Velochimp: Astrochimp on Cycling

Here is a good set of tips on how to properly blow snots while riding your bike. The cold weather will make snottage much more prevalent than the summer months (if you are riding in 0 degree weather).

These tips will be filed under Euro-Style. Velochimp will give ocassional tips on riding style, apparel, bike choices, etc. Not just any type of bike stuff mind you.

Here is the tip which comes to Velochimp via local club listserv at: Onondaga Cycling Club
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Blowing your nose while riding is an underrated, yet essential, skill. Within
30 minutes of a good spin, almost all cyclists experience a gooey trickle
because exercise increases blood flow to the nose. Nasal tissues swell and the
cells lining the nose produce extra mucus (which is about 96% water with the
rest made of sugars, protein and bacteria-fighting enzymes). On chilly rides,
everyone drips. “It’s the nose’s way of protecting itself from cold, dry air,”
says James Geraghty, M.D., an otolaryngologist in Peoria, IL.

There are four simple rules to keep you from splattering gunk all over yourself
or your riding buddies.

1. Learn to stay steady. You don’t want to take down the pack just because
you’re trying to empty your snout. If you can’t ride a straight line with one
hand off the bar, try this: Practice taking one hand off for three pedal
strokes as you ride along the white line on the side of a road. Keep your body
centered and your cadence steady. When you can go 10 strokes without grabbing
the bar, you’re ready to blow snot rockets.

2. Ready, aim… Take one hand off the bar and use your finger or thumb to
pinch one nostril shut. Close your mouth and exhale forcefully, snapping your
head slightly down and back to shoot the goo in an arc around the opposite
shoulder (the one connected to the hand that’s still on the bar).

3. Be polite. Before you make like Bartoli in a pack, wait until it’s your turn
at the back or fade to one side until no one’s behind you.

4. Wipe. Use the soft terrycloth on the back of your glove to mop up residual
sludge. And check your shoulder. If it’s shiny and wet, wipe it clean with your
glove, too, schmendrick.