Its nothing to brag about really. I mainly use the 52/17 on the really flat parts of my ride. 70 percent of the time I'm on the 52/19 spinning unless there is a small incline. Then the rpms drop off a little. If 52/17 is too soon for you then start dropping your gears from 42/17 to 42/15 or even 42/14.

The point is you need to train your muscles to handle the strain of the lower gears. Thats pretty much how I started with my mountain bike and road bikes. Nobody starts at the lower gears. It takes time and training to build up. But you have to be very careful with the lower gears. Once you start feeling even just a little of knee pain drop back to the easier gears. Otherwise your knees will go bad.