We all have our bad days. Usually I can tell when, for some reason, I'm not having a good mental day. So I choose my routes accordingly. I live on gravel roads, about 4 miles from the nearest pavement. No problem if I'm riding my LHT, but not good if I want to take the Roubaix. In the latter case, I drive myself and my bike to a starting point. If I don't feel like I can or want to mentally deal with distractions, I can target such a route. Takes a few more miles of driving, but is worth it on "those days".