My balaclava is working well -- perhaps TOO well. After rides of more than fifteen minutes in the cold (in other words, almost all of my rides), I find that the space between my nostrils and my upper lip has a decent coating of mucus, to say nothing of the stuff that ends up on the balaclava itself.
I usually can't feel it during the ride, and it doesn't bother me in and of itself. However, the mucus is unsightly, and anyway, I don't think that my nose is supposed to be running so much in the first place. Given a conflict between a warm face and dry nostrils, I'll take warmth pretty much every time. But is it too much to expect to have both?

yes.

There are medications that dry up your mucus membranes to avoid that situation. I can't remember the names but maybe a search would turn something up. I heard an interview on the radio yesterday that mentioned them. I'm not sure if it's a good idea to use them too much though.

Just looked it up and one compound is Allium cepa, and there appear to be more, probably along the lines of an anti-hystamine.

Vik vapour rub....
Is that avialable in the States?.

I have noticed watching soccer on tv more and more of the players are smeering it on the front of their jersey`s,prior to the comencement of the match.

An iterviewee questioned one of the soccer stars as to what they were smeering on their shirt and why, he replied exactly what you questioned, "to help clear their nasal congestion and mucus biuld up".

I may try it myself as I have similar problems with the cold, cycling in winter, especially breething through my nose on steepish uphills

I can get the same thing sometimes so I blow alot of snot rockets. When I first start out, I'm blowing them every few minutes. But as I warm up and get riding, they get farther apart. After about an hour riding, my nose is all cleared out and dried out for the most part. It's worse for me to get a runny nose because I have a mustache and that stuff just gets all gunked up in it.

learn to do the snot rocket thing.

PBW