Fifty Plus (50+) - Riding with tears in my eyes

I went out today for my usual ride. Everything is going good except for about a 15 to 20 mph gusting wind. I am about 5 miles into the ride when the wind whips a piece of trash or something into my left eye. I stop and get the water bottle and try to flush my eye. After going through about a half a bottle of water my eye is hurting and tearing like crazy. I decide that I need to cut the ride short and head back home. Since it is my left eye I can't use my mirror and the wind is blowing so it makes hearing cars almost impossible. I can see fairly well with my right eye but it is tearing also and if I move my eyes around very much the left eye does not like it. So I am pretty much riding along looking just ahead of my front wheel trying to keep my eyes still. I am not happy about the two houses that I know that I am going to have to pass which have dogs so I get off the bike when I get near the houses and luckly no dogs come out to greet me. I make it back home and flush the eye some more and all is well. I am glad that I was close to home when I got trashed. In the past I have had many bugs bounce off my sunglasses but some way this got in my eye as I had just turned my head a little so that I could use my mirror.

Moral of story. Stuff happens. But it better not happen to me again any time soon.

I cannot ride without cycling glasses. Have 3 pairs for various sun and wind strengths and luckily I have not had anything cause a problem. I do have a problem and that is sweat getting in the eyes and that is painfull. Don't get it in dry conditions but rain washes down the face and takes the salt into the eyes. Looking out for a sweat band at present so it may get cured.

Glad to see the eye got sorted but how about finishing the ride sometime.

Do you ride with cycling specific glasses?

Been there, hate that. I always use glasses but again, sometimes if you hold your head just right a bug/small object works its way in. I use a eye wash arriving home. Ususlly helps

Good Luck, see a Dr if it doesn't clear up.

I don't use cycling specific glasses. The glasses that I use have plastic lens which are polarized and the frames are similar to wire rimmed reading glasses. I would like to have some glasses that go higher up around my eyes because sometimes when I am in the drops and I look up I will be looking over the top of the lens. This trash that got me came in around the nose clips because I felt it touch my nose before it made it into my eye.

I may have the solution for sweat getting into the eyes. There is a product called cool ties. They are made of a tube of cloth about 30" long and have a few granuals of some highly water absorbing material. They are intended to be soaked with water at which point they become round like a bike tube and then you tie them around your neck and as the water evaporates they keep you cool. I like to keep them dry and tie one around my head as a sweat band. There is no way that you can sweat enough that they can't absorb all of the sweat. I have been using one for about a month and no sweat in the eyes.

I am heading back out in about an hour and this time I will finish the ride even if I have to use a cane for the blind to feel the road as I ride along.

I cannot ride without cycling glasses. Have 3 pairs for various sun and wind strengths and luckily I have not had anything cause a problem. I do have a problem and that is sweat getting in the eyes and that is painfull. Don't get it in dry conditions but rain washes down the face and takes the salt into the eyes. Looking out for a sweat band at present so it may get cured.

Glad to see the eye got sorted but how about finishing the ride sometime.

Try a cycling cap with the bill in the normal, down position. Sweat tends to run down the bill and drip from there. Discovered this by accident on a morning eastbound ride. It "dawned" on me :) that the sweat drops that were forming at the tip of the bill were not ending up in my eyes.

On a hot, sweaty ride, I always wear a bandanna, a headsweat or a headband. The best headbands I've found are a simple Coolmax strip tied in back. Sweat wicks along the strip to the back where it drips off or evaporates.

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d195/GonzoDawg/bicycles/Cyclosaursheadband.jpg

Microfiber wicking skull cap works for me when it comes to keeping sweat out of my eyes.

Microfiber wicking skull cap works for me when it comes to keeping sweat out of my eyes.
+1. Wouldn't leave home without it.

I cannot ride without cycling glasses. Have 3 pairs for various sun and wind strengths and luckily I have not had anything cause a problem. I do have a problem and that is sweat getting in the eyes and that is painfull. Don't get it in dry conditions but rain washes down the face and takes the salt into the eyes. Looking out for a sweat band at present so it may get cured.

Glad to see the eye got sorted but how about finishing the ride sometime.
Halo sweat bands rule.

I went out today for my usual ride. Everything is going good except for about a 15 to 20 mph gusting wind. I am about 5 miles into the ride when the wind whips a piece of trash or something into my left eye. I stop and get the water bottle and try to flush my eye. After going through about a half a bottle of water my eye is hurting and tearing like crazy. I decide that I need to cut the ride short and head back home. Since it is my left eye I can't use my mirror and the wind is blowing so it makes hearing cars almost impossible. I can see fairly well with my right eye but it is tearing also and if I move my eyes around very much the left eye does not like it. So I am pretty much riding along looking just ahead of my front wheel trying to keep my eyes still. I am not happy about the two houses that I know that I am going to have to pass which have dogs so I get off the bike when I get near the houses and luckly no dogs come out to greet me. I make it back home and flush the eye some more and all is well. I am glad that I was close to home when I got trashed. In the past I have had many bugs bounce off my sunglasses but some way this got in my eye as I had just turned my head a little so that I could use my mirror.

Moral of story. Stuff happens. But it better not happen to me again any time soon.

Get a pair of industrial safety specs... some are very styilish now, they have an anti-mist coating, and very often you can get the same pair in different lenses for differing conditions.

The pair I own have interchangable lenses.. dark, amber and clear. But with prices as low as £5 each you can afford to have three pairs with a fixed lens in each of them.

Long link coming up...

http://www.arco.co.uk/cgi-bin/arcobvp.dll/Arco/controller?event=product&BV_SessionID=@@@@1105953093.1179640596@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccchaddkllmekdhcflgcefkdfggdfon.0&productcode=3C6500

I went out today for my usual ride. Everything is going good except for about a 15 to 20 mph gusting wind. I am about 5 miles into the ride when the wind whips a piece of trash or something into my left eye. I stop and get the water bottle and try to flush my eye. After going through about a half a bottle of water my eye is hurting and tearing like crazy. I decide that I need to cut the ride short and head back home. Since it is my left eye I can't use my mirror and the wind is blowing so it makes hearing cars almost impossible. I can see fairly well with my right eye but it is tearing also and if I move my eyes around very much the left eye does not like it. So I am pretty much riding along looking just ahead of my front wheel trying to keep my eyes still. I am not happy about the two houses that I know that I am going to have to pass which have dogs so I get off the bike when I get near the houses and luckly no dogs come out to greet me. I make it back home and flush the eye some more and all is well. I am glad that I was close to home when I got trashed. In the past I have had many bugs bounce off my sunglasses but some way this got in my eye as I had just turned my head a little so that I could use my mirror.

Moral of story. Stuff happens. But it better not happen to me again any time soon.

Get a pair of industrial safety specs... some are very styilish now, they have an anti-mist coating, and very often you can get the same pair in different lenses for differing conditions.

The pair I own have interchangable lenses.. dark, amber and clear. But with prices as low as £5 each you can afford to have three pairs with a fixed lens in each of them.

Long link coming up...

I have these (http://www.arco.co.uk/cgi-bin/arcobvp.dll/Arco/controller?event=product&BV_SessionID=@@@@1105953093.1179640596@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccchaddkllmekdhcflgcefkdfggdfon.0&productcode=3C6500)

I have also used these... very good!

317300 Pulsafe Pivot Safety Spectacles (http://www.arco.co.uk/cgi-bin/arcobvp.dll/Arco/controller?event=product&BV_SessionID=@@@@1105953093.1179640596@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccchaddkllmekdhcflgcefkdfggdfon.0&productcode=317300)

I have some of those wrap around safety glasses. Maybe next time when the wind is kicking up I will wear them instead of my regular sun glasses.

I bike very often in a swamp area. That means bugs, lots of bugs. It feels as if biking in a rain. Good fitting glasses with a band to hold the glasses in position are the answer. A sweat band is not optional, it is mandatory.
Oh, BTW, keep the mouth shut.

Been wearing AO safety glasses for several years when riding. Dark for day and clear for night . Around $10 at your favorite home improvement center. Various styles, UV-blocking, and able to resist bugs and bits of stuff smashing into your eyes at speed. Keep the wind out much better on downhills than any prescription glasses that don't cost the price of an entry-level bike. Who needs close-focus vision while bicycling? (I always keep at least a pair of drugstore reading glasses nearby).