We all have those habits and small routines that are ingrained parts of our lives, performed automatically. I had a couple of cycling-related ones that I’d been doing for years. But eventually, I realized how gross one of those habits truly was.
For some reason, I would, after finishing a ride, put my helmet and heart rate strap back on the shelf where I stored them and walk away. Ride after ride, it was the same: finish the ride, take them off, put them on the shelf. I never, ever washed them.
Eventually, they would wear out, age out, or break, so I wasn’t using the same helmet and heart rate strap for decades. But still. Ew. And double ew, because I’m a heavy sweater.
My aha moment came on a hot day when the sweat leaching from my helmet’s brow pad ran into my eyes, irritating like a blast of mace.
Fun story: When I was around nine, I found a small and unmarked spray bottle that looked like perfume or cologne at a relative’s house. I sprayed it into the air, stepped into the mist, and inhaled deeply to see what it smelled like. That’s how I learned what it’s like to get maced.
As I tried to wipe and flush the sludge from my eyes, I wondered what was happening. I don’t put sunscreen above my eyebrows, so it wasn’t that. Then it hit me: I had been sweating in this helmet for a while, and I’d never washed the padding or straps. There was probably enough salt and who knows what else, concentrated in the pads and straps from many sweaty rides, to make my helmet a superfund site.
When I realized I never wash my helmet pads or straps, I started thinking about what else I might be ignoring. Then it hit me: the heart rate strap.
I brought my heart rate strap to my nose and sniffed. Gross.
I don’t know how common it is for cyclists to wash their helmets and heart rate straps. It’s not something I hear people talk about, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone do it.
It’s an easy habit to adopt. When I wash my bike after a ride, I take a moment to rinse the helmet straps, padding, and heart rate strap with a hose. If there’s no hose, I rinse them in the kitchen sink. When I’m traveling, I take them into the shower and rinse them there. A cool mountain stream works, too.
I’ll also toss the helmet pads and heart rate strap in a lingerie bag and wash them with my cycling clothes often. And I try to wipe the straps with mild dish soap (like Dawn) and warm water with regularity
Now, I’m a cleaner, better-smelling cyclist, and I haven’t had a cascade of bio-waste streaming into my eyes and blinding me since.
Don’t be a gross wierdo like I was. Wash your damn helmet and heart rate strap, and wash them often.
A gear editor for his entire career, Matt’s journey to becoming a leading cycling tech journalist started in 1995, and he’s been at it ever since; likely riding more cycling equipment than anyone on the planet along the way. Previous to his time with Bicycling, Matt worked in bike shops as a service manager, mechanic, and sales person. Based in Durango, Colorado, he enjoys riding and testing any and all kinds of bikes, so you’re just as likely to see him on a road bike dressed in Lycra at a Tuesday night worlds ride as you are to find him dressed in a full face helmet and pads riding a bike park on an enduro bike. He doesn’t race often, but he’s game for anything; having entered road races, criteriums, trials competitions, dual slalom, downhill races, enduros, stage races, short track, time trials, and gran fondos. Next up on his to-do list: a multi day bikepacking trip, and an e-bike race.