Hair Poll

[indigoiis]

Okay, my vanity is inquiring...

How do all you fellow women cyclists wear your hair? Short? Long? Medium?

Ponytails, braids, clips?

Damage from helmets?

I'm turning 40 in April. I recently lost 15 lbs. I love my new hobby. I am thinking of cutting my shoulder length hair a la Keira Knightley. Is short hair a good thing for under the helmet?

Please help me rationalize an expensive haircut.

[silver]

I'm 42.

I wear my hair longish, several inches past shoulders. for riding I wear is pulled into a ponytail with a soft scrunchy and pulled through the opening between the helmet tightening lock and the helmet. No damage from the helmet.

For endurance activities (very long rides) and triathlons, I braid it, otherwise it becomes a big dreadlock.

I would wear my hair longer if not for trimming off the damage from swimming/chlorine/sun/highlighting.

I used to wear my hair short (pre-fitness) and don't really like short hair on my anymore.....I associate it with my non-fitness lifestyle.

[csr1210]

My hair was already very short when I starting cycling and I love it. Super convenient, and when I take my helment off, I can just run my fingers through my hair and I'm good to go (it also dries very fast). I know a lot of long hair peeps can do that too, but my hair is higher maintenance when its long. I wore it long for most of my life, but it always looked pretty cr@ppy after any athletic stuff.

I guess it just depends on your hair....

[mimitabby]

shoulder length hair; tie it back. want to cut it short but i'm chicken

[wannaduacentury]

Long hair here, I put it in a low ponytail and it works for me. My hair grows too fast to have short hair and long hair looks better on me. It doesn't bother me w/ maintaince either-it's easier. Just my 2 cents. Jenn

p.s. it's long enough to braid if I want to-if I ever remember to do it since I'm into ponytails

[limewave]

I'm always jealous of my friends with really short hair when we go cycling. They don't have to do anything with the hair at all. Although, I do get to make fun of them because there little spikes of hair stick out of the air holes on their helmets

[coyote]

Used to be a butch cut - about a 1/4 inch all over. About once every 10-15 years I grow it out to remind myself why I like it short. This is that time period. It is just at my neck. The front is long enough to be annoying but not quite long enough to tie back. When it does, I may do the ponytail thing.

The benefit to my current hair length is that I do not need to use sunscreen on my neck. Downside is that it takes much longer for my head to dry when I've been really sweating. Gross I know.

[Dogmama]

Hair! I cut mine short a couple of months ago. I'll NEVER go back! My hair is stick straight and very fine. I keep color in it to thicken it up & give it a little body. Hair longer than earlobe length just hangs - no body, no curve - unless I torture it severely in the morning. Even then - a good wind or humidity & I'm back to the drowned rat look.

I can spike it up or not. A good haircut is a MUST. Hair products are heaven sent.

I just turned 53, BTW. I don't see many older women who look good in longer hair. Sorry, but I think it makes them look older because it drags down the features. Gravity will have its way eventually - but I don't mind trying to fake it out a little...

[deedolce]

I'm 48, and I have thin hair. It was always thinner than my sisters! Hair gene skipped me. I also have it professionally colored, just started that regularly a couple of months ago, and love the way it looks, over me missing spots...I've been pretty gray for a while now. Vanity, and I also got back into the dating game...My hair is straight, Asian hair, and I have it a few inches below my shoulders. When I ride, I just clip it back and go. It looks fine to me when I peel off my helmet!

[annie]

Hair! I cut mine short a couple of months ago. I'll NEVER go back! My hair is stick straight and very fine. I keep color in it to thicken it up & give it a little body. Hair longer than earlobe length just hangs - no body, no curve - unless I torture it severely in the morning. Even then - a good wind or humidity & I'm back to the drowned rat look.

I can spike it up or not. A good haircut is a MUST. Hair products are heaven sent.

I just turned 53, BTW. I don't see many older women who look good in longer hair. Sorry, but I think it makes them look older because it drags down the features. Gravity will have its way eventually - but I don't mind trying to fake it out a little...

I can very much relate to this!! I'm 52, but what's one year difference? Not much, I think. My hair is about as straight as it comes, and fine, tho' there is a lot of it. Coloring helps give it body and thickness, let alone brightness and a covering of the grey spots. It will never be short again. I think I actually look older in long hair. I adore hair products, especially volumnizer and the sticky stuff that molds hair into place. Eventually, I hope I have the guts to go grey/white. Not there yet.

I kinda like helmet hair......... it equalizes good/bad/young/old hair.

Annie

[Susan Otcenas]

Long, curly, and all one length. I wear it in a ponytail 99 days out of a hundred. No muss, no fuss, no hair products, no coloring. I put the ponytail high and through the retention strap on my helmet.

37, going on 50.

Susan

[Zen]

I need a seat bag like that

[Susan Otcenas]

I need a seat bag like that

It's Detours Bag. I bought it at REI. Jeff has a larger one. The clamps are the same, so they are interchangeable on our bikes.

I don't typically use such a large seat bag, but that picture was taken on a recent weeklong bike trip. I like having a slightly larger bag such as that for a bike trip, so I can carry a vest or armwarmers, and extra tube and more food than I'd normally carry (since we were way out in the boonies.)

I'm fairly impressed with the construction. The only drawback is that I don't think they will work well unless you have 4-6 inches or more of seatpost showing. You need the bag up high enough that it won't slump into your rear tire when going over bumps or when heavily loaded.

Susan

[Trek420]

short hair and often under a hat:

That's me with the orange hat and Knott to my right.

I used to have long hair, cut it short in college. Once in a while I get too busy to keep it shorn.

[Bad JuJu]

37, going on 50.

Gotta love that attitude!