You kicked off last season with a Merckx-style time trial attempt in a sea of fully kitted TT rigs and learned the hard way that your GC ambitions can go out the door in a decidedly non-aero snap--regardless of how much packing tape you put across your road helmet vents. This year, though, you're back and much better prepared with the proper bike, pinned up in a size too small skinsuit, slick shoe covers, and a shiny new Smith Podium TT MIPS Helmet to complete the kit. You unclip from the trainer and get the disc wheel in place, grab a last minute swig of energy, and double check the light conditions before choosing your lens and nestling it quickly onto your helmet as the final piece in the day's wind-cheating puzzle. The helmet's blunted tail means that the day's changing wind conditions and occasional lapses in form won't take as severe a toll on your efforts as the foot-long dorsal fin of a traditional aerodynamic lid. Staging and gear checks completed, you arrive in the start house and fend off the nerves with a final helmet fit adjustment, wait for the countdown, and power off the start ramp with the confidence that this year is the year you get to the finish line first.