General Cycling Discussion - What do people say about your stupid looking tan?

Now that summer is here and we're all getting tanned, we have to field those questions. Yes, we all know it's normal for us, but there are always those puzzled looks and remarks from the non-cycling members of society- you know, questions about your white hands, two-toned fingers, etc.

Last year I had an accident and while my hand was being x-rayed for a broken bone, the technician asked, "Why is your hand white and the rest of you is all brown?"

So what kind of comments or questions do you all get?

My skin never tans, it just burns. As a consequence, I wear the most potent sunscreen available at all times to avoid this. I do have a slight tan, but evidently it's not noticeable because nobody has ever mentioned it to me.

Hahaha, my farmer's tan (I usually drive a tractor during the summer) covers any cyclist's tan I could possibly get.

I swim too much during the summer to get a cyclist's tan. I have a tan all over, and I do tan easily.

Where I normally ride, I don't get a lot of sun anyway.

You just get TAN during summer???. You can get a tan at any time of the year if you are doing a lot of outdoors activities down here!!!

Hahaha, my farmer's tan (I usually drive a tractor during the summer) covers any cyclist's tan I could possibly get.

Mr. Kenny Chesney says it well...

She thinks my tractor's sexy
It really turns her on
She's always staring at me
While I'm chuggin' along
She likes the way it's pullin' while we're tillin' up the land
She's even kind of crazy 'bout my farmer's tan
She's the only one who really understands what gets me
She thinks my tractor's sexy

It was the mixed hair/tan thing that got questions when I raced. Hairy white feet were just too much...oh well...:beer:

"Dude, that's a stupid looking tan."

Another thing: I don't consider it to be "stupid-looking". So what if it bothers all the "normal people"? They've been wrong before. If I listened to them, I'd probably quit riding anyway.

"Dude, lighten up." :)

Originally posted by wabbit
Last year I had an accident and while my hand was being x-rayed for a broken bone, the technician asked, "Why is your hand white and the rest of you is all brown?"




"I'm not like other men."

Hey, besides a Cyclist's tan I have a "Ref's tan" including white knee socks (when the black ones come off) and that snazzy white watch band.

I go overboard to make sure I don't get one. Pet peeve :D So far I've had no comments. But this will be the first whole summer I'll be riding, and I have a feeling it's inevitable in the South.

I have a permanent farmer's tan from driving lawnmowers 4 summers in a row a couple years ago back in college. I havn't been able to spend enough time in the sun with my shirt off to even remotely match the dark tan on the back of my neck and arms. Only person who made fun of my tan was the ex-girlfriend.

Every year, my wife seems to forget how I come about getting that small triangular-shaped patch of tan on the back of my hands. Then I show her my cycling gloves. :D

I get the Glove tan too. It's a thing of pride to me. When I go into work on Monday with tanned patches on the back of my hands, it's like saying " Hey, I did something this weekend!"

Better known here as the "wetsuit" look.

Despite rumours to the contrary, Tasmania is a very sunny place and visitors are stunned that they sunburn so easily.

There's nothing worse than sunburn on the calves, and sweat trickling down from behind the knees. Ouch!

Shaved legs makes sunscreen application easier, and accentuates the wetsuit look!

I also get that glove tan although mine seems not as bad as the rest arms. I seem to get really dark around the bottom of my legs, this makes my feet look white when not wearing shoes. I thik that looks worse cause my hands don't really tan that much.

Here's a question: Do shaved legs tan more? I suppose if you've got hair bordering on that of the missing link then it would provide some sort of "ground cover" to prevent tanning/sunburns? I'm not sure I have enough hair on my legs to matter but I oftentimes ponder these silly notions.

Originally posted by khuon
Here's a question: Do shaved legs tan more? I suppose if you've got hair bordering on that of the missing link then it would provide some sort of "ground cover" to prevent tanning/sunburns? I'm not sure I have enough hair on my legs to matter but I oftentimes ponder these silly notions.
The tan looks darker on my shaved legs compared with immediately prior to the first shearing. But I'm coming from the left-over summer tan, touched up with a bit of winter sunshine in judging that. I think the case probably would be for faster tanning, greater risk of sunburn/skins cancer without protection, but ultimately, not a deeper tan.

R

The times my cycling tan was noticed, I thought the dental hygenist( who noticed) was like saying - really cool. I felt proud.

Originally posted by MsVicki
I swim too much during the summer to get a cyclist's tan. I have a tan all over................



Remind me to come over and watch you swim. Purely in the interests of watching your technique, of course :D

Originally posted by Rowan
Despite rumours to the contrary, Tasmania is a very sunny place and visitors are stunned that they sunburn so easily.

Thanks for that reminder! I got caught out one day in Victoria last year, and I don't want to make that mistake again!

At high school I used to get ribbed about the tan lines by the guys; the girls just used to go gaga over my muscle definition.

whne the petrol's all gone, we'll pedal on.

Today my boss told me I need to stop wearing my gloves. I wear the mesh style. So I have tan dots all over the back of my hands.

I said well whats wrong with they way my hands look? I think it is cool and unique.

But I do need to replace my gloves soon anyway. They are wearing out pretty quickly. Don't know what style I'll go with next.

I used to have those mesh gloves, and the tan was pretty weird. They got torn in a crash anyways, so I now have gloves that are solid! No more fishnet pattern but now I have white hands, and of course, two-tone fingers.

this summer, still need to get a good ride, just arrived from Boston, will ride tomorrow, just have to log those miles and get some good tan

nothing like crocheted gloves in the summer...makes your hands look like you stuck them into a miniature waffle iron. Unfortunately the woven pair I currently own doesn't have that terrycloth patch for sweat wiping and I can't stand that when it's 110 outside like it is now. I have to resort to the solid lycra backs. Some days I even roll up an old bandana and tie it around my wrist for mopping...makes the hand tan all the more interesting.
BTW, while the talk is on summer related things...You know what REALLY withers the spirit during a long hot summer ride??? A huge blazing patch of poison ivy blisters just about the sock line!!!! All that sweat trickles past it and makes it fire up...well, that does it. Gotta go scratch.

My personal favorite is the raccoon effect you get when you wear the same sunglasses on every bike ride. Very stylish!

how bout the "white watch" when I'm not wearing a watch? hehehe

Apart from the white watch, I'm tanning all over. My hands are slightly lighter than my arms and fingers, but as I cycle a lot with 2 kids, I spend a lot of time watching them at various playgrounds.

As for tanning in Winter (reply to the Tasmanian guy), I tan in Winter too. It's just that, with long sleeves, a sweater and a jacket, my tan is limited to my face.

Regards,

I got all kinds of tan- my face is tan except where the sunglasses are, so I look like some kind of alien.

I have the tan that's on the legs, but my feet are still light brown.

I've got the tan on the arms that goes to the upper arms from the jersey I wear.

I've got the tan from the gloves, so my hands are light, but then my arm is darker.

I also have a tan from where my heart rate monitor goes- and it's just on one arm, so the other arm by the wrist doesn't have a striped appearance on the left side that's not on the right wrist.

I'm thinking of going to my sister in law's and putting on a bikini one day when it's like 110 and roasting myself to one color- I look weird.

Most just say "Hey, cool tan!" ----completely sarcastic of course. I guess everyone else just doesn't understand!

I wish I would tan already. Three weeks of riding in this constantly cloudy, humid weather and I'm still white as a sheet.

Consider yourself lucky. Out here we get sunburned in cloudy weather.

hey hey! no glove tan here! I ride bare handed! my shirts and shorts have pretty much the same hem lines has my cycling clothes...no one notices, and when I do take my shirt off, people mistake it for a farmers tan! ha! fools! if only they knew the truth!