Safety: Eye Protection
To borrow from Don McLean’s “American Pie A long, long time ago…” I experimented with wearing contact lenses. Back then, I was a serious runner and did not even own a bicycle. In short order, I gave up on the contacts for a number of reasons. First, I really never got used to the idea that it was OK to stick my finger in my eye. Second, contact lens technology was not advanced enough to permit me to wear them more than about 12 hours at a time, so I had to have a container with me to put the contacts in when I wasn’t wearing them, and I had to have my spectacles with me for when I took them out. And, since they didn’t really correct for my extreme farsightedness, I had to carry reading glasses too. But third, and this was the biggest problem, I kept getting bugs and dust in my eyes while running with the contacts in. I quickly learned the value of eye covering. ✎
Fast forward to 1998 when I bought my first bicycle since being a teenager. On a bike, I moved a lot faster than when I was running. (Among other things, I had Hood-to-Coast running teams for six years, so I ran a lot.) The value of eyeglasses as eye protection quickly became obvious. It was one thing for a little dust or a gnat to get in my eye while running. It was a whole new experience to have a beetle hit me in the eye going 20 miles an hour (only happens for me on a downhill or with a really big tailwind, I might add) on a bike.
In 2016, I had cataract surgery and really no longer needed the glasses at all. In fact, the very next day after my second eye surgery, I went down to DMV and was able to get the eyeglass restrictions removed from my license. However, I still wear spectacles for eye protection while riding, plus the glasses give me a place to hang my rearview mirror! But mirrors are for another article.
Dave McQuery, Member at Large