While cycling, there have been a couple of occasions where I’m overwhelmed by sweat. Not every time, and not even that often – I’m a cooler weather type, as you can probably tell if you know about my early-morning sunrise rides.
So sweat isn’t that big of a problem – until it starts to get in my eyes. Then it’s trouble.
I always carry a bandana with me to wipe the sweat if it gets bad enough. This is not the best option though, because when you wipe the sweat from your face, you’re also wiping off your sunscreen. When it gets bad enough, I will start to wear the bandana on my head, and that works to about 70 percent efficiency depending.
But this past summer, I went on a couple of rides where it started raining, and in these cases, it became a huge problem because the rain poured through my helmet to wash the sweat straight down into my eyes. In one particular case it was serious because I was descending a very rough gravel road with washed out ruts and debris, only made worse by the downpour. I completely lost sight in my right eye and had to squint to be able to see with my left. The bandana was soaked and of little use.
I survived, but really needed a solution that would prevent this from happening again – as it did just the next week (but in a less dire scenario).
The guys I was riding with had that solution. It’s a headband called “Halo” (the company name), and it has some kind of silicone/rubberized sweat seal that you position over the eyes that diverts sweat coming from running down into them. I got one just in time for the weather to cool off, but that didn’t stop me from getting caught in rain yesterday. And the Halo worked. I was quite pleased to be comfortable during that part of the ride, not having to worry about the sting of sweat blinding me.
So if that’s a problem for you, there’s my recommendation. I got mine on Amazon for $12.99. Oddly, the black one is $15.99, but Navy blue is cheaper (demand I’m sure). Odd for something that isn’t even visible under the helmet, but this band isn’t just for cycling (not even primarily so), so fashion counts for some people.
Have a look if you’re interested.