As
sd5782 points out, we both live in the last-Ice-Age glacially-scoured lower Great Lakes - the most elevation we normally encounter is a highway or railroad overpass - or maybe a major river valley that has a 300' change at the absolute most. I've ridden in the fringes of those areas (Southern Ohio, as well as the near-GAP/C&O, as well as the desert SouthWest between Phoenix and Tucson... But still relatively flat. Nothing that I couldn't handle - and did - with a 51/39 crank combined with a 14/28 five-speed freewheel. Heck, my commuter bikes are either s 52/42 combined with a 13-24, or a 48/38 with a 13-21 six-speed freewheels for the 150' elevation change between home and work over 12.5 miles!!!