Thanks for the great feedback, everyone!

Teigyr, I hear you about the gearing and gaining strength. Even with my gearing, I'm having to build a lot more muscle. It is coming, though. And, I am pleased to find that some hills on this route that used to drive my HR up into lactate threshold territory now just send me up to tempo. And, the length I can last at that tempo is getting longer. My legs are showing visible muscle growth. One nice thing about this route is that there are NO hills that spike up into the teens for % grade. Nothing above 10%, and then, only for very short times. The rest is more like 4-9%, with lots of 5-7%.

SK, believe me, I have wondered if I should get some touring CRs. Maybe we should start referring to granny gears and great-granny gears!