How do you keep a cool head?
 

Hi,

I just started biking the last Nov...

The last couple of days it has been sunny and in the low eighties.

After not very many minutes my head gets overly warm and very
sweaty. ( I wear an inexpensive Bell Bike helmet, the Venture ).

What are some ideas for keeping a "cool head" during the warmer
months?

Do the CoolMax head bandanas do any good?

What about sweatbands?

Thanks

Jerry

I wear a cycling cap under my helmet. My major problem is sweat running down the head and into the eyes and the Cap stops it. Don't have an overheating problem as the sweat keeps it cool. In winter it has the opposite affect of keeping the wind off the pate and keeping it warm till it starts sweating.

And on one very hot ride- I soaked it in water to give "Extra" cooling effect and that worked for about an hour.

I've had luck with a few things -

1. Helmet with good ventilation - I've got a Specialized S Works, which has humungous vents.

2. Coolmax skull cap - helps keep from dripping, also helps keep your head from getting sunburned through the humungous vents metioned above.

3. At last year's end of season clearance on Hammer Nutrition gear, while I was getting the $20 jersey and $30 bibs, I invested another $8 in one of their skull caps. It has a very thin silicone strip around the brim, so it works like one of those sweat gutter things to help keep moisture from dripping down your face. Works really well.

Sweat band or/and helmet with more vents will help, do you sweat easily? low 80s is not consider hot at all.

I suspect Clydesdale size + seventy years young + Many short brutally steep ( but short)
hills might have something to do with my problem. :)

Jerry

Seventy years young seems to reduce sweat problems, actually.

I don't get a "hot" head as such, but sure sweat a lot on my head. When it's warmer, I carry a washcloth along to wipe sweat off with. They make a little sweatcatcher gutter thingy, not sure what it's called, that goes across your forehead, but I haven't tried it.

Edit: This thing: http://www.performancebike.com/shop/...tegory_ID=1340

I don't wear a cover when it is warm out. I bought an extremely well ventilated helmet to help keep the head cool. And I wear one of those geeky looking gutter things mentioned above -- works well. Especially when I am sweating rivers!

I swear by these things: http://store.haloheadband.com/PROTEX_BANDANNAS_s/10.htm

Coolmax really works, though I flinch at the price. Halo is my favorite. Headsweats doo rags come with an elastic, which I don't much care for.

Get a better ventilated helmet. Many of the plastic coverings, on better helmets, have reflective properties that help keep your head cool. Chech my locale before jumping the gun.

when you are very angry,just be calm and your consciousness will wake you up:P

I moved 600 miles north. 22C is a hot day, 18C is average in summer, 5C in winter. I'm much happier up here!

Weird. I sweat buckets when I ride around 85F, and I don't have a problem with sweat dripping into my eyes.

I wear a Fox Flux helmet, which is big and meant for mountain biking. The pads on the helmet absorb most of the sweat. Sweat that trickles down my forehead is deflected by the eyebrows. The wind rushing past my face does the rest.

Hah! You gotta go faster!

+2 on the Halo headbands. They do a great job of keeping sweat out of my eyes.

Or grow out your eyebrows:rolleyes:

wait, do you guys trim/pluck your eyebrows?

Depends on your location. You could buy a helmet with lots of vents and deep flow channels and still overheat from the intensity of the sun/uv rays. Wearing a light colored skull cap or bandana could help reflect the sunlight or shield exposed parts of your head. Some have liners and/or sweatbands (some made from coolmax) to wick away sweat and aid the cooling effects. Motorcyclists been wearing them for years. You don't have to spend a lot either. Here's where I buy my skullcaps:
http://www.bandanas.net/skullbest.htm

A cap would work just as well and you can find those anywhere. Cut down the bill or buy short bill ones or cycling specific caps.

Would carry a bottle of plain water and pour some of it over your head every so often to cool off if you are on a long ride on a hot/sunny day with little to no wind regardless if you are wearing anything under your helmet or not. You see the pro's pour liquids on their head on a particularly hot day as well as regular motorcyclists/bikers out on the highway.

Hyperthermia is the main health concern and many don't know when to stop, get in some shade, re-hydrate, etc., before continuing their ride. If I'm down at the beach during a heat wave, I'll sometimes stop by the free outdoor showers, hit the button, and wash the sweat off my arms, legs, and face/head or just go all out and jump in there...lol...feel a lot better in any case and everything will be dry before I get home.

+1 keep adding water for "radiator" effect.

In some cases = eyebrow.

I just weave them into "corn rows" to make them more aerodynamic.

heh heh.

I found it much more comfortable to not wear a helmet... though I do get the occasional sunburn problems on long rides.
~

i wouldn't recommend that, esp if you're trail riding.

why not just switch up your clothes? try wearing a sleeveless underarmor shirt instead of a traditional jersey. Wear proper biker socks instead of thicker regular ones.

shoot water from your bottle into the vents and let it drip down your back and face

accept your sweat

I used one of the Halo sweat bands for a while, the rubber block was great at just diverting the sweat drips to the side.

What worked for me was getting a helmet with big vents/airflow, and keeping my hair a lot shorter.