Ahhh night riding, it's one of my favorite times to ride! We host night rides here, adn have for many years. The difference between your $30 lights and the mosre expensive is enormous. The less expensive lights are something that really are designed to get you home, something where you might have been caught at sunset but not something that you would ride intentionally at dark. The more expenive lights are something that generally have a longer run time, easier to charge, brighter etc... I have a set of Turobcat lights and have been extremely satisified with them!! Their customer service is absolutely wonferful!! I was riding with a group and we accidentally rode into water that was above our waists while sitting on the bike, obsviously the lights are not intended to be on while in water, so needless to say, I was a bit worried. I took them off the bike once home, let them dry for several days and am still using them several years later. I also own a set of the new Princeton tech lightsl, although haven't had the opportunity to use them a whole lot.

At any rate, make sure to ride with a tailight and anything reflective that you own... it helps others to see you from several angles. I also use a helmet light, the handlebar lights give me light in the direction that the bike is moving, but if I need to see something BEFORE I turn the handlebars then that's where the helmet light comes in. It's extremely helpful. If your lights have a low and a high beam, I set the low beam directly in front of the bike and the high beam further ahead, that way when traveling at a faster speed you won't out run the light. Obviously, you'll need to time the amount of light with the amount of time that you ride so as not to outrun the available light.

Have a great time riding in the dark, it's loads of fun!!