Ride one loop long enough that the halfway point is too far to regret

The Recipe

1. Plan a loop from your door long enough that it takes most of the daylight: the kind of distance you have never ridden in one go.
2. Check the bike over the night before: tyres, brakes, and a spare tube you know how to fit.
3. Leave early and ride the first hour easy, before you feel strong, so you have something left.
4. Eat and drink on a schedule, not when you feel like it: by the time you feel like it you have left it too late.
5. Pass the halfway point and commit; the only way home now is round the rest of the loop.
6. Ride through the low patch where you want to stop, in an easier gear, without deciding anything.
7. Take the last stretch home slowly and steadily rather than sprinting the end.
8. Get off the bike and stand still for a minute before you go in.