Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Sun, Sun, Sun, Here You Come...

Well it's about TIME. It hasn't been warm here in belgium since last April when we had a mini-heatwave. Other than that, it's been mostly freezing here. For the past three days, my face finally saw sun. Even my ears were warm while bare - completely exposed to the wind.

After four more hours of sun today, I looked in the mirror expecting a nice, even bronze complexion but what i saw staring back at me was a hodgepodge of brown hues. Bugger! Every year, the more time i spend in the sun the worse it gets! And every year i forget this happens until the first few sunny rides.

For many years, i thought i was a freak (because of the uneven tan). But last year, after one of the road races, I saw another gal with the same funky tan. In fact, I spotted a few others the same day with matching tans! I wonder if we are all using a funny sunscreen the partly melts in the sun.

If anyone has any ideas, I'd love to hear them!

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

I guess we aren't that too far apart... sunny here today also. Remeber Paris Roubaix last year???

Really looking forward to my 40mile 'commute' ride home this evening. Should have worn my shorts rather than 3/qtr longs today, just adding to the silly tan line which has developed below my knees!

CT :)

No ideas on that hodgepodge (hotchpotch -we say) of brown hues other than I get a patch beneath my left eye on my cheek, looks like I haven't washed properly!

PEANUT said...

hey chr15:
Today i wore tights with shorts over them, my thick winter booties, sports bra, under-t, long sleeve jersey, vest, windbreaker, ear warmers (ditched midway through the ride), cycling cap, long fingered gloves, Specialized Optics - the ones that wrap around the face to leave a band of white across the face.
YES, just as if i hadn't washed properly.
Isn't hotchpotch a belgian soup?

Anonymous said...

Hey Christine!

Nice to hear that the weather is nice too in Belgium!

Finally had my new bottom bracket in yesterday, so the first day of the year I went out in shorts. (only a sleeveless under shirt and short sleeve jersey) Loved it, was way to long back I could train in that sort of clothing!

Although..... I have already cycled this year in the same sort of clothing.... In february I had an fotoshoot for a Dutch cycling magazine for which I had to ride in shorts, with short sleeve jersey (and under-t). Was 7/8 degrees then, with a firm breeze.... Although there was a really nice amount of sun, it was still a low temperature to ride in summer configuration!

Anyway, tomorrow another day to train in short kit and afterwards see the end of de Waalse Pijl/La fleche Wallone.

Have fun!

Groetjes,
Michel

PEANUT said...

Inderdaad! The only reason to ride early tomorrow is to get home in time to catch Waalse Pijl on TV. I already have my clothes laid out for the ride tomorrow so i am out the door quickly in the morning. It is supposed to be even nicer tomorrow.

Anonymous said...

Meanwhile, here it's about 2ยบ, drizzly, and so windy it's hard to keep both feet clipped in. As one who has had to avert my delicate eyes from Peanut's mottled sun tans these many years, I would like to remind her that any sun screen, whether a chemical blocker like Parsol 1789 (avobenzone) or a physical reflector, like zinc-oxide, works right out of the tube but won't be effective on a sweating, nose-rubbing athlete unless it has been permitted to set up for 20-30 minutes prior to her workout. Also, factor-rating (SPF for UVB and PPD for UVA) is a highly dubious notion, a snuggly time-line based premise correlated to applications of 2 mg/cm2 that gives many consumers a false sense of confidence (after all, even if substantiated in vivo or in vitro, it's still in a lab, not on your skin, on your surfboard). The higher that number, the lazier people seem to feel about re-application, which is key. All chemical sun screens degrade rapidly and must be re-applied hourly or oftener, regardless of their putative ratings. Moreover, a degraded or "used-up" compound, if not replaced with additional, regular re-applications, could result in even more damage than using none at all, thanks to the release of free radicals from whatever sun-blocking chemicals may have penetrated into the skin. This may account for less than unequivocal evidence that sun screens actually protect against carcinomas at all. Personally, I'm in favor of zinc-oxide, which is completely photostable, is among the broadest-spectrum UVA/UVB reflectors, and appears not to be absorbed dangerously into the skin. That and training at night, when the sun is down, and our greater worry, the aggressive driver, is slumped in front of his TV, scratching his balls.
:E

PEANUT said...

thanks E for your comments. Since you're constantly in the sun AND appear to still have perfect skin, I suppose i'll take your advice.

kellyu said...

You need Invisible Zinc. They use nanotechnology to get the Zinc oxide particles small enough so that they appear invisible. It is widely available in Australia (that's what a massive ozone hole gets you) and I think they're trying to move into the North American and European market, so it might be available in Belgium. If not it can be bought online easy enough.

I use it on my face because I get the uneven tan otherwise, and I also find that all my other suncreams slide off my face and roll into my eyes. Drives me nuts and makes me cry.

The only flaw I can see is that while you don't end up with a face smeared in white like the classic zinc cream face, I do look very slightly pale. I think if it was on someone with less of a tan than me, then it'd look completely invisible.

But I don't get burned, and that's all that matters.

PEANUT said...

Thanks! I'll check it out.

Big Bad Wolf said...

Lol, I'm not going to comment on your tan lines but I object to your description of Belgian weather. We had a fine April last year yes, but we've had lovely days since and I don't think it froze for more than 15 nights this winter.

PEANUT said...

When you take into consideration wind-freeze factor, it's been freezing every day since last april! Or maybe i'm just a pansy Californian at heart. haha.
Although today was a beautiful weather day - i even bared my legs to the sun.