Cycling UK Forum

Hi, just wondering how everyone manages to protect themselves from the effects of sun damage on the bike. I have ridden for over 40 years and have been very careful with this issue using factor 50 sun screen all year round. I have never been a sun worshiper or gone on hot holidays. I am at greater risk of skin cancer because I am now on long term, low grade chemo therapy which makes the skin sensitive to uv. Despite being extra careful it looks like I have my first lesion on forehead, just waiting for results. Obviously this has made me very nervous about going out at all despite living in the north of England where it isn't exactly 'sun city'. Does anyone wear special uv clothing and if so what is suitable and robust enough to cycle in. I wear a cap under my helmet with quite a large peak on it to protect my face. Any ideas would be most appreciated. Thanks.

I burn easily.

I mostly wear walking clothes on the bike, and I check the lightweight stuff for what they say about UV protection. Rohan are pretty informative:
https://www.rohan.co.uk/mens/sun-protective

And I keep a broad-brimmed Tilley hat with me.

Don't forget to discuss oral vitamin D supplementation with your doctor.

I hope it turns out OK.

Jonathan

Many thanks for that. I do take vit D daily and use a Tilley style hat for walking and working in the garden. My problem with clothing is I am female, 4ft 10 inches tall and 7 stone wet through so trying to get gear to fit is a nightmare. I tend to buy children's cycling gear which is pretty good. I hate the thought of not being able to wear cycling shorts in the summer and even a short sleeve top now and again but it is a small price to pay to stay safe.

I don't give a toss. At this time of year when I first get my legs out I slap baby oil on to tan quicker. But then i just go a mediteranean type of colour. My wife just burns pink so she slaps the factor 50 on.

Live and let live, not a bad approach....stay safe.

You can go brown but still get problems, but everyone makes their own choices. I rarely wear much, perhaps a bit on my neck and back of knees and calves. Those are where I burn. Mostly I wear a wide brimmed hat and last few years a long sleeved shirt when the sun's at its strongest.

Cragghoppers is like Rohan for sun protection clothing. They have high UPF clothing, UPF is the clothing equivalent to SPF for sun protection gunk.

I used to wear a Tilley but after it got wet I couldn't stretch it back to fit again. Even following Tilley instructions mine never stayed to size for long. I've got a big head although it doesn't look big so it's hard to find hats that fit. Very few brands offer large sizes. After getting annoyed with my Tilley I looked around and found Brazilian Tarp Hat Company. They do similar size range to Tilley but they don't shrink like Tilley cotton hats, plus they have a wire brim stiffener that's better than Tilley's. They're made from upcycled truck tarps in Brazil. Even the wire in the brim comes from old truck tyres wires. Just think the distance they travel to get here is not great.

Thank you for that information. It seems the hat is the all important and for women developing cancer lesions on the face they can have a big impact, that's not to say that men are not affected. Tilley hats do tend to make me look a bit like Paddington because I am so small but needs must. Sometimes it does not matter how much of an effort you make at protecting yourself if you are susceptible then nature will take it's course.

In my 20s I wasn't so much the outdoor type, and I got burned to shreds on a few occasions because I forgot suncream and my skin was pale and intolerant.

When I became a walker, then a cyclist, I used suncream, but found a long list of ways to get burned whilst wearing it, so for that reason I have always preferred to maintain a degree of tan for protection when the suncream doesn't cut the mustard. If you're out for long hours, even with suncream you get tanned eventually anyway, it just takes longer. My tan used to endure through the winter to a fair degree, and took a few years to fade after my outdoor activities were curtailed by my health. I used to be able to tolerate up to 3 hours of midday sun without burning, which was useful when suncream was forgotten, or impractical.

The issue I have with suncream is that whilst it's fine if you're going out, and staying out all day, like whilst cycle touring, it's a damned nuisance if you're in and out all day long for random unpredictable periods, and it's easy to accumulate more exposure than you planned. It makes a greasy mess of everything you touch, but showering it off every time you go in and sit on the furniture just isn't reasonable either. That's when some tolerance is useful.

I don't know which is the bigger risk, having a tan, or getting burnt on the occasions when you forget the suncream or misjudge the exposure.

Long days on the bike means I prefer to use physical protection. I wear:
A lightweight buff under my helmet that covers my ears and is draped over my neck (I have very little hair!)
A pair of sun sleeves to cover the bit between my t shirt and gloves.
A pair of lightweight troos which I roll up to make pedal pusher length to cover my thighs and knees.
Cream for exposed face bits.

Tbh, it's as much to prevent the discomfort of sunburn on multi day trips as the long term protection against skin cancer.

Tanning doesn't protect against skin cancer.

It might provide a very small amount of protection against burning, but the higher overall dose might outweigh that risk.

Jonathan

In the UK, less, so, albeit I'll put suncream on when it's particularly sunny, and I've usually got a wide brimmed hat and long sleeves, so I limit my exposure, although my knees do get a showing, I must confess...

When I'm in the Tropics fishing I'm super-conscious to cover up, and all of my fishing clothing is effectively total block, so I have face, neck and hands to worry about. I'll get through a large tube of suncream just on those bits across a week - proper application is much more important than SPF, providing you're at 15 or higher* - most people under-apply (if you don't look like something frightening after you've first put it on, then put more on!) IMHO. My fishing buddy used to fish in shorts until he had to have a melanoma cut out, but now he's on max-cover always.

*It's a logarithmic, not a linear scale, so at 15 you're getting very good protection - if you've put enough on.

Thank you everyone for your responses to my original post. It seems most of you have cobbled together your own ideas over a period of time and as a result of your own experiences, some quite amusing! It seems to be a major operation, sun cream every two hours, under hats, over hats, legs, arms, hands, neck and face. That's all before we get out of the door to ride the bike....isn't it exhausting.

keep out of the sun when my shadow is shorter than I am.

(and if I have no option than venturing out with a short shadow it is a hat long sleeves and factor 50)

Jdsk wrote: ↑23 Apr 2022, 7:42pm Tanning doesn't protect against skin cancer.

It might provide a very small amount of protection against burning, but the higher overall dose might outweigh that risk.

Jonathan

Suncream doesn't stop you tanning though, if you use SPF 50 it just means it will take 50 times longer to get the same tan.

You can buy summer gloves to block put sun in hot climates. American outdoors brands sell them, some with reflective, silver outer. Goiter, before their demise, used to sell a silver version of their hill umbrella as sun protection in American desert trails like the start of one of the triple crown trails.

Mind you a friend who did that one said the desert put such a thick layer of dust on you that you didn't need sun lotion because the dust worked better. Can't remove it neither because water is more important to drink and cook with than wash off.