Bicycling and Motorbiking

December 2007 a cycling gold medal winner evaluated prototype Honeycomb ACF Pollution Mask with 2 valves. Watch for new 2 valve filter in September 2008.

Summer: Mark Mulhern bicycles 17 miles each way from New Jersey to Philadelphia, pushing hard on straightaways, cruising in traffic. In the summer, the problem was the ozone seared his lungs, leaving him with a hacking cough which motivated him to look for a mask online in April 2006. He loves the Honeycomb ACF Pollution Mask. An open mouth inhaler, his inhale seals the mask well around his mouth and is not suffocating. His exhale blows out the sides, then seals with inhale. In spring, after about five days, 1.5 hours each way, 15 hours, he begins to feel the filter is not drawing freely enough and figures it is time for a new filter. After a recent heat wave he wrote: "I've been using the mask with carbon filter in the heat, and no respiratory problems or irritation. I took on the last heat wave, which peaked at 98 (damn, I was rooting for 100F, just for bragging rights). They've solved the problem!"  One filter lasts about 10 hours of peak exertion in summer. Click here for motorcyling.

Winter: Goggles without fogging: A Canadian bicyclist wrote: "Riding a bicycle in winter is a challenge especially when it gets really cold and the wind picks up. To combat wind chill I like to wear as much face protection as possible including ski goggles. The trick is to prevent your goggles from fogging. I tested the cold weather mask with a pair of Smith Knowldge OTG ski goggles. The lens on this goggle has some kind of anti fog treatment. Other brands also have this feature. The OTG stand for over the glasses. (I need prescription glasses to see well) In any goggles/glasses combination it's always the inner glasses that start fogging first so you have to treat the glasses with some kind of anti fog liquid or cloth. (you can buy a cloth that Smith recommends directly from the company website for two bucks).

"Anyway, here is what you have to do. Put on the cold weather face mask. Put on your glasses (if you are a glasses wearer) so they are OVER the bridge of the mask. Then (this is the really important part) place the goggles on your face so the lower part of the goggle just covers the top of the mask. If you don't do this your breath will escape from the top part of the mask and go into the lower air vents on the mask and you will quickly fog up. In effect, you are creating a lower seal with the mask and goggles.

"I ride about eight kilometers to work (3.8 miles) and I found with this set up I stayed pretty well fog free. Okay, my inner prescription glasses have a bit of fog by the end of the trip but I can still see fine and don't think this has anything to do with the mask. If you don't wear glasses with goggles I doubt if you will have any problem at all. so, the bottom line is that you can wear the cold weather mask with goggles (and goggles and glasses) as long as you put them on correctly so the goggles overlap the top of the mask. Some types of goggles are smaller than the ones I used and they may not fit over the mask as easily. The best advice is to make sure you can return goggles if they don't work out. Happy riding, Simon Gardner"

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