I'm not sure that was the only time the bays were retracted, either.
They seemed to be making do without the "force field" at the ends to hold the atmosphere in. Thus, the Landing Bay was open to space, and full of vacuum.
However, there is a scene before the Cylon assault (but after Apollo lands) set in a landing bay with atmosphere. Looking down the bay at the opening, it was covered by something that looked surprisingly like the outer hull of the ship, but angled. "Ah," I thought, "The bays can be retracted. And when retracted, the hull of the ship blocks the opening, allowing the bay to be pressureized. Cool."
of course, having had a moment to think about it I realize the seal would not be tight enough.
OTOH, if it's been 20+ years since the Glactic used a jump, how can they be sure the pods still retract?
Lastly, I doubt the range thing could be a big deal. I mean, compared to the "jump into uncharted space", Galactica's little trip to Ragnar was a field trip, so she could have done a hundred things to reduce her "jump range" and still made it easilly.
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