jamawani 

Howdy -

As we pass midwinter and make plans for our next tour, I would like to stress the importance of sun protection and to offer some modest proposals. Most of us spend the greater part of our lives indoors - spending a few weeks or a few months on a bike tour exposes a person to a huge amount of ultraviolet rays. Over and over again, I see pictures of people touring in shorts and tank tops or t-shirts. To give you an idea of how much damage the sun can do to your skin, the t-shirts I use for my summer tours (and I usually alternate among 3-4) are bleached white on the back when I finish. Just think of what that can do to your skin.

Skin cancer is the fastest growing type of cancer in the U.S. It will probably grow even faster as the sun-loving baby boomers reach their 60s. Not surprisingly, skin cancers most frequently occur on the face and neck which receive the greatest sun exposure over a lifetime. One interesting footnote to this is how skin cancers on the neck have increased dramatically for farmers after they switched from broad-brimmed hats to the ubiquitous baseball-style caps which offer no sun protection for the back of the neck.

I have read journals where someone has to stop for a day or two because of a serious sunburn or other sun-related illness. It may mean only a day this summer, but it could mean years off the end of your life later on. There are a few simple things a cyclist can do to reduce the risk.

In order of importance they are:

1. Protecting the face and neck.
2. Protecting arms.
3. Protecting legs.

If you do only one - do #1. Doing two is better, three is best. Ever notice how the Bedouins in the Arabian desert are covered head to toe? Other people who work out in the sun all day tend to keep their skin protected, too - - ranchers, fishermen/women, construction workers.

So #1. Wear a cap with a large bill or a visor and a flap for your neck. If your helmet is adjustable, this can be accomplished as cheaply as using a baseball cap and a bandana. Helmet visors do not offer enough protection for your face. If the bandana is red or orange or yellow - it can also serve as a visual flag for motorists.

#2. Bring along at least one long-sleeve t-shirt. Think about it. It's maybe 2 oz. of extra weight - the weight of a Powerbar. As perspiration evaporates off the fabric, your skin is usually cooler than if the sun were directly beating down on it.

#3. Consider using a combination of convertible nylon pants with cycling briefs or boxer briefs underneath. The pants can double as rain pants or cool weather warm-ups. Most people carry something like this anyway.

Plan on making extended mid-day stops between 11 and 3 when the sun is at its greatest intensity. This is especially true in the Southwest in the summer which has dangerously high UV indices.

I would welcome others' opinions on this topic.

Best - J

sula

OK mum i'll watch the traffic as well.

I hate to send out this stuff with out back up but I can get that as needed. Protect your self from the sun cos it can ruin you ridding. Skin cancer? well yer you can get cancer but mainely it can be cut out.

Japan and britain has basicaly the same skin cancer rates. Probibley nothing to do with the sun. As japan has no culture of wanting a tan. Oh my god this is getting as borring as the original post.

Just get on the bike and have some fun. You know its good for you.

Oh yer by the way helmits are a waste of time. Yer I know you are probibley having a spasim but dosent alter the fact its true. I have some third part stats if you are intested.

Like I said Just get out there and ride.

CdCf

What does Japan have to do with anything?

Take a look at skin cancer rates in Australia instead... The people in Oz are pretty much genetically identical to the Brits. Compare skin cancer rates, and then compare average UV exposure.

cyccommute 

My wife and I had this discussion just last night. She raised the example of Arabs but, as I pointed out to her, that's not a good example. There are 2 issues - one is cultural and the other is activity. Arabs dress the way they do because they are culturally constrained to do so. Also the level of activity that they are pursuing is not the same as a cyclist burning 5000 Kcal per day or more. 5000 kcal is a lot of heat! If I were to ride, covered as a bedouin, I'd be dead of heat exhaustion inside of a day! I could not shed the amount of heat I have to shed dressed from head to toe.

Other cultures, such as the arboriginal peoples of Austrailia, the desert people of Africa or the Native American peoples of the Great Plains, wore or wear far less clothing than the Bedouins in conditions that rival those the Bedouins are exposed to. The difference is that the Bedouin people of the Mid-East are herding people while the other peoples I have listed are hunter/gatherers. Their caloric usage is closer to that of a touring cyclist than a semi-nomadic people like the Bedouins.

Personally, the long term risk of cancer is of less importance to me then the sort term risk of death from heat stroke.

jamawani 

Hey -
I'm not preaching to the sinners or to the saints.
Which is which - is up to you to decide.
For people who would never consider long sleeves it makes no difference.
And for people who already do it, it's preaching to the choir.
I'm posting for those who aren't sure.

spinnaker

Priceless.


Good luck on your short life.


Or do I smell troll? Member since Jan 2006?

CdCf

Umm, I don't think so...
Take a look at an arab (I know there are different arabs) and then look at an aborigine. Notice any difference in, say, skin colour?
Estimates of pigmentation level relative to sun exposure tolerance suggest that dark skin can be equivalent to a sun screen factor of 3-6. About equal to a thin layer of cotton clothing.

And culturally constrained is interesting. Aren't we all culturally constrained to wear certain things?
I can tell you that without that cultural constraint, I'd have a shaved head and my regular clothing would be blue coveralls.

Lucky13

>>I would welcome others' opinions on this topic.>>

Thanks for the message. I am very careful to limit my sun exposure. I've spent most of my years here in South Florida. As kids, my pals and I would spend countless days running around shirt-less, hat-less and shoe-less. A sunburn was a badge of honor.

"They" say that much of the damage is done by the time one is in the mid-twenties. In my case, I hope that's not true!

A lightweight, long sleeve cycling shirt can certainly help. In warm weather, a cotton shirt with collar and button front might actually keep one cooler than the average, All-American tee shirt.

I still hold out hope for a magical sunscreen pill...12 hours of SPF 45 protection. No side effects, vitamin enriched!!

acantor

On my week-long tour last summer, I wore a long-sleeve bike jersey for the first time. If anything I was MORE comfortable than on trips when I wore a short-sleeved jersey. Also for the first time, I wore a "skull cap" bandana with a French-foreign-legion type neck flap that also covered my ears. Like the jersey, it made me more comfortable. In addition, I tried to avoid riding during the mid-day heat. (Tried: I was not always successful on this count.)

Overall, I felt less sapped by the sun, had more energy, did not get sunburnt, felt cooler, needed less drinking water and sun block.

My list of "essential" touring gear now includes a long-sleeved jersey and neck/ear protection.

grolby

You've got to be kidding me. Skin cancer isn't a problem because tumors can be cut out? Unbelievable.

I think that this is something that touring cyclists really should be thinking about, especially because most of us tour sometime between late spring and early fall. I actually think that cycocommute raises a good point about the balance we have to strike between sun protection and sufficient cooling. Covering our bodies isn't really an option. The long clothing worn by the Bedouins has the effect of preventing the evaporation of body moisture - essential in the dry desert, where water is more precious than gold. Unfortunately, it's the exact opposite of what we as cyclists want to do in order to keep cool. So we wear short pants and sleeves.

As a result, we need to use other techniques - sunscreen and breaks in the shade, which are also useful for preventing heat exhaustion. A friend of mine and I took a tour up the coast of Maine this past summer. Even in early June and even in Maine, the middle of the day gets extremely hot. There was one day when we weren't as vigilant about re-applying sunblock as we should have been. Yep, we burned quickly, fortunately not badly.

All I can say is, wearing sunscreen of the highest SPF that you can find is a good idea. There's no need to be paranoid, and occasionally you will burn even if you're being careful, but a lack of caution really can have serious health consequences later on. Spending time outside and in the sun is good for you, but the importance of protecting yourself shouldn't be understated, I think.

grolby

This is very interesting, and I may have to try it out myself. I have heard of the cooling effect of longer clothing, but I understand that it generally works best in drier climates. In humid locations like my own New England, this may not be such a good idea, but it's definitely worth investigating.

cyccommute 

Native American peoples have skin colors about the same as Arabs or even a little lighter and their native clothing doesn't cover them nearly as much as Bedouin clothing does. I think the way people dress is more due to their activity needs than the color of skin. The need to shed heat while chasing down animals for food is more important than staying covered. We cyclists have more need to shed heat than do, say, a herder.

As for skin protection, I will use chemical means, aka sunscreen, rather than covering up from head to toe. It's easier and more comfortable that way. YMMV.

Schumius

I wore long sleeve-shirts on last year's tour in OZ and left the suncreen home because I didn't feel like sleeping with suncreen on. It worked pretty well, a bit strange at the beginning, bit after a couple of days I got used to it and now I only wear long sleeve shirts and leave the suncreen home. It's also more economic this way.

Desperado

For what its worth....Rash Guards are long sleeve or short sleeve shirts that windsurfers use, they fit very snuggly, thus no wind drag, and they block most harmfull radiation, they are cosiderably less expensive than cycling jerseys, can be purchased at West Marine, and also there are quite a few on E-Bay. I have used them on the bike and they do seem to keep you cooler for some reason...

tharold

I don't like the feel of sunscreen. On my most recent ride I cut the ends of a pair of socks and wore them on my arms.

mtnroads

Good topic - thanks Jamawani. I do not trust that clear sunblock actually blocks all of the harmful rays and damage. Don't see how it can. I will still use it but I don't count on it to stop all the damage, and I don't like the way it feels, gets in my eyes, attracts dirt, etc. Zinc oxide provides a physical barrier, like clothing. I use that on my nose and cheeks, and use a combination of hat, bandanna, and visor to protect my face and head.

I do wear shorts on the bike, but use old long sleeve oxford cotton dress shirts during the middle of the day in summer or in high sun conditions to protect my forearms. I find I stay cooler this way, also, since I don't have that "burning feeling" and don't dehydrate as fast. I also avoid high intensity times of year in the middle latitudes. Some folks forget that with diminishment of the ozone layer, espec in the Southern Hemisphere, we are getting considerably more damaging UV than our predecessors did, hence the increase in skin cancers.

sula

I take it all back. That was intersting, you may think I am a prat but at least it sparks discussion.

One thing is intersting though is I was ridding in Italy last summer with some friends. They were slapping sun cream on evey five minutes and did the "you will die of cancer" routine when I refused to use it. Then we get to a beach and what happens. They lie in the sun. I sit in the shade with a shirt on and a beer. Go figure. Get who got sun burnt!

I just kind of think this sun thing is a bit of an industury. I have spent long periods of my life living working and cycling in hot climates. I stay out the sun when I can, just like the locals. A chuck a shirt and hat on when its hot.

Any one want to have an argument about how usless cycle helmits are?

PS try not to be smug about telling me im a prat. Chances are one of us has a little more experiance in these things. Chow for now.

sula

Oh ps I am sitting in the office surrounded by Arabs in Arab dress. If they do get het strok it will not be from over work!!!

From sunny Kuwait

acantor

There was an interesting discussion on sun exposure about eight months ago:

https://www.bikeforums.net/touring/97730-handling-sun-exposure.html

A dermatologist was following the discussion, and his valuable contribution appears as message 23.