I live in rolling terrain too (northern VA) and can't really get out of it unless I drive to the coast. The other way is worse (or better depending on ride type) because it's the mountains. I am coming back to riding and am out of shape and got caught up thinking "how am I going to do zone 2" to increase my endurance? My hills are punchy, always up and down. The ups are often greater than 6% (sometimes double digits) and the downs are fast but short so no time to recover. I told myself to "just ride". To truth is, no amount of gearing will make the hills easier to get to zone 2 (at least at my current fitness level) so the only way is to do indoor training (which I don't have yet).