Originally Posted by tsl
I've never had to follow-through with this tip, because from my experience, it works.
Go out planning to turn back after a mile (or a half-mile) if it's too cold/hot/muggy/rainy/snowy/icy/dark/tiring/whatever.
No matter how much I really didn't want to leave the house (let alone ride), after a quarter mile or so, I'm happy to be out and kicking myself for wasting so much energy on dithering.
I've only turned back once, and it was at about the 1/4 mile mark. I was very sick but trying to convince myself that I could go into work. At the 1/4 mile mark, I could still barely turn the pedals and had to bow to common sense.