Whew, thanks for all the advice. For Trekker Pete and those curious, I do work in Nashville and plan on riding Murfreesboro rd into Smyrna where it still has a shoulder, then taking Rock Springs (no shoulder but country road and 5am should be fine) to Nolensville Pike into Nashville. Nolensville is ok for most of it, but there will be about two miles when I will probably be on the sidewalk when the shoulder drops away and traffic is bad. It's not ideal, but my test-rides have felt safe.

I do have a no-stress desk job (intern at the state legislature), so being tired shouldn't be an issue. I also have decent (not great) lights, so I appreciate the advice on getting better ones. One of the primary reasons for not driving is to save on gas, so I don't want to drop $150 on a set of really expensive ones. What I have are a pair of knock-off tactical flashlights with bike mounts. They are each brighter than my 1-watt cateye that was $40 even though they cost like $10 for the pair. They are the best "see" lights I've ever had, but still may not be adaquate for a country road at 4am. I might order a set of the non-knock-offs to add more lumens but still split the difference between cycling-specific lights.

I am mot curious about the idea that this will have zero training benefit. I appreciate the idea that I might not want to ride on the weekends, but frankly, most weekends I ride about 40-50 miles once or twice, so if I am doing that up to six times a week I am really improving my milage. Also, while there will be about 10 miles each way that are city, "junk" miles, 30 each way are on about the same kind of roads I ride when I train anyways. Does this change your assessment, or is it mostly due to riding while waking up and being more focused on getting from point A to B than on a good training ride?

Again, thanks for the advice! I'll be sure to post once Ive actually made the trip once or twice! It's supposed to rain/storm here all week