I think that is the quintessential question. How to get in that zone at will and be consistently there.

In dressage training, we ask the horse to come and stay 'in front of the leg' by engaging their hind end and achieving 'self carriage'. Oddly enough, I have come to recognize a similar 'feel' when riding my bike. I call it, in my head, 'getting over the pedals'. It's that powerful feeling where you gain with every crank and I try to get it as much as I can.