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How do you deal with wearing contacts in poor weather/poor visibility conditions? I usually wear large sunglasses when I ride. When it's twilight and the wind hits my lenses, or if rain water hits them I'm completely blinded. How do you get around this?
I love these for evening and night rides.
http://www.teamestrogen.com/prodTI_TV030.html
I wear contacts but am not super sensitive to wind (oddly I am super sensitive to allergies). DH IS really sensitive and also a contact wearer. I got him some Tifosi sunglasses with Phototec lens that change to accomodate light conditions. He said they are fabulous for mountain biking on really shady trails or riding on cloudy days. For his commute home he wears them or clear lens. They make sunglasses with red lenses for overcast days which I like. I also like my mid-tint polarized lens with HUGE coverage. HTH.
Clear lenses. I'd wear eye protection even if I didn't wear contacts. I wear cheap (but really good) sunglasses and it's not a problem to just shove an extra pair in my jersey pocket when I'll be riding in changing light conditions. If you had expensive sunglasses with interchangeable lenses, they usually come with a microfiber pouch to protect the ones you're not using - but you'd have to dismount to change them.
I have a npair of UVEX glasses set of 3 interchangeable lenses - smoke for sun, clear for dusk, and orange for foggy conditions.
In the past I've had sunglasses that came with 3 pairs of interchangeable lenses - dark for sun, yellow for cloudy/flat light, clear for dark. I found myself rarely needing the clear lenses, because these days I never ride at night when it's really dark out. Now with my new Oakleys (which I love love love), I have the dark polarized lenses for most daytime riding and yellow lenses for when there is no chance the sun will come out or when it is dusk.
I did get caught in a heavy rain during a ride last year, and I got so wet that I was blinded by the rain even with the sunglasses on - water ran down my forehead inside the lenses. Luckily I was on a rail-trail and not far from a covered rest area when it happened, so I was able to take cover until the storm passed. I think that's the only time that glasses failed to keep rain out of my eyes, and I did the Sea Gull century in a nor'easter once.
Now if only the sunglasses would keep pollen out of my eyes, they would be perfect.
Rain-X works wonders on motorcycle faceshields, which are made from the same polycarbonate as most sunglasses. Just turn your head and the water runs right off. It does tend to create halos (very minor but annoying to some people), so you don't want to use it unless you know you're going to be going through rain.
I decided to forget the change stuff and bought the type that change with sunlight. No changes to lose and I got mens so they are big and cover most my face. Expensive and not recomended for people who lose, fall or scratch stuff easily.
My problem is that they dry out while I ride!! Ive gotten quite good at flying down paths while squeezing saline into my eyes, scarily enough!
I've worn contacts ever since I was a teenager, and I suspect I've got ironclad corneas from it. I only wear sunglasses or goggles if the sun is very bright or in stinging rain or snow, I much prefer to ride without. Without my contacts my eyes are a lot more sensitive.
I found some clear sport glasses, like you might use in raquetball. I haven't ried them yet, but they were a lot cheaper than some other options. I'm pretty hard on glasses, so I didn't want to spend much. These are nice, with an elastic strap, and they feel pretty compfortable. We'll see how they work!
Usually, actually always, wear protective lenses but I've have found that safety glasses work well as an alternative.