Confused about why you are posting. You must have biked quite a bit by now, and have surely realized that there are physical and age differences among individuals, and among equipment that people choose to carry?
There was a recent "what's your low gear?" email thread on a randonneuring group to which I belong. Most of these very experienced individuals choose to ride triples with big cassettes, and that's unloaded. One of our strongest riders, a PBP record holder, rides a 40" low gear. On my unloaded single, at 67 I'm down to a 28" gear from the 32" gear I rode at my peak. Of course randonneurs tend to choose routes for their climbing rather than to avoid climbing.
Hills back east are not insignificant. The Boston-Montreal-Boston brevet has 30,000' of climbing over approximately 750 miles. That's only 40' per mile, though riding it in under 90 hours in the big ring could tire you some. My wife and I just completed a loaded tandem tour featuring 60' of climbing per mile. We used the granny a lot.