I moved from the center of my town to 3 miles outside in a very hilly section. Although I was capable of riding anywhere in town, my bike was geared higher than I needed -- I never used the top 2-3 gears of 8 speeds -- and created a sort of unconscious barrier to using my bike for day-to-day stuff. So I got a smaller chainring to get my a couple of extra lower gears, and I'm riding much more. The hills aren't a psychological barrier to get started. And now I am using the gear range that I have more fully.