I quit contacts and train and race with glasses. I got a pair of prescription goggles, cheap zennni glasses, and prescription; Oalkelys for biking. They all work great. I could see better with contacts in aero, but it is good enough.

What do you mean by ‘deal with contacts’?
I wear contacts from the moment I wake up until I go to bed and never once had to ‘deal with them’ or work around them for training.

Get yourself laser eye surgery. Best investment in training and lifestyle, ever.

I try not to wear them for over 12 hrs. And at work I prefer to use my glasses for the computer work, I have a slight astigmatism that my contacts don't correct. So on weekdays I'm often riding to work, removing contacts, then putting them back in for lunch workout, then taking them back out again, and then repeating before I ride home.

Best money I spent on anything, ever.

Anybody go back to glasses for training rather than contacts?

x3
Super easy procedure. 15 minutes.

As somebody who is likely young and healthy this is good use for HSA money. In the last 25 years all my medical care(insurance and self paid) total hasn't added up to the lasik cost. Use the HSA money for something you will love.

I'd love to do Lasik but I can't unfortunately risk even then <1% chance if vision side effects if things aren't perfect due to my job. Even the more common minor side effects would be really limiting.

Understood just make sure if you go back to contacts you NEVER ride without sunglasses/clear lenses based on your vision risk tolerance.

x3
Super easy procedure. 15 minutes.

As somebody who is likely young and healthy this is good use for HSA money. In the last 25 years all my medical care(insurance and self paid) total hasn't added up to the lasik cost. Use the HSA money for something you will love.

X4 - BEST DECISION EVER for me too. Waking up and being able to see the alarm clock and not having to find glasses/ clean & insert contacts has been pure bliss. I would do the surgery over in a heartbeat if it meant that I didn't have to wear glasses or contacts. I also used a flex spending account to pay for mine.

I had PRK (basically LASIK but no flap) in January 2010 - I was 32, and my eye doc convinced me it was the right time to enjoy a long amount of time without having any kind of reading glasses (still better than 20/20 today and still don't need reading glasses). I had worn contacts for all training and racing (and basically everything I did in my waking hours) for about 20 years prior. My distance vision was so bad (-6.25 each eye) that I couldn't see the big E clearly unless I was about 2 feet from it. The only thing I didn't do with my contacts was sleep. I could have NEVER gone to wearing just glasses for vision - they always fogged or if it was raining you can't see (at least with contacts I could take the glasses off and see).

The PRK surgery took about 6 weeks for full recovery - but I was "legal" to be without correction (better than 20/40) immediately after surgery. The reason for the longer healing is that your epithelial cells that cover your cornea are removed for the process and have to grow back (LASIK is quicker because they just cut into them and then put the flap back down).

To the person who said they don't wear contacts to train or race - I just don't get it. The risks of something happening are there whether you wear glasses OR contacts. Goggles do what they need to do to when swimming - yeah they leak but I didn't have any less issues after my surgery than i did with contacts. I was a lifeguard for 6 years and wore contacts - and on a few occasions during certifications and on the very rare rescue of a kid who went too deep - I even opened my eyes under water for a quick second and was completely fine. My main issues with contacts were that I got sick of cleaning them, worried that if I had the weird thing where I lost one during a race my race would be over, and also just wanted less hassle overall.

Best money I spent on anything, ever.

Had LASIK in 2012, also the best thing I've done. 20/15 (L) and 20/20 (R)

Surfing in contacts or none makes it kinda hard to see sets coming in. Riding and having your contacts dry out and fall out is a pain.

Trying to race a crit and only having one contact in made depth perception challenging.

One of the best things is waking up in the morning and being able to see without pulling on glasses or putting in contacts.

I'm a bit biased though, been in the Refractive Ophthalmology field since 2002.

Highly recommend the procedure if you are a candidate. Great advances in the field with outstanding results.

One piece of advice is to do your due diligence and research. Find the best surgeon in your area or even go outside your area if needed.