My gear spacing is rather broad - 13-15-17-20-23-26. Very nice for hills and on a longer ride it might cause problems - but that's why there's two chainrings. The 42 can help even out the spacing problems a little. For the most part I was in the 52-15 while in the lead pack and up the hill in the 42-23 and 42-26.

This ride just convinced me that I don't need to buckle to the pressure of owning the latest and greatest. The fact that the 21 yo college kid was eyeing the components on my bike before the race started created even more satisfaction.