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Old 08-06-08, 04:44 PM
  #47  
Jim from Boston
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The problem I have had with prescription eyeglasses and goggles is to provide enough windscreen protection over the eyeglasses with adequate ventilation so the moisture you exhale doesn't fog up the goggles and the eyeglasses. If they frost up, then it’s a really bad situation. An inescapable condition occurs when you're going uphill, or stopped and you are breathing hard yet moving slowly with less airflow to carry away the extra moisture.

I find that ski goggles are not up to cycling's demands due to insufficient ventilation, even with lens coatings. Also, one needs clear lenses since the early mornings and evenings are usually dark, yet most ski goggles are tinted. I wear an eyeglass rearview mirror, and it has to be mounted securely on the goggles, and still remain in my field of peripheral vision, but ski goggles have an elastic headband.

After years of experimenting, I have, IMO, a satisfactory solution as illustrated in the photos.
I wear a simple pair of clear safety glasses as you might buy at Home Depot. They are roomy enough to accommodate my eyeglasses. Because I wear a balaclava and a woolen cap under my helmet, along with the earpieces of the safety glasses and eyeglasses inside the helmet straps, my eyeglasses are pushed down uncomfortably onto my nose.

So I have sewn a strip of Velcro on my woolen cap, extending beyond the edge, and wrapped a piece of Velcro around the bridge of the safety glasses. After I have my balaclava, hat and helmet on and fastened, I insert the earpieces of the safety glasses beneath the helmet straps and attach the nosepiece with Velcro to the Velcro extending from beyond my cap and arrange it so the safety glasses are suspended from my cap and they don’t have to rest on my nose. Finally I attach the rearview eyeglass mirror securely on the rigid earpiece of the safety glasses.

Even though the safety glasses are widely open on the sides, I find the windscreen to be sufficient and the ventilation excellent, and my eyeglasses sit comfortably on my nose. My usual winter riding conditions are about 14 miles in the teens to 20’s Fahrenheit.

BTW, my other great problem is my feet, and I think the best solution is thick and thin layers of wool socks, leather bicycling shoes, and neoprene cycling overshoes.
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