A few years ago, I did Hurricane Ridge with Mr. Caveman and some other BF members. 39-28T was my low combo and I was in it for almost all of it. If you're pretty good at being a steady gorilla with slightly higher gearing on 5-5.5% grades, then you can hang on for 17+ miles. Otherwise a 50/34 compact will make it a bit easier. Maybe I'd want to do it with that combo again, or maybe not. I will say that having a 53-11T high combo for the run down was/is a superb choice. I even spun it out past 120 RPM! Fair curves that are plenty easy to never have to brake, and I'm no daredevil. I've been meaning to do the ridge again, and that's a possibility now that my left knee isn't in mutiny mode. Saddle height isn't fully set, but we're getting there.