food stop. Nothing but primary and secondary roads because you're going somewhere. I had the reputation on club rides to make too many turns and used lots of smaller roads to go places. I wouldn't be on a road more than 2 miles before I made a turn.
Developing njbikemap.com, I stuck to the primary and secondary roads just because the map would be impossible to make with all the side roads. Keep in mind the road name letters are a scale 150 meters high. This makes it impossible to show side roads in urban areas. The closeness and population of suburban areas is too much for the scale I chose for the whole state.
There is a need, I think, for maps to show the “bike routes” through towns in suburban areas like Bergen County. By linking smaller, less traveled roads together, bike routes could be established that cross the county making it “safe “ to commute in these areas.
Keep Riding
Dustin.
Just a mapguy
Thanks for the good words.