I was actually asking why don't we keep the peak at 55 from dropping till later. I fully grant this is because I was ignorant of the lower peak at 40.

I should probably have added that most of my understanding in gearing comes from bicycles. I fully expect that my limited understanding there will not necessarily transfer. However, it has built up an intuition that gearing makes a huge difference. It is easy to get a sense that the other components of the equation have the final say, but it is impressive the difference going from a mountain to a road bike.

And again, thank you for the responses. I don't know as that I learned anything I can use in making decisions, but I do feel I have at least learned something.