Setting goals... the disease of modern life, successfully brainwashed into us at a young age with plenty of encouragement from the media, religions, education systems, etc. Ignore goals. Just ride the bike, at a pace that feels good over a long distance, and at a distance that doesn't make you have to stay off the bike many days just to recover. What's the point of riding if it beats you up like that? Better to ride more moderately but every day.

I get carried away myself sometimes, having to prove something... but after the fact, I find that I didn't enjoy those rides at all, and many times, I don't even remember going through places which I know I did.

If you have to picture yourself as some kind of Lance Armstrong look-alike, you're probably doing it wrong. Instead, try picturing yourself as riding a touring bike through the French countryside while smoking a pipe, Basque beret optional.

The racers are no example anyway. We don't have the drug and blood doping resources they do.