Sunday, November 13, 2011

Day 17 (Recovery Day 3)

Today I rode our bike club's 200K. This was the same route that I rode as a checkout last weekend when I wasn't sure if I'd be able to wear a helmet this weekend. But it turns out that my scalp is not too sensitive compared to my face, so I decided to ride again. The main problem was applying sunscreen. Last weekend that felt OK, but this weekend - Ouch! I first tried applying Coppertone Sport SPF 50 to my forehead and suddenly felt like a dozen bees had just stung my forehead. So I then tried Neutrogena Ultrasheer Dry-Touch SPF 55 on the lower part of my face. The Neutrogena is an "Ultra Light - Clean Feel" sunblock that I use on week days since it isn't as slimy as the Coppertone Sport. Perhaps it is more gentle as well? Wrong! It stung just as badly as the Coppertone. After walking around for a few minutes waiting for the burning to subside, I finally applied vaseline over the whole mess, resulting in this very attractive look:

Face coated with two sunscreens and Vaseline
Face coated with two different sunscreens and vaseline before all-day bike ride

The ride itself actually felt pretty good on my face because I had nice cool 40-55 degree air blowing over it all day. Before the inside pizza party at the end of the ride, I washed off the worst of the sunscreen and reapplied a layer of vaseline. The next few hours at the party felt OK as long as I periodically reapplied vaseline to the "hot spots" that developed on my cheeks and temples.

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