One of my goals is to get to the point where I could do most of my riding on the big chainring. I'm in Wisconsin, so it's *flat*. Not pancake flat, but most of the hills are so gentle I just don't notice them when walking. So if I can use most of the big chainring, I have plenty of gearing for handling the little rises I get on my daily rides. And the more I ride on the big chainring, the better I do on my nemesis hill (with a whopping 5% grade it feels so *flat* and it's still kicking my ***).

If you are not in such a flat place, the big chainring won't be a most of the time thing the way it is for me. And if you experiment carefully on a flat bit, you should find at least one lowish gear on your big chainring that feels similar to a gear on your middle chainring, and to a different gear on your little chainring. For me, 3/3, 2/5 and 1/8 are all very similar in feel. So on a *very* flat ride, I may only work on the big chainring and use 3/2 for stops. On a bumpier ride, I may stay mostly on the middle chainring, with 2/3 for most stops and climbs, and 2/6 or 2/7 if I want to go ZOOM.