I am overwhelmed, this is a bit more than what I expected! Thanks so much everyone, and especially, Cubdriver for sharing your experience and offering some valuable safety tips! It is very much appreciated. I am not at all new to biking, in fact, I have been riding my mountain bike on roads for well over five years. But your one post was like a refresher course for being safe out there. I am thinking of getting a road bike because I want to get into road biking to stay in shape, plus, riding the mountain bike is kind of hard on paved surfaces due to the weight, and if I could ride to the airport it would work out fine(which I could, roads are fine, I have experience, I can get to the airport in a 25 mile zone, the ride is less than 6 miles). Thank you again for offering what type of bike I should look for, info about the tires etc. I went for a local cycle shop today and their starting price was $800 but I figured, I should wait a bit more and look for a better deal. Thanks also for sharing the pictures of your bikes. I think I will probably go for a used one (i am thinking below $400), fix it up for now, later on I can get a newer, more expensive one...
I perfectly understand what Rick said, but I figure you can never be too safe. For the past couple of months I had no medical insurance, but I still rode, drove, etc.