One Contact During Races

Does anyone have experience in wearing a single contact lense (by design) to see the watch while competing and to monitor the bike computer during the ride? Do you recommend the mono-contact or just let everything get more fuzzy as the eyes lose their near-sightedness with age and try like hell to keep up with others around me?

Considering I’m scared to death I’ll lose a contact during a race I couldn’t imagine making a conscious decision to NOT see as good as possible. I’ll admit I can’t see the Big E on the chart (or even that something is there) without correction.
I am curious as to why you’re considering doing this?

please don’t do that, you could potentially hurt somebody else on the bike with depth perception compromised
.

Perhaps you could clarify whether you are farsighted, and therefore don’t normally wear corrective lenses? I do, and I’m so afraid of losing a lens during a race (it’s happened on training rides) that I put a set in my bike special needs bag.

Another solution is better sun glasses. I now wear my contacts for rides and races after experimenting with different shapes and vented sunglasses. It is not perfect, but blindly sitting in a paceline is not an option. Smith Pivlock V90 FYI

I wear one contact about 90% of the time. I wear the contact in my dominate eye. I’ve never had any problems, never had any close calls w/ other athletes on the bike, running or whatever. For me its never been a issue

I wear one contact all the time, but that’s because I’m uncorrectably blind in the other eye. Doesn’t really apply to your situation, I think. And I’m near-sighted, so even if I went without I’d be able to see my watch and bike computer.

I also no longer wear sunglasses while racing triathlons, and the contact stays in just fine (many years ago, I lost my contact twice in bike races despite wearing sunglasses. I suspect I wasn’t blinking enough and it dried out).

And Jack, I managed to get through Cats V and VI (and lots of masters races) without depth perception and without crashing. One compensates for a lack of stereoscopic vision.

I wear one contact daily. I am far-sighted. I also wear it during all my training and racing. I have never had an issue with it during a race or during training. It goes in first thing in the morning and comes out in the evening.

I am an Elite Am who is also an Optometrist (eye doc) who fits CLs all the time. IN dealing with CLs and racing there are many options. I will need a little more background from the original poster regarding his ocular history to really assess. How old are you? Current glasses prescription? In dealing with mono vision it works very well for some and not as well for others. If you are used to it then it is a very reasonable way to get both distance and near vision (one eye distance, one eye near). I would not recommend trying it out for the first time when riding but many many people do it every day. There are also multi-focal CLs out there now which are really transforming the way contact lenses are fit for those over the age of 42 or so. Then again, RX sunglasses are always an option especially when most people wear Sunglasses anyways on the bike. I know I do!

No, seeing with one eye does not affect depth perception enough to be a danger to anyone. My eyes are such that I have only see with one eye at a time all my life and though my depth perception is not great, I am very safe in all sports. I have done cycling races for 30 years in big packs and have never cuased a problem. True, I would not want him to attempt a triathlon if he had NEVER used contacts this way before, but if he does this regularly, as many do, he will be safe.

I wet to “bifocal” contact lenses some time ago. I only wear them when I’m working out or engaged in some sport (cycling, downhill skiing, swimming, running etc.). Thes take a bit to adapt and are not perfect but I can easily see a bike computer, car dashboard, read “reasonable sized print” - just not the real small stuff and also can tell that the mountain side has trees on it and isn’t just a large green mass.

But, like multi focal glasses, they do take a bit of getting used to. Moreso if you use them infrequently.

I cannot do bifocal contact lens, because they are already weighted for astigmatism, so I got a pair of driving sunglasses with reading lenses built in. Check these out, they work perfectly, and keep the wind off my contacts to boot:

http://www.readingglassesshopper.com/driving-bifocal-safety-glasses.html

Lazik.

Likely cheaper than that bike you’re riding.

Depending on how bad your vision is it’s a good route to go. I’ve been using only one contact in my right/dominant eye for 5 years or so. It was a little difficult to get used to initially but once I got adjusted to it no problem. The eye doc called it a mono vision solution. As with anything I wouldn’t make race day the first day to give it whirl though.

FWIW, I think when i first started I had a -2.50 and am now a -2 both with the mono vision/single contact solution.

I have to disagree about depth perception changing with mono vision - upon the advice of my eye doc I have been mono- vision for about 10 years now and have never had any depth perception issues at all- about 95% of my waking hours are mono-vision.

I realize I am a case study of one - but a few of my clients also use one only and thus far no issues.

Hope this helps

I don’t wear contacts but I have one eye that I use for reading and the other for distance. I had one eye lens replaced due to a cataract and I use that eye for distance - 2 ft and beyond. The other is for everything from 0-2 ft. Depth perception is not compromised. I plan to replace the reading eye with a reading lens if needed.

In 2 races I’ve lost a contact on the bike. It was annoying.

Race with a monocle. Solves the problem and adds some style

I don’t wear contacts but I have one eye that I use for reading and the other for distance. I had one eye lens replaced due to a cataract and I use that eye for distance - 2 ft and beyond. The other is for everything from 0-2 ft. Depth perception is not compromised. I plan to replace the reading eye with a reading lens if needed.

+1. I’m rocking one artificial lens (replaced after cataract) and one natural (for the time being). My depth perception is still fine, although I do often wear a contact in my “natural” eye still, to correct for mild astigmatism (just to make life a bit easier). Even before I had the cataract removed and I was functionally blind in one eye, my depth perception was still good. Between head movement, eye movement and the marvel of the human brain, monocular folks can still have decent depth perception. Weird, but true.

I’ve also never lost a contact. Not in the pool, or open water (even with goggle mishaps). I’ve never lost one on the bike or running either. Saying that, if my sole contact comes out I can still see. If it was required for vision I’d want to have a contingency plan (spares in tri-shorts).

Everyone:

Wow, thanks for the input! Never wore glass until mid 40’s and only for reading when tired. Now at 53, the arms are not long enough to read without them. Everything beyond five feet is still in focus without them though. I will definitely test a single lens on my own before adoping for racing. Everyone wants to be safe when competing and training. Thanks, Doug