Rides from Morristown NJ
 

Just moved up here from DC and looking for safe routes for long rides. Apparently NJ does not believe in road shoulders, so would prefer rides with low car density.

Consider contacting Morris Area Freewheelers Bicycle Club:

Morris Area Freewheelers Bicycle Club - Home

Agree with MAFW suggestion. Several local LBS also sponsor group rides at various paces. Feel free to PM me if you would like specific suggestions. Morristown proper can be a little tought to cycle through, especially in traffic. However, there are many safe roads nearby that you can enjoy. Take a look at the Great Swamp and Jockey Hollow, for example. Also, the farther west you get the less traffic you'll encounter. Many people in this area do long rides out to Far Hills and Oldwick among others. Also, the lack of shoulder space can be a function of many of these roads being originally laid out during colonial times, or earlier.

+1 for MAFW. You can go on their group rides, or access their extensive database of pre-screened rides (almost 1000 of them) and go alone. Either way, it is a great resource.

Riding to Jockey Holley, Great Swamp, Far Hills or Oldwick are good suggestions, but there will be more than a little traffic getting to those points. If you are looking to avoid traffic, you are better off starting somewhere other than Morristown.

The best resource for designing your own ride is NJBikeMap.com. Roads are color-coded to reflect how pleasant they are to ride. Red means unrideable, and purple indicates heavy traffic. If you look at the map of Morristown (http://www.njbikemap.com/njmap/7-maps/morristn.pdf), you will see tons of red and purple. But notice that the southwest corner of that page is mostly green (decent roads) or yellow (beautiful, scenic roads). Continue in that direction, and green and yellow roads become the norm. For example, check out the map of Califon, a short drive away form Morristown. http://www.njbikemap.com/njmap/7-maps/califon.pdf.

One word of caution -- whether green or yellow, roads surrounded by a brown box are unpaved.

Good luck!

I'm pretty happy with Google Maps's bike route recommendations. They do use bike trails, which are very nice. A road with little or no shoulder is OK if traffic isn't too fast and heavy.

Try riding to Mendham, going through Jockey Hollow. Or go to Gillette. There are some really nice roads near you.