Overheated

Also the coolant never boiled over, or showed any sign of overheating other than the temperature gauge

Since you've done all the other stuff, it kinda sounds like a lack of air flow thru the radiator......radiator e-fan may be bad or a fuse/relay. Once the vehicle is moving, there should be sufficient air flow thru the rad to keep the motor cool, presuming all is well with all cooling system components.....radiator, water pump, t-stat, rad e-fan, etc.

you have a fan problem both fans should cycle with the A/C compressor no matter what the temp it is so unplug the fans and check for power and ground at the connector with the ac on and when the clutch engages it should have power and ground ,I have found a lot of 02-06 crvs with bad ac fans the passenger side one ,only symptom was poor AC performance ,the fan switch on the bottom of the radiator will send a ground signal to the relay for the left fan around 200F and the pcm also signals the left and right fan when the AC compressor is on so easier to check power with the ac, a 7440 light bulb works perfect in the fan plug socket for testing just bend the contacts down and jam it in and start the engine with ac and it should light very bright

I once had a similar problem, and couldnt find the reason for it afterwards. I followed the dealer advice and changed out the water pump, never seen the problem again. The water pump in that car was a known weak point. I dont know if the CRV has that sort of history.

This is symptomatic of either a bad water pump or stuck thermostat. If/when you replace water pump, go with a new thermostat too. Also check two main radiator hoses. If old, replace. Then flush and use all new coolant.

Thanks for all the responses! Come to find out both fans failed at the exact same time. Insane but I figure stranger things have happened.. put new fans on and it works like a charm.

A guage malfunction? the reluctant to start is hard to fugue, whether the overheat was real or not.