Long Sleeves for Tan Lines?
 

So these tan lines are getting ridiculous. On my already dark skin, I now look like I have sleeve tattoos (and this is from only riding 3 times a week, 1.5 hrs a ride)... and let me tell you, I'm not the kind of guy that can pull off sleeve tattoos.
Do any of you wear long sleeve jerseys to protect yourself from the sun/prevent tan lines?
The thing is, it's always hot/sunny where I live and I'm gonna keep wearing bib shorts.
I hear shorts and long sleeves are a fashion fau pa... but then again, I ride alone and don't care what I look like (tan lines aside obviously ;)

I wear long sleeves and long pants pretty much all summer if the sun is at all out, even though the summer temps here are usually in the 80s and 90s rather than your 100s or higher. Skin cancer is an epidemic and covering up is just easier for me than putting 8 pounds of susncreen on every time I go out. The SPF on a decent shirt is around 20 or higher, generally. Buying fancy sun-blocking clothes is unnecessary. Obviously, the weight of what I wear is very light.

I have no idea what you guys do in the summer down there. Ridd in the middle of the night? It's still super hot then. I don't envy you.

I use the permacloud for sun block. We usually get a day in the summer with sunshine, it didn't happen last year, but I'm hopeful we could get a few hours in 2020 or 2021.

I always wear long-sleeve jerseys. You should too, it sounds like. The type of skin cancer I had is the most common form for black people. Nobody gets a free pass, sadly.

You realize that doesn't protect you from UV, right?

I always wear a long sleeve base layer. One, it protects me from the sun, and two, I actually do have a 3/4 sleeve that I want to keep looking brightly coloured. Unlike you, I turn fun shades of pink and red without any sort of skin protection. I also use sun screen on both my arms (even with a base layer) and legs. It takes work to stay past pale in the summer....

I used to wear long sleeves even in summer to reduce sun exposure, and sunblock on exposed skin. As a kid and most of my adult life I burned easily in the sun. I was always skinny as a kid and young adult and ate everything I wanted, especially sugar and junk carbs. After age 40 I gained weight and by age 50 went from 155 to 205 lbs. It seemed like I sunburned more easily. But I didn't make any connections.

After being diagnosed with osteopenia (lower than normal bone density for my age), and finding that calcium and Vitamin D supplements had zero effect (checked twice a year), I read a bunch of studies on PubMed about the benefits of sun exposure, possible links between sunburn, body fat and sugar intake, doubts about the value of sunscreen, and other indications that prompted me to revise my approach. And reportedly sun exposure helped the body manufacture nitric oxide on the fly in demand to physical activity.

So last year I cut way back on the sugar and junk carbs, dropped 10 lbs of body fat (I wasn't obese, but even at 5'11" 160 was above my optimal weight since I have a small frame), quit using sunscreen and wore short sleeves and rode in the morning and midday sun often.

I didn't burn once. I got a moderate tan on my arms, but surprisingly little on my legs, neck, face, etc.

I haven't seen my most recent lab tests. So I don't know whether additional sun exposure had any benefits for my bone density. But a few changes to my diet and previous practices worked well for me, at least in terms of sunburn.

I know some folks who wear full skin protection year 'round, and sunscreen. They've had melanomas and are very careful to avoid future risk.

It's possible there are genetic predispositions that account for these differences in experiences, same as the effects of diet and obesity. So what works for me may not be a good practice for others.

When it's summer I have tan lines strong enough that you could think I'm wearing clothes on a nudist beach. I've had kids laugh at me at the pool, people stare at me, and someone even thought I had some disease because of the different colour of my hands caused by cycling gloves.

I just don't care. If you don't like it, look somewhere else.

QFT.

I once spent nearly four months on the road riding across the country and then some during one of the hottest summers on record at the time. Looked like an ice cream sandwich. Small price to pay for the experience.

Keep your jerseys, get a few sets of sun sleeves.

Depending on your jerseys...may want more than just sleeves.

I'm not exceptionally pale by any means, nor do I burn *that* easily. One summer after a week of Tour de Nebraska (and not even riding during the hottest/sunniest times of day)...I had bib-suspender burn shadow on my back. :eek: Since then I use full-sleeve lightweight base-layers.

Sun sleeves. Buy the cycling brand names if you want for $20-40 or the amazon brand names for $5-10. Ive found they are all equally effective. Like any clothing, there are differences in fit for all of them- some longer, some shorter, some wider in diameter, some narrower in diameter.
I throw all of em away due to being dirty/grungy looking even with regular washing, and none last measurably more time than others, so I now use an amazon brand since it allows me to buy them more frequently and they dont look as bad overall.

They make you a couple degrees warmer, I would guess. It is noticed, but not uncomfortable- thats the best way to describe the effect. And if they get wet, they get your arms cold for a handful of minutes, which is nice.

Tan lines are badges of how many miles you have ridden. When I raced, I looked at my opponents legs to see how muscular they were and the next thing I looked was their tan lines. If they had razor sharp dark tan lines, and fishbelly white skin on the other side, I knew they put in the miles.

Sun exposure seems to be something that something that a lot of people overreact to. Often, when we learn that too much of something is bad, we think the best solution is to cut it out entirely. But, as you say, sunlight is associated with a wide range of health benefits. Getting too little is also a bad thing (from the article below, “Avoidance of sun exposure is a risk factor of a similar magnitude as smoking, in terms of life expectancy.”). The USA, in particular, seems to be more stringent about sunscreen than many other places.
Here's an interesting article that discusses several of the points you made.
https://www.outsideonline.com/238075...cancer-science

I don't normally wear sunscreen unless I expect to be outside for an extended period of time (so mainly I wear it for my bike rides). Basically, I just try to avoid getting a burn.

Where have you been riding? I don't think I've gone without arm warmers yet this year(unless it's mid-afternoon).

I'm Irish, so you know my relationship with the sun. I started wearing sun sleeves a few years ago and don't know how I got along so many years without them.

Yellowish, Mediterranean-Semitic type, here. On the bike, I use sun block on up-facing surfaces, e.g., arms, for anything at the height of the day or longer than a couple of hours. I sail all summer in long sleeves and a big ol' hat with copious sun block on the fronts of my legs, hands, face, etc. I've had actinic keratoses on my legs a few times, but conscientious use of sun block seems to prevent them.

There's little to no doubt that overexposure to sun carries an increased risk of skin cancer. While there are some who carry this concern too far, applying sunscreen doesn't seem to be much different from wearing a helmet. For those who feel sunscreen is foolish, you may be among the 20% of Americans who will develop skin cancer.

Yeah. I was making a joke about Seattle's terrible weather. It's rained 38 of the last 40 days. It's depressing.

I have some base layers that are comfortable even in heat and when I'm sweaty. The thinnest ones fit under a jersey. UPF 50. I even have a sun hoody for hiking. I mean, I love feeling the sun on my skin, but there's a limit.

I ride with sun sleeves for long days in the sun.

This is check point 2 (mile 120) on The DAMn - I never used sunscreen on arms or legs, never had any issues with sunburn after a full day in the sun. Also, the sleeves do not make me hotter at all (temps were 90+F with high humidity that day).

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...e0ac1ab0b7.jpg

Funny story, I never ride with bare skin - I use either sunsleeves or sunscreen. Except the last gravel race of the season, Gravel West on Oct 20 (in Minneapolis). It was around freezing as the start of the race but sunny with temps going up 60F, so I stripped down to just summer kit to ride the race. I didn't expect to need sunscreen so late in the season .... dang that left tan lines! :thumb: (but no sun burn)

Rule #7 : Tan lines should be cultivated and kept razor sharp.

Velominati ?

I have perennial tan lines on my upper arms. I've embraced it, and laugh along when people notice them in the dead of winter. :)

You may not burn, you may not get skin cancer, but if you spend hundreds of hours in the sun for many years your skin will show it. Ask me how I know.

Overexposure is certainly bad. The question is: what constitutes overexposure? Putting on sunscreen when you're going to be outside for 20 minutes seems pretty extreme, particularly if you aren't very fair skinned.

A comparison of sunscreen to a helmet isn't very apt. A helmet has no real downside from a health perspective, while getting insufficient sunlight seems to pose a real risk to one's physical and mental health. I'll trade a slightly increased risk of skin cancer, the vast majority of which is not particularly dangerous, for:
Lower risk of hypertension
Lower risk of diabetes
Lower risk of depression
Lower risk of prostate, breast, colorectal, and pancreatic cancers
Lower risk of blood clots
Reduced inflammation
and a reduced overall mortality rate.

Ok, how?