Just another thought...what kind of gearing does your bike have? You said it is a touring bike, so I hope nice low gears? If it doesn't have a serious granny gear, consider adding a cassette (and maybe mountain DR) to the back that has more teeth on the big rings. Or, consider chainrings that are even smaller than a normal 30 tooth granny ring.

I live in GOBS of hills, too. I swapped out for some really small granny gears, and it made a huge difference in how long, and how often, I could ride outside (with all the de facto climbing rides). I find that now, I don't use the granny gears as much as I used to...but I still use them. Who knows...one day I might transition out of them. Or, I might just keep doing longer and longer rides, and still want them!