Salt gets in your eyes.

Pogly
Pogly Posts: 9
edited November 2007 in Training, fitness and health
Hi,

On a long or hard ride how do you stop sweat from running down your forehead and into your eyes ? This is a particular problem if I go out and it starts raining, the rain washes down my face carrying the sweat with it and I have to stop every 10 yards to wipe my eyes. It is playing havoc with my average speeds.

Does anyone have a good suggestion for keeping the stingy stuff out of your eyes ?

Comments

  • ajohn9
    ajohn9 Posts: 260
    vaseline just above your eyebrows does a trick apparently
  • Brian B
    Brian B Posts: 2,071
    I have this problem at times. Worse in summer when you are wearing sun tan lotion and when mixed with salt/sweat gives you very sore eyes. I tend to keep blinking and get gloves with a some toweling to keep wiping before it gets to much.

    I only really get this when the going gets tough e.g. top speed and hill climbing. I have tried a slight coating of vaseline but tend to find that annoys me as much as sweat in the eyes and can smear your glasses if your not careful.
    Brian B.
  • fossyant
    fossyant Posts: 2,549
    Some folk use a bandanna style thing, others sweat bands...

    At traffic lights I usually press my lid against my forehead squeezing the sweat out - head down of course.....or on the go like yesterday after some big hills....
  • Bronzie
    Bronzie Posts: 4,927
    If it's raining, I normally wear a cotton racing cap under my helmet in a "hard as nails Belgian pro" look :lol: - I hate the sensation of raining running through my hair and down my face - with a cap, the rain tends to run down the peak of the cap instead. Sorted.
    It's a Lifestyle! -+-+- Coggan Training Levels
  • Fab Foodie
    Fab Foodie Posts: 5,155
    I use a Buff/Hedy under my lid to keep the sweat from my eyes.
    The pessimists of this world are rarely disappointed....
    Fab's TCR1
  • ut_och_cykla
    ut_och_cykla Posts: 1,594
    Buffs are great for adaptability, tho' I love my '(not quite) hard as nails Belgian look' Rapha cap when it rains or the sun is low. :D

    A real old fashioned sweat band is probably your best solution, perhaps even with a spare in your pocket.

    Also keeps the chill off, sheilds eyes during coffee stops at Alpine cafes etc etc. Put me back on my bike and if I fall off again cremate me with my cap! :wink:
  • Pogly
    Pogly Posts: 9
    Thanks for the tips.

    I do use a headband in winter to keep my ears from freezing but unless it is really cold I find I overheat. Wiping with a sweat band is tricky between the helmet and glasses – hence the stop to remove them and the wrecking of average speeds. I might give the vaseline over the eyebrows a try.
  • cougie
    cougie Posts: 22,512
    I always wear a bandana/buff/hedy thing under my helmet - I find it keeps me cool in summer and warm in winter somehow.
  • nmcgann
    nmcgann Posts: 1,780
    I wear a skull cap all year round, one of the Endura ones I think. Keeps sweat out of my eyes in summer & my head warm in winter (I get a nasty headache if I get a cold head).

    One other advantage is that my cycling helmet never gets smelly, just wash the cap instead :wink:

    Neil
    --
    "Because the cycling is pain. The cycling is soul crushing pain."
  • PhilofCas
    PhilofCas Posts: 1,153
    isn't this why nature invented highbrows ?? (to channel salt down the side of your face away from your eyes)
  • BigLee1
    BigLee1 Posts: 449
    PhilofCas wrote:
    isn't this why nature invented highbrows ?? (to channel salt down the side of your face away from your eyes)

    or even "eyebrows" :lol:
    My 2012 Cube LTD http://www.bikeradar.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=12803593
  • PhilofCas
    PhilofCas Posts: 1,153
    ooo eck :lol: , i feel such a plonker now :oops: :oops: !, eyebrow it is, thanks Biglee
  • BigLee1
    BigLee1 Posts: 449
    No probs! :D I thought it might have been a posh term though :lol:
    My 2012 Cube LTD http://www.bikeradar.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=12803593
  • Fab Foodie
    Fab Foodie Posts: 5,155
    BigLee1 wrote:
    PhilofCas wrote:
    isn't this why nature invented highbrows ?? (to channel salt down the side of your face away from your eyes)

    or even "eyebrows" :lol:

    Highbrows are what Fiona Bruce has naturally or people with either plastic surgery or too tight a pony tail (the Croydon Facelift) end-up with..
    The pessimists of this world are rarely disappointed....
    Fab's TCR1
  • jhop
    jhop Posts: 369
    In 2003 I flew into Spain and then cycled over the Pyrenees to Pau for my first Etape. The heat on the first day of climbing was almost unbearable and what nearly stopped me was the constant flood of salty sweat into my eyes. I had not anticipated this problem and it felt as if all my training and careful preparation was going to be for nothing.


    So on the day before the etape I scoured everywhere for a cotton sweatband eventually tracking one down in a local bike shop in Pau. Needless to say that night there was an almighty thunderstorm and the etape morning was clear cool and nigh on perfect but since then almost all the year round I cycle with a thick towelling sweatband under my helmet and this makes life much more comfortable.

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