Gearing and muscle development

It would actually be the week after this ride that any muscle repair would occur. It's not the ride, but the recovery that builds muscle. Just thought I'd throw that in there. :)

lol, true story.
Muscle bulk is bad right ? why carry that weight around ? small, hard, well vascularised muscle is the best muscle.
The vascularisation however takes more than a big gear, and develops slower than muscle itself. Takes hours of training and many miles at one time, repeatedly, month after month.
Thats the edge Tour de france winners have, vascularisation, because of their epically intense training.
Thats what a my mate Mike told me who did 100+ mile training rides very often and marathons across the world.