BITD, the corn cobs were never about "correct". Freewheels only had 5 or 6 cogs in the back. If you ran a 13-26 or something, you be stuck with a big gap in your higher gears, which would be downright painful when going fast in a pack or a paceline. These were racing bikes let's remember. If you wanted a touring bike, those were available, and they had lower gears. BITD touring didn't necessarily mean camping, it just meant touring around on a bike, like for recreation instead of speed.