Riding Outside

I have yet to ride outside and I am racing in 4 weeks.  

I'm ok with this, I really am, and here's why:

I live in a city and there really aren't places to do a good ride in the city limits.  So that means, every time I want to ride outside I have to get in my car and ride out to the burbs.  Door to parking lot (where we leave from) is 50 minutes.  There's usually traffic just to get back into the city after the noon.  So that means at a minimum, 1:40 minutes of driving.  I haven't done a ride that is longer than 2:50 so far.  If to do a ride outside would take me 4 1/2 hours.  So think about that time commitment versus riding indoors on the computraininer.  It takes me 20 minutes to get the the gym, 10 minutes to get set up, water bottles ready and on the bike, then I ride and I'm showered within 10 minutes and walking out the door 20 minutes after my ride.  So yeh, It's been hard to convince me to get outside so far.  I know that by the time the summer comes and I'm riding 80+ miles at a minimum so I will be driving to the burbs, Wisconsin, Western Illinois, etc.  Every weekend will be spent out of the city.  So I'm just trying to hold onto the city for as long as I can.  

This weekend is a 3 hour ride, there is a chance I will ride outside.  There is also a strong chance I will just shack up on the wellfit computrainer and grind it out indoors for the convenience factor.  I haven't decided yet.