Biker Tan

I've read some comments from some of you who are proud of your biker tan. I can certainly relate to the feeling, which I had a bit of the first time I started to notice a hint of biker tan. "Hey! Check me out! I'm getting a biker tan like my Honey! I'm a cyclist and have the tan lines to prove it!" :D

However, I didn't REALLY want to devlop my biker tan any further and, therefore, go to great lengths to avoid it. I put on sunblock, targeting those "biker tan" areas, every time I ride. It's a hassle and kind of makes me sad because I'd love to get more color without taking the time to lay out by the pool, but I sure don't want to wear my bathing suit or tank top with white shoulders and a dark biker tan line! (In addition to the shorts and sock areas.)

Does anyone else do the same?

I do value my skin and my continued existance (ie not getting skin cancer...) so I slather up with spf 48 before I go out. Still doesn't keep me from getting rather noticable tan lines. Good thing it doesn't bother me.

You might avoid farmer's tan on the arms, and it's possible to control the ankle line by removing your shoes during breaks, but I have found that there is nothing to do against the golden quads. From my knees to my shorts line, I have a golden skin. Above it... well, it's white. Doesn't look especially good with running shorts.

My tan lines stay through the winter and just get worse in the summer.

And I cover myself with 30 SPF sunscreen, repeating every two hours or so, when I ride in the sun.

I could perhaps go to the outdoor pool more, but I'm too busy cycling!

Yea, I'm not too keen on my tan. Doesn't look too great having all these weird tan lines... and my thighs look sad in a bathing suit.

I slather on sun block, but at some point I get some sun. Eh.

I would lay out by the pool but I honestly just don't have the time. I use to go to a tanning bed to keep the tan lines evened out... but again... no time to go there these days.

So, I keep putting on sunblock and I hope that it just doesn't get any worse.

For every positive, there is a negative. The biker tan, well, is just part of the game. Suncscreen only goes so far to prevent it--can't imagine what I'd look like without the sunscreen habit!

I've learned to lessen the abruptness of the quad-line by having shorts with different length inseams and wearing knickers if the temps are lower.

But, the quad-line I can cope with--it is the line the line at the wrist and fingers that I find disturbing, particularly when sitting at meetings (not, of course because it looks wierd, but because it reminds me I could be riding :rolleyes: ). I wish I could learn to go gloveless every now and then, but I can't. Oh well, at least, gloves have solid backs now and I don't get the big spot

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Originally Posted by Thorn

But, the quad-line I can cope with--it is the line the line at the wrist and fingers that I find disturbing, particularly when sitting at meetings (not, of course because it looks wierd, but because it reminds me I could be riding :rolleyes: ). I wish I could learn to go gloveless every now and then, but I can't. Oh well, at least, gloves have solid backs now and I don't get the big spot

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DH has the spot this year! New gloves for him, and they have the hole, so he's got the spot... Me, I've just got the lines -- last year I had the spot, and for a while, I thought it was a nasty bruise, wondered how come it didn't hurt when I poked it, and eventually realized....


Karen in Boise

Somehow I just don't care what people think of it. I am very fair skinned and last summer was my first tan ever- biker style! I do not lay out and I do not do tanning beds. I tried self tanner for a time but it is too high maintenance and made me itch.

Several members of my family have caught pre-cancer cells and it just isn't worth it. That being said, my hands are blinding white and my arms golden through sunscreen. I wear sleeveless most summer, so my farmer tan has faded from the fall. My quads are golden, the tops of my thighs ghostly. And I have a kick butt timex tan line. :p My watch has cutouts that you can see and my dress Bulova watch is much thinner, so it is obvious.

Sunless tanning lotion...

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Originally Posted by Kano

DH has the spot this year! New gloves for him, and they have the hole, so he's got the spot...

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My DH wears these gloves:
http://www.rivbike.com/images/catpics/22-137.jpg
so not only does he have The Spot....but he has this weird reptillian scale pattern from all the tiny holes too! :eek: :( It looks CREEPY, but he loves the gloves and simply doesn't care. I worry that people will think he has a skin disease, but he won't change. :o

I alternate the place my shorts or knickers end on my legs by pulling them up and down a bit every hour or so while riding- at least it makes the tan cutoff point look softer and more gradual.
When I'm out in the sun but not biking I put sunscreen on my forearms but not my hands, so they can catch up a bit. It actually works well.

Yep, I have white hands from the wrist up to the first knuckle, with the brown spot & brown fingers past the first knuckle. :p

I use L'Oreal bronzing gel on the white areas of my hands, which at least helps minimize the contrast.

Generally my biker tan doesn't bother me, but I was thinking about actually wearing a swimsuit later this week. I have milky white upper thighs and golden brown from shorts line to knees. So attractive at the pool or lake.

I don't like tan lines because it looks funny with the variety of clothers I wear.

So, when I ride, I use sunscreen (which I don't usually do once I have a base tan since I'm not then prone to burn)

So, today, we went on a two hour ride. I was wearing spf45 on my arms and legs...and I still had a tan line (along with about 5,000 gnats that got stuck in the sunscreen)!

I'm biologically Italian, but adopted into a German/Irish family, so I'm the darkest one in the crowd!

Right now, Silver has the patch work of tan lines and peel patterns...it's kinda unique.

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Originally Posted by Mr. Silver

Right now, Silver has the patch work of tan lines and peel patterns...it's kinda unique.

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You meant to say "kinda sexy" right? ;)

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Originally Posted by SouthernBelle

Generally my biker tan doesn't bother me, but I was thinking about actually wearing a swimsuit later this week. I have milky white upper thighs and golden brown from shorts line to knees. So attractive at the pool or lake.

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Actually my sweet partner in life - also a cyclist - is indeed attracted by my tan lines. I think that's one of the things he liked about my body when we first met!

wear your tan lines with pride!

Because I do the vast majority of my riding in the summer, I have a bunch of sleeveless jerseys. To me they feel just a little cooler than those with sleeves, and it elminates that tan line on the arm, so at least I can wear a sleeveless dress without looking strange. That doesn't solve the bathing suit problem, but I don't really care about that a lot. Skin protection is more important than looks, so I put SPF 48 everywhere that gets the sun. I also have that Shimano sandal spot on my foot, but I doubt that a lot of people study the way my feet look.

I really could care less. as several ladies have mentioned , it's about health than looks.
I have Red hair and Fair skin. I can tan even with SPF 30 on:eek: I do have some sleeveless jerseys, but i'd rather try and avoid exposing as much skin as possible. The only folks that see me in a swimsuit are my biking buddies, so they have the same problems:D .

I was recently informed that I'm getting a biker tan on my face. I wear my hair pulled back, and my forehead is white (I always wear my helmet). Yikes. I suppose bangs would help, but I don't like hair in my eyes. I also prefer longer shorts--I like the look, and they do give a tad more protection just in case. But my current shorts are longer than my clothing shorts. Lovely.

I am proud of the biker tan. I've been laughed at in a bathing suit, by my own mother no less! But the way I see it is I worked for those funky looking lines and that is more impressive than sitting by a pool or in a tanning bed.

That's not to say, of course, that I don't use sunscreen or try to avoid abovementioned tan lines. I do. But I get them anyway and they make me happy.

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Originally Posted by Mr. Silver

Right now, Silver has the patch work of tan lines and peel patterns...it's kinda unique.

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Originally Posted by silver

You meant to say "kinda sexy" right? ;)

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Nope...I said what I meant!:p :p :p

But, I will clarify: it's kinda unique, ;) ;) but on a very sexy body!;) ;)

I have the problem that if I wore shorter shorts or sleeveless jerseys I would burn to a pretty purple on the blindingly white skin. However where I am tan I can ride outside in sun for hours and not worry about burning. I have solved the glove problem by not wearing them.
I do however have an annoying watch line that I can't get rid of. I even take it off when I ride outside.

I get a lot of funny looks and questions about my lily-white hands (I always, always wear gloves), so I bought some waffle-back gloves so that my tan line would be even stranger.

It's the helmet strap line that people find a little unsettling. At least I'm not bald and hvae stripes on my head ;)

Yeah, it's the helmet strap line that bugs me. I'm good with the polka-dotted hands from crocheted gloves, the Spot, two-tone (thunder) thighs, white feet, all that. I just don't like the helmet line showing off my extra chin. Bleh. I'm not going to stop wearing the helmet, though.

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Originally Posted by Geonz

At least I'm not bald and hvae stripes on my head ;)

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Hey! How's you know!!:eek:

Yeah, I'm Greek and I can get a tan from walking too close to a light bulb. :cool:

I wear spf 55 every time I ride and I've still got wicked tan lines. I also don't really mind the legs or arms (I normally wear sleeveless anyway)...but the white hands annoy me. If it wasn't such a drastic line, I might not care as much, but it's very obvious. I've had cashiers ask me why my hands were so white!

I've taken to wearing a fat cuff bracelet on my non-watch wrist to kind of cover the line a bit. :)

I don't think that sunblock does much of anything to prevent tanning. The way I understand it, it blocks the UV that's bad but doesn't block whatever causes tanning.

I've got my biker's tan coming along nicely. I don't even think about it when I head to the pool. I figure it marks me as a triathlete in training.

I never noticed last year how much of a tan difference I get between the outer and inner lower leg.

I've been wearing SPF 70 (:eek: ) since the beginning of the summer, but I've still got lines! I actually love my wrist line. Otherwise, I switch between different length shorts to break up the thigh line. My arms don't really have a line because my team jersey is very thin, so it lets in enough sun that my upper body tan lines are sportsbra and bib-shaped.

You could always look around for a bottle-tan that somewhat matches your natural color and apply it to your white areas.

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Originally Posted by Andrea

I've been wearing SPF 70 (:eek: ) since the beginning of the summer

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Dang, where do you get that stuff? I protect myself as much as possible and stick with the highest rating I can find in a sweat proof formula (48).

I've got irish blood, so I've resigned myself to inescapable tan lines, but I'm proud of them at the same time. Sure, I'd love to hit the town in a showy dress without the weird stares sometimes, but they are a reminder that I'm filling my life with something healthy and fun.

^It's some new stuff by Neutrogena. It actually feels lighter weight than the last stuff I had, which was SPF65.

Sunscreen SPF to me is the same as saving grams of weight is to some cyclists... I'll pay 2x more for a little extra!

Dermatologist-father-in-law suggested to me a while ago that using anything above SPF 30 was pretty much useless, but I am afraid I have not quite understood the reason why (I'll ask later). Repeating application seemed to be more efficient in his view...

Maybe high SPF gives us a false sense of sun-safety...

... kind of like how carbon fiber watter bottle cages give some guys a false sense of speed...

:p

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Originally Posted by Grog

Dermatologist-father-in-law suggested to me a while ago that using anything above SPF 30 was pretty much useless, but I am afraid I have not quite understood the reason why (I'll ask later). Repeating application seemed to be more efficient in his view...

Maybe high SPF gives us a false sense of sun-safety...

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The SPF number really refers to how long a time period it protects you for. An spf of 15 needs to be reapplied more often, but it protects you just as much as an spf of 40. The 40 will simply last longer before repplying is needed.

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Originally Posted by Lisa S.H.

The SPF number really refers to how long a time period it protects you for. An spf of 15 needs to be reapplied more often, but it protects you just as much as an spf of 40. The 40 will simply last longer before repplying is needed.

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After thinking about it on my way to work (in the beautiful sun, at last), I think his point was that the higher SPFs will not hold on to the skin long enough to be efficient anyway, no matter how waterproof or sweatproof they pretend to be.

Hence the "reapply" advice.

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Originally Posted by Grog

Dermatologist-father-in-law suggested to me a while ago that using anything above SPF 30 was pretty much useless

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I was actually going to comment the same thing. My nurse sister tells me all the time that anything over 30 is pointless, so I never buy anything higher. It's nice to have confirmation from a dermatologist.

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Originally Posted by meridian

Sure, I'd love to hit the town in a showy dress without the weird stares sometimes

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Diving in late here...forgive me if someone already mentioned this...but, a gradual self-tanner like Jergens helps to bridge the gap a bit between dark suntan areas and glow-in-the-dark white...

...upper thighs, shoulders, etc. And, the face version even helps with sunglasses lines.

Well, this sure did turn into a long thread! I'm a little disheartened that most of you say the tan lines are unavoidable. :( I guess I'll try putting sunblock on the biker tan when I lay out by the pool, to try to help even out the tan ... if I lay out enough to make a difference. I cycle way more than I lay out, but maybe it will make it less noticable.

I don't wear gloves, so I don't have THAT issue. I used to wear them, but Dh suggested I try not wearing them and I find I feel perfectly fine without them. One less thing to put on every time and no tan line! (When it gets colder I'll probably wear them sometimes.)

I actually just ordered a sleeveless jersey. Fingers crossed that it will actually fit well and not ride up. I have such issues with finding good jerseys.

And I like the idea of wearing different length shorts to make the tan line less obvious.

Can't stand tanning creams. The smell isn't worth it to me! Otherwise, I could see that helping.

Anyways, thanks for all the comments.

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Originally Posted by Jiffer

I don't wear gloves, so I don't have THAT issue. I used to wear them, but Dh suggested I try not wearing them and I find I feel perfectly fine without them. One less thing to put on every time and no tan line! (When it gets colder I'll probably wear them sometimes.)

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Think of a crash, even not a big one. Just, say, falling off your bike and onto gravel.

Think of your hands after a crash.

That makes me not mind having the tan lines......