Yes. The gears up front are commonly called chainrings. Like yours, I have one bike with a triple chainring set up front. On that bike, I rarely use the 3rd, the largest, unless I'm going downhill and I have run out of gearing in the middle chainring.

I noticed you are also in Michigan and looking to bike in the winter. I usually bundle up, and use bike shoe covers and a good set of gloves. I also only ride outside when the pavement is bare dry and mostly free of salt. I'm good to about 25'F. Any time else, I either use a "turbo" trainer or my set of rollers. I find the rollers seems to give me a more intensive exercise session. I also felt that by using rollers, my pedaling technique seemed more efficient when I got back out onto the road. I started using rollers last winter and I can tell they have helped me become a more efficient cyclist. They are tricky to use at first, whereas on a turbo trainer, you can just relax more without having to worry about balance.