You are WAY overthinking this….going occasionally into tempo is not a bad thing. And shifting gears to stay in Z2 is precisely what you want to do.
Sounds like you are primarily riding by speed / feel, so the requisite gear changes to stay in Z2 make you feel slow. Riding by power will naturally feel slow on hills because we are used to upping the power. Conversely, it will feel insanely fast going downhill because we are used to coasting and not pedaling at the required power levels.
@MSB Your going into tempo (by power, feel, or HR) up a hill is no big deal, as has been stated. The bigger deal is coming home with 30% (for example) coasting or near coasting. That’s a waste. Try not to do that (along with extended stops > time takes to urinate or adjust kit).
If you live in an area where (like me) it’s dangerous to try to coast less than, say, 10% then do the best you can. But PLEASE don’t worry about more power on the up hills. It’s just not a thing to worry about if you are in a low gear and pedaling hard enough to stay upright. IOW, not smashing a segment. But even then, somebody like the Cog would say “so what, smash it”.
So even opinions more authoritative than ours are not equivocal, but they all agree: you need to actually have cadence > 0 for it to count.
Tempo and endurance are the same thing.
My coasting time is < 1% of ride time so I’m good there. It’s mostly that I’m left disappointed unless I go out and get after it more than my plan dictates. I get that it’s part of the bigger picture in developing as a cyclist but damn it’s boring.
Ok so less than 1% means hella flat lol. Like a trainer ride, but outside (I guess). So I agree, seems like good there. 
Is it possible that you are simply not pushing hard enough on hard days? By the time you get to some Zone 2, with the exception of a long ride, you should either enjoy it because you like riding this way (me), or at the very least relieved because you’re carrying a bit of (but not too much) fatigue from quality days.
Practice.
It is a struggle if you’re heavy and in a hilly area, but if you go out with the express goal of staying below a power level it will help learn to keep it easy.
Generally I aim to keep hills at the lower end of tempo if I’m working on an endurance ride.
Don’t know if this will help, but my take on outdoor zone 2 rides is not whether they are stand-alone fun. I think about how much better they are than long zone 2 on the trainer. And from that vantage point, they are very satisfying.
If you are focusing on not letting your heart rate or power go to high… yeah that can be boring. But why do something that takes all the joy out of your rides?
My recommendation: Take off the power and heart rate data fields and ride by feel. We do this for fun… so keep it fun. Keep it chill. Enjoy the outdoors.
Here, that’s spot on!
IMO, RPE is the best “measure tool” for endurance rides. It’ll automatically offset tiredness and be more pleasant to do. Just ride and forget the numbers. Look at them after riding.
Yep, agree with this. Try not to over think it and go out and enjoy riding your bike
Long solo rides on bike paths while listening to podcasts is, for me, the best way to do this. Load up 4hrs of podcasts, and just mosey along down the path through the woods.
Lots of good advice above. I tend to do Z2 on feel, letting myself have 15-30 mins to just get up to the expected HR%/Power. If I’m not feeling it, I just do an easy ride and enjoy being outdoors for a few hours. If I feel strong or the workout feels easy, I go for some higher Z2/low Z3 work.
One thing I haven’t seen mentioned is that you said the MaxHr of 200 was measured, but is there any chance that was a one time spike? Like, if you do a really hard gasping like a fish out of water workout, can you get to 196+? Just a thought.
There’s birds and deer and shit in the woods, that stuff is scary 
I see animals and just keep thinking of Hitchcocks The Birds, or Pet Cemetery 
I’m being like 83% facetious haha. But no, i find listening to podcasts or music while riding very relaxing. I enjoy the ambiance of nature/the outdoors, but I have no real appreciation for it. Deer give me the creeps.
The biggest benefit of forests is cars arent allowed…
I’m kind of the same way. My max hr every year is 195-197. It’s always a sprint, when tired, after a long effort.
It doesnt seem like 195 is realistic on the trainer doing a workout. I did hard start, high cadence 3’ vo2 intervals last week, and not for lack of trying, could. not get my HR over 184 on a single interval. This was with 75% each interval just absolutely gasping for air the last 2-2:30’.
