[CommuterBoy]

So I live in the sierras... fog is usually a rarity. Except for this year. We've had fog of every variety over the past couple of months.

With freezing fog, there's not much that you can do... you're going to get an ice shield on everything. This makes having eyeballs absolutely horrible, because whatever you put in front of them gets an ice coating and you can't see through it...so you wind up peeking over the top of your glasses and crying all the way to work.

For the last few days we've moved on to the more typical wet, misty, coastal type of fog.
I typically wear a pair of smith sunglasses with the yellow or clear lenses inserted throughout the winter for my dark morning commute. The fog is just killing me for some reason. Rain is no big deal on the glasses, but the fog is horrible. If I wipe it off it looks like I'm underwater AND drunk, and if I leave it I can't see a thing. I wind up going into grandpa mode and looking over the top of the glasses.

Now let me be clear: I'm not talking about the glasses fogging up. I don't really have an issue with that. It's a build-up of the foggy goodness on the OUTSIDE of the lenses. Same thing with goggles...I usually don't have an issue with fogging on the inside, but I don't dare try them, because you can't peek over the top.

Is there a solution, or is this why the suicide rate is so high in Seattle? Talk to me...

 

[HardyWeinberg]

I use a pair of $5 lab glasses that fit over my Rx glasses. That way at least it's like having a fogged (or iced) windshield to peer through rather than fog or ice right on my focal point.

 

[mtbxplorer]

I would give up on the glasses if it's foggy & not super cold...I was comfy today at 15F with cap, fleece facemask on the downhill run & no glasses or goggles.

 

[CommuterBoy]

^^ The thing is, I'm so freaking fast that the windchill at 30* makes my tears freeze before they get to my ears. At 15* with no glasses, the entire exposed eyeball freezes solid, preventing me from blinking. I realize that I could slow down, but I have never considered that as an option.

 

[highdelll]

this yo...

 

[CommuterBoy]

^^ Is it bad that I can't figure out what that is? I didn't know they made baby bibs with iPods sticking out of them.

 

[mtbxplorer]

^^ The thing is, I'm so freaking fast that the windchill at 30* makes my tears freeze before they get to my ears. At 15* with no glasses, the entire exposed eyeball freezes solid, preventing me from blinking. I realize that I could slow down, but I have never considered that as an option.

Sorry to hear that CommuterBoy! I see on the windchill chart that at 30F if you ride 60mph it will feel like 10F, so I feel for you. I guess us New Englanders have evolved with some extra antifreeze in the tear ducts. But really, try some rain-x on the glasses & report back, I think it might work for you. My friend has not used his wipers since he started using it on the windshield.

 

[highdelll]

^^ Is it bad that I can't figure out what that is? I didn't know they made baby bibs with iPods sticking out of them.

bike windshields w/ flexible fairings!
woot!

 

[CommuterBoy]

^^ Sweet! I always wanted my bike to look like it was wearing pants!

mtbxplorer, I don't have any rain-x handy, but I have used it on the Jeep and it's incredible stuff. I did a light coat of vegetable oil on the lenses after I washed them last night, but then today it wasn't foggy...just raining like mad. The glasses did the usual water beading thing, maybe a bit more run-off, but I could see OK. I have used oil on the inside of my snowboard goggles to prevent fogging, and it seems to work great. I have never dealt with fog accumulating on the outside of the lens though. It seems to freeze into super-fog when it's a little colder.

 

[AndrwSwitch]

If it's more condensed fog, sometimes wearing a cycling cap helps. The bill keeps precipitation from hitting some of the area below it. But you may not be able to solve it.