tried a gear i've rarely used before
 

it occurred to me that i have this beautiful 18 speed ultegra set and rarely venture outside my safety 3-4 gears when riding. i thought i'd "gear up" for today's ride....wow! it was like a peppermint patty commercial. long live the large chainring - even in windy & uphill conditions (after warm-up)

Well ya got em ...... use em !! :)

Yeah I never seem to get out of the same 3 or 4 gears either... that big ring is gnarly... I started out on day all gung ho telling myself I was gonna ride the big ring... I lasted about 15 minutes until my legs turned to jello... messed my whole ride up

Jeff