"For touring use, I'd consider swapping in a higher rise stem, clipping on a front rack/panniers to dist weight, and somehow add a handlebar bag. I wouldn't change the gearing or shifters."
Obviosly your gearing is way off the mark for touring. That may still be wonderful for you, but if so you are the exception. We had a thread a while back where this guy was young and strong and figured he could just blow off standard touring gearing. He finally loaded his bike went for a long ride one day, and came back and admited he had been wrong. But then you carry 40 pounds on your bike, no toruble, and that can certainly be configured to cover extended trips if you pack light.
Here you are on 700x28:
66.9 93.7 116.0
61.8 86.5 107.0
53.5 74.9 92.8
47.2 66.1 81.9
42.3 59.2 73.2
38.2 53.5 66.3
34.9 48.9 60.5
32.1 45.0 55.7
Here is a standard touring wide range with 32 and 38 tires:
63.8 88.4 112.9
54.0 74.8 95.5
46.8 64.8 82.8
41.3 57.2 73.1
35.1 48.6 62.1
30.5 42.3 54.0
27.0 37.4 47.8
20.6 28.6 36.5
64.6 89.4 114.2
54.6 75.7 96.7
47.4 65.6 83.8
41.8 57.9 73.9
35.5 49.2 62.8
30.9 42.8 54.6
27.3 37.8 48.3
20.9 28.9 37.0
Your granny is 54% higher.