Well I made it back from my ride. It wasn't as bad as I thought it'd be. The shoulder on the 'desert road' was pretty wide so I just cruised along. It was nice riding with the mountains in the distance, and really peaceful as it's just wide open nothingness. Once I got into town and there was no shoulder it kinda svcked. It was a two lane road in each direction so most people would pass me in the other lane, but quite a few people buzzed right past me when the other lane was wide open. On the way back I had to make a left hand turn across 4 lanes but luckily traffic wasn't bad so that wasn't as scary as I thought it'd be.

The ride back actually felt shorter, but I think that's because it was dark. I could see all the lights of the base way off in the distance the entire time but other than that I could only really see a few feet ahead of me with my headlight, so I think that kind of makes things go by quickly. I was back before I knew it (still about an hour ride).

Only two real downsides:

It got really cold as soon as it was dark (need to plan for that in the future).

And it now hurts to sit down.... LOL.


EDIT:

So another question. I have to store my bike in a bike rack outside the dorms, so how do I keep my chain in decent condition? I noticed all the other bikes have rusty chains. Is there something I should put on to try to prevent that, or is it just inevitable when storing a bike outside?

yes please take this advice. I hate it when Cyclists think they are exempt from following regular traffic laws.

And using turnlanes. I can't count the number of times I've seen a bike who wants to turn left pull over to the sidewalk, and push the button to walk across the crosswalk. JUST GET IN THE TURN LANE AND WAIT FOR THE LIGHT.

I did that.

Seeing as how no one considered me as an entity on the road, I had to act like a pedestrian and waited for the lights to turn red...then I pulled my bike whilst I walked to the other side.

When i cycled i always taught that i signaled my turns by holding the arm out at full stretch at the side of your body in the direction you are turning, same as an indicator on a motor vehicle, it seems the easiest and most visible indicator of direction. If a motorist doesnt know your turning and cuts into you its your fault, same as i hate motorists that dont signal turns and that happens alot especially as a pedestrian, when you go to walk and a car turns into the lane your walking across, even though you looked to see if they were turning.

I can say most cyclist here dont signal, but i was born in a time when it was basically not only manners but everyone who was a cyclist did it, unfortunately there are no laws or penalties for cyclists to do it but there should be, i know of a cyclist that got caught for speeding, even though there is no law for speeding for cyclists, its a basic road law.

If you do that it's completely legal and I do that myself quite often. By Dutch law, you are only a cyclist if you have a bike between your legs, if you get off and pull it along you're a pedestrian, so I can legally profit from pedestrian crossings all the time.

Many times ive got to the lights, and had a red light climbed off my bike, walked it onto the footpath, taken it to the road i wanted to turn onto and rode off, as long as i dont ride up onto or along the footpath theres nothing illegal about it.