Triathlon Evolution

According to the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy:
The History of every major Galactic Civilization tends to pass through three distinct and recognizable phases, those of Survival, Inquiry and Sophistication, otherwise known as the How, Why and Where phases. For instance, the first phase is characterized by the question How can we eat? the second by the question Why do we eat? and the third by the question Where shall we have lunch?
I was thinking about the evolution of my triathlon biking gear in the same way. In the first year, you are worried about finishing the bike leg. In the second year, you start worrying about how to increase your speed. In the third year, you start worrying about little details.
After my first triathlon, I bought a set of aerobars for the road bike I was riding.
After my second triathlon, I got a proper bike fit and an aero drink bottle.
After about my fourth triathlon, I got an aero helmet and started flirting with renting race wheels.
After the 2009 season, I got a triathlon bike.
In 2010, I continued to flirt with race wheels. At Vineman in July 2010, I rented a set of Zipp 404's. I don't have any data comparing and contrasting speed with the race wheels, and speed without, but I remember on my pre-race ride thinking to myself "holy crap I am going fast," and my race produced one of my best ever bike performances (but see my race report for the "run" that followed). At Big Kahuna, I went with a 404/808 combo. I don't have a strong opinion on that set, but didn't have a great bike split (although that might be explained by my reduced bike fitness).
In sum, I have pretty much gobbled down all the low-hanging aero fruit. I have an aero frame set, a relatively aero hydration system, an aero helmet and rent fast wheels. At present, I have no intention of buying race wheels -- spending ~$2,000 for wheels that you only use 3-6 times a year seems like a waste of money when you can rent that same set for under $100 a race. So, we have now entered the sophistication phase, and I present my 2011 aero improvement game plan. I will probably not do all of these, but here's what is possible:

(1) Disc cover. Wheelbuilder.com just released a very interesting study. You see, for $90 or so, you can buy two pieces of plastic to put over the spokes in your rear wheel and make yourself a disc wheel (which ordinarily costs $2,000 or more). Although it's not independent testing, they took their disc cover into the wind tunnel and asked the question: is the $90 piece of plastic just as good as the $2000 carbon disc? They answered that question, "apparently, yes and sometimes even better." This begs the follow-up question, why would you spend $2,000 when you can get the same aero benefit for $90?

(2) Race tires and tubes. Other than wind resistance, unless you are going up hill (see, e.g., gravity), the biggest force you have to overcome is rolling resistance, essentially the friction that a wheel encounters when rolling along a surface. Here's a link to a chart comparing the rolling resistance of various tire/tube combinations. It's kind a frightening list. If you are using a poor choice of tire and tubes, you could be giving up MINUTES over 25-56 miles and/or working a lot harder than you need to. I won't go tubular for a while yet (see, no race wheels, supra), but some faster tires and latex tubes are a possibility.

(3) Refine the position. Despite all the fancy bike tech, the fact is that the rider's body creates, by far, the most drag. When looking at race photos of me from last year, I looked pretty darn upright even when down in aero. The lower, more horizontal a position you can create, the less drag you create (so long as you don't sacrifice too much power or comfort). I am going to see if I can get lower and flatter.

(4) Apparel. Have you ever seen a a time trial during the Tour de France, or similar race? The skinsuits they wear aren't fashion statements. Turns out pockets and loose clothing operate like parachutes. Good for slowing you down when you are hurtling towards the earth, not so good for maximizing the speed you are hurtling down the road. The owners of powertri.com did some wind tunnel testing on apparel this winter and, again the results are frightening. Pick the wrong race outfit and you might be 2.5 minutes slower over a 40K. That's about the difference you get from aero wheels, a time trial bike and an aero helmet, COMBINED. Luckily, I happen to have a De Soto Liftfoil. It doesn't really work for me in long distance races since I (a) can't dump ice down it; and (b) can't easily remove the relevant portion if I need to "go" during a race. Ultimately, I have chosen to take the aero hit at the 70.3 mile distance because I am prone to overheating and dehydration on the run, making cooling and the ability to take in a lot of fluid without costing myself minutes in the 'loo more important.

(5) The aero-drink straw. The way an aero drink works, it has a hard plastic straw poking up to a few inches away from your mouth when you are in the aero bars. A couple of podcasts I listened to over the last year or two argued that the cylindracal straw sticking up hurts aerodynamics because it hits otherwise "clean" air (a cylindar is the least aero shape possible, apparently). The solution is to have a flexible tube that lies flat and you pick it up to drink. I will experiment with that this year, probably.

Anybody got other aero refinements?