Originally Posted by bikemig

You could convert your bike to a modern gearing system with a new 130 mm rear wheel, a 10 speed cassette, 10 speed downtube shifters or brifters, a new rear derailleur, and a compact crank.

This won't be cheap but you will end up with a lot of really usable gears that will get you up all sorts of hills and mountains too for that matter.

I like my old bikes but that's what I would do for a bike that I rode on a regular basis. You'll get more usable gear ratios this way while significantly improving your climbing gears.