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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jul 2010
    Location
    Indianapolis
    Posts
    164

    Ponytail problems - WDYD?

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    I have shoulder-length hair that in the summer, I pull back in a ponytail and pull thru my helmet. But when i wear a balaclava now in the cold weather, I can't pull my pony tail thru. So I end up with this lump in the back of my head. If I don't pull my hair back before putting on the balaclava, it gets itchy on my neck.

    What do you do with your hair under a balaclava?
    ~ working mom to 3 little girls ~


    Roadie... 2010 54cm Trek Madone 4.5, Bontrager inForm

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
    Location
    I'm the only one allowed to whine
    Posts
    10,557
    Cut it off.

    Seriously.

    When my hair gets long enough that it is driving me crazy, I chop it off.

    Another (less drastic) option is to buy a Buff, and cut a hole in the appropriate spot. Buffs don't seem to unravel very fast, so you may not need to hem the hole. Pull the ponytail through the hole, use the buff like a balaclava.

    or cut off the hair...
    "If Americans want to live the American Dream, they should go to Denmark." - Richard Wilkinson

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Aug 2008
    Posts
    2,841
    I do a french braid.

    My hair drives me nuts if it's not long enough for me to put it up in a bun to get it out of my way or to keep my neck warm when I'm cold.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
    Location
    Oslo, Norway
    Posts
    4,066
    When I had hair that long I'd put it in a regular tight ponytail until I had everything on and settled, then I'd loosen the ponytail, pull whatever I had on my hair out a bit until the lump wasn't a problem. But I have pretty fine hair that doesn't take much space.
    Winter riding is much less about badassery and much more about bundle-uppery. - malkin

    1995 Kona Cinder Cone commuterFrankenbike/Selle Italia SLR Lady Gel Flow
    2008 white Nakamura Summit Custom mtb/Terry Falcon X
    2000 Schwinn Fastback Comp road bike/Specialized Jett

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Feb 2009
    Location
    Melbourne, Australia
    Posts
    507
    Go to a sewing alteration store and ask them to cut a slit in the balaclava and then hem/overlock in the edges.

    Thread ponytail thorugh after putting it on.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Apr 2008
    Posts
    3,176
    +1 for cutting a slit in the balaclava. Finish the edge somehow and give it a generous squirt of Fray-Check.
    Each day is a gift, that's why it is called the present.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Sep 2010
    Location
    Whitmore Lake, Michigan
    Posts
    920

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Location
    Austin, TX
    Posts
    203
    Is it long enough to braid? A braid will cause lots less trouble under the balaclava.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Apr 2008
    Posts
    3,176
    If it is a fleece balaclava you won't even need to do anything to the hole.
    Each day is a gift, that's why it is called the present.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Aug 2010
    Location
    White Rock, B.C.
    Posts
    19

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Jul 2008
    Location
    Chicago suburbs
    Posts
    1,222
    I cut a slit in nearly all of my head coverings to accommodate my ponytail. However, I also wear a Giro Prolight helmet, which has a very nice elastic band at the back of the head instead of the usual plastic cinching devices that you normally find on bike helmets. Because of this elastic band that "gives", I don't feel that lump of ponytail on my head. But usually I just pull it through the slit that I cut in my hats and beanies.
    2012 Seven Axiom SL - Specialized Ruby SL 155

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Jul 2010
    Location
    Indianapolis
    Posts
    164
    Oh duh, I never thought to cut a slit! I'm a seamstress, so i can overlock if needed. I also never thought of a french braid, and here i french braided my hair every day for 4 years when i was in the army.

    I'm going to try the french braid and if i that doesn't work out, i'll put a hole in the balaclava (and the wool buff - I wear both. It is freeeeezing in indiana). Thanks!!
    ~ working mom to 3 little girls ~


    Roadie... 2010 54cm Trek Madone 4.5, Bontrager inForm

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Sep 2010
    Location
    Jacksonville area of NC
    Posts
    821
    I usually put my hair in a pony tail at the base of the neck.

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Jul 2007
    Location
    Rhode Island
    Posts
    1,365
    My problem is my hair gets really, really sweaty (not smelly sweaty, just after-40-hot-stuff-wet sweaty.) So I put a low ponytail at the base of my neck and pull it back halfway through to do a little half bun, so that when I get to work and brush my hair out, it dries with a nice little swing at the bottom. With the pony tail holder low below the helmet, it doesn't bother anything - maybe a little lump in the balacava but nothing major.
    I can do five more miles.

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Jul 2007
    Location
    foothills of the Ozarks aka Tornado Alley
    Posts
    4,193
    I pull the end of the ponytail up and over my head--kinda like a modified Donald Trump style for cycling. That way it's not in contact with my neck. Another thing that I do is wear a women's polar fleece fly fishing cap with ear flaps and a ponytail cut out and pair it with a winter Buff to cover my nose, mouth and throat.

 

 

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