Desperado Dual

[yellow]

Hey Yellow, what sort of contacts do you use?? Are they disposable? Lenses you generally sleep in at night?

They are disposable something-or-other. I take them out every night and usually wear them for 4 weeks. I put in a new pair for this ride as I was at week 3.5 or something close to that and I figured it wouldn't hurt to have shiny new lenses.

I was never able to get used to glasses even for everyday wear and don't see myself going that route. I'd do Lasik in a heartbeat if I had the $$ to have it done at some place like UC Davis. Guess I need to start sending you California girls $10 a week to invest in the lottery for me!

[maillotpois]

I'm with you on the glasses. I scratched my cornea last year while coaching a group for the Tucson ride. I couldn't wear my contacts for a few weeks - it was hell riding in a pace line in glasses. No peripheral vision. I couldn't look back for cars, felt like I was going off the side of the road. I really felt like a liability, so I put myself at the rear of the pace line, off to the side, for all the rides.

Maybe ask your eye person if there's a lens with a higher water content or something that may be a better interim alternative.

FWIW, I use Focus night & day lenses.

[jobob]

I wear the one-day disposable lenses. My eyes gunk up very easily and these have worked out great for me.

After a long ride ("long" for me being, oh, 60-ish miles cough cough ) I'll often have that gunky film over my contacts so it's really great to be able to pop them out and put in a fresh pair.

They're kind of pricey, but maybe you can use them just for your long rides, and your 30-day contacts the rest of the time?

[Veronica]

I use the one day disposables too. I've never had the problems you've described during a ride. Lucky me, I guess

But I did get eye ulcers from wearing my old, monthly contacts too long.

Bummer about the fall Sue. Hope it's nothing serious.

V.

[AuntieK]

Awesome job, Yellow! What perserverance and endurance!
Sending recovery wishes for your back, knee, pinky, and blurry eyes.
Great pics! I especially like the gnome.

[Trekhawk]

Well done Yellow. I love the Jersey. Take a rest now you deserve it.

[Bike Goddess]

I think V must have Ironsides eyes!

My eye doctor (also a cyclist) gave me a big lecture about riding with contacts. Nice guy, prescribed progressive glass lenses which I now use when I go riding instead of my contact lenses. My eyes are much happier for it (yes, they used to cloud up and get yucky). Then again, I have those "old fashioned" gas permeable hard lenses. I wear my glasses a lot more now but I'm so blind that seeing anything is a treat for me!

CONGRATS TO YOU, MS YELLOW! I am in awe of anyone who can manage to stay in a bike seat that long besides riding all of those miles. I agree with MP- you should plan on some doubles in old Cali- for- nia. Gee, you can join the Triple Crown group-such an honor is that!!!!!!

[Shiraz]

You are amazing!! What an accomplishment!! Glad you are feeing better! Thanks for sharing your story and pictures.

[downhilldiva]

Hi Yellow! I talked to a couple of people without contacts that said they had the halo thing last year on Lotoja but they thought it was because of the snow. I asked one of my doctors here. He said "you rode your bike 206 miles and you want to know what is wrong with you?" Ha ha. One real theory is that dehydration can cause swelling and if they eye swells enough it can cause weird vision things.

BTW I'm glad you are okay from your mountain bike fall. I spent a lot of the summer avoiding the mountain bike just for that reason. Now I miss it!

[8bit]

Congrats on your first double- I'm pretty sure it won't be your last. About the contacts issue, it might be less fuss to just go with glasses and prescription sunglasses. I have a pair of sunglasses with the curved Oakley lenses and they're absolutely amazing. They're pricey and take a few weeks to get made, but it's like putting on a pair of 3-D glasses. I've always had problems with depth perception so it took me a few hours in the sunglasses to get used to being able to place things in space without bobbing my head around like an idiot. They can make lenses in just about any color with a whole bunch of coatings to fit most of the Oakley frames, the work is top-notch and my sunglasses one of the things I wouldn't imagine going anywhere without.

The issues that you encounter with using glasses instead of contacts mainly occur when it's wet, you get speckles and sometimes the insides fog. The best way I've found to counter this is using a no-fog cloth and some vigorous rubbing or the little tins of 'Cat Crap' that you can find at REI or similar places. I find the prep and care involved in avoiding the fog issue on glasses preferable to the chance of losing a contact on a fast descent. I had that happen once and barely avoided crashing at 40+ mph- I'm not inclined to repeat that.