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<\/p>\nWe 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\u2019d been doing for years. But eventually, I realized how gross one of those habits truly was.
<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Eventually, they would wear out, age out, or break, so I wasn\u2019t using the same helmet and heart rate strap for decades. But still. Ew. And double ew, because I\u2019m a heavy sweater.<\/p>\n
My aha moment came on a hot day when the sweat leaching from my helmet\u2019s brow pad ran into my eyes, irritating like a blast of mace. <\/p>\n
Fun story: When I was around nine, I found a small and unmarked spray bottle that looked like perfume or cologne at a relative\u2019s house. I sprayed it into the air, stepped into the mist, and inhaled deeply to see what it smelled like. That\u2019s how I learned what it\u2019s like to get maced.<\/p>\n
As I tried to wipe and flush the sludge from my eyes, I wondered what was happening. I don\u2019t put sunscreen above my eyebrows, so it wasn\u2019t that. Then it hit me: I had been sweating in this helmet for a while, and I\u2019d 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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
I brought my heart rate strap to my nose and sniffed. Gross.<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t know how common it is for cyclists to wash their helmets and heart rate straps. It\u2019s not something I hear people talk about, and I don\u2019t think I\u2019ve ever seen anyone do it.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s 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\u2019s no hose, I rinse them in the kitchen sink. When I\u2019m traveling, I take them into the shower and rinse them there. A cool mountain stream works, too.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ll 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<\/p>\n
Now, I\u2019m a cleaner, better-smelling cyclist, and I haven\u2019t had a cascade of bio-waste streaming into my eyes and blinding me since.<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t be a gross wierdo like I was. Wash your damn helmet and heart rate strap, and wash them often.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A gear editor for his entire career, Matt\u2019s journey to becoming a leading cycling tech journalist started in 1995, and he\u2019s 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\u2019re 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\u2019t race often, but he\u2019s 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"We all have those habits and small routines that are ingrained parts of our lives, performed automatically. I…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":53799,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[569],"tags":[64,63,44797,784,18188,44798,44794,18181,44793,2295,44795,9193,85,44796,231,44792],"class_list":["post-53798","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-clean-bike-clothes","tag-cycling","tag-cycling-gear","tag-cycling-health","tag-cycling-hygiene","tag-cycling-tips","tag-dirty-bike-kit","tag-gear","tag-gear-maintenance","tag-laundry","tag-sports","tag-stinky-kit","tag-test","tag-washing-cycling-clothes"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53798","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53798"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53798\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/53799"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53798"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53798"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53798"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}