Cycling & Sunburned

Well after spending much of yesterday afternoon on the beaches of Lake Tahoe with the family I remember ow why I use to try and get a bit of a base tan before spending any long days at the lake - sunburns!

Yesterday I put on plenty of sunblock before leaving the house but I never reapplied while at the lake. Mostly because it really was not that hot, just nice out so it did not seem necessary although we continued to layer it on Zoey to play it safe - I should have done the same thing.

I am not completely "fried" but am a little bit beyond pink. Mostly in two areas, both of which are not evenly burnt either. Those two spots being the top of my chest as well as my forehead, yes my forehead only well and part of my nose too I guess. In my hurry to apply sunblock before leaving yesterday I skipped my forehead out of habit. When riding the bike you never want to put sunblock there or it will just end up in your eyes and burn when you sweat. Heck sweat alone is bad enough so you could imagine the increased discomfort that would come from it.

Next because of the position of the sun and the way that I was comfortable sitting most of the day, which was trend a little to the left, the majority of my burn is focused on the right side of my face. Add in the glasses that I was wearing that have a larger side frame which must block the sun in a slightly larger angle and you get a white stripe on the right that is about 1/4 inch thick starting at my ear and in creases to at least an inch thick by the time you get to the corner of my eye. Then where the frames and lenses blocked the sun there is an entirely different shape and area of white boy skin surrounded by red.

Completely dumb move on my part all around to be perfectly honest. Dunno what the heck I was thinking because I know that I burn easily until I have been out a few times at the lake. Had I remembered to put it on my forehead it would not be so bad really, just my upper chest and a little of the top of my legs.

Lesson learned, again, and one I should have remembered from learning long ago. My excuse is that I was so focused on Zoey that nothing else was important at that time. Thankfully she did not get pink at all. If anything maybe just a hint of color on her face at best.

She absolutely loved the beach too I think. We played in the water, me helping her jump over waves and then jump over the wash of the waves on the shoreline. Tahoe water is cold year round but she did absolutely amazing and did not peep one bit about it.

She is such an awesome little girl already at only just past 5 months old. I cannot wait to watch what she does and experiences next. It's awesome being her dad - I get a front row seat!

OK gotta go apply more aloe lotion with sting relief to my burns before my bike ride today. I have a feeling the aloe is going to burn my eyes today but it's a chance I have to take to heal this burn a little quicker and protect the health of my skin the best that I can.

Photo: Basically how I spent a good part of my day today instead of riding. Hate when there are days like this. Lately it seems that there have been far too many flats and I think "somethings" gotta give. It makes it really hard to get a lot of miles in when you have flats because they really wear you out.