Preparing your goggles before an event can make the difference between making the pass or taking a soil sample. How are you going to perform your best if you can’t see? The most difficult aspect of goggle preparation is determining what will be best for the conditions on that particular day. I’ve raced in just about every condition Mother Nature could throw at us and have come up with a few ideas which may help at your next event.

Dusty Conditions

Dust has a way of getting on the inside of your goggle lens, to prevent this you can apply baby oil to your goggle foam to trap the dust before it gets inside your goggles. This works great but be careful not to apply too much baby oil to the foam, you don’t want it to get on the inside of your lens either. When it’s really dusty I like to apply static-guard to the outside of my Scott goggles to help and keep the dust from sticking to the lens.

I also like to use tear-offs in dusty conditions because I like the full field of vision obtained by using tear-offs as opposed to the strip of clean lens obtained by using roll-offs. Another reason I don’t like to use roll-offs in dusty conditions is that the dust finds its way in between the film and the lens. Fogging usually isn’t too much of a problem but I like to use a no-fog cloth so that my goggles don’t fog on the starting line.

Muddy Conditions

These are the conditions that roll-offs really work well because you get several more uses than you would with tear-offs. You can get about twenty uses out of roll-offs instead of the five you get with tear-offs. I also like to use a visor over the film to keep moisture from getting in between the film and the lens. If this happens the film will stick to the lens and your roll-offs won’t work.

This is also a perfect opportunity to use a no-fog cloth on your lens to keep them from fogging. It’s important to use the cloth correctly. I fog up the lens with my breath then wipe off the fog with the lens. Repeat until you can’t fog the lens with your breath and your ready to go.

It also helps to tape an old goggle lens to your helmet visor to extend it. This helps keep some of the roost off your goggles. In really wet conditions I like to seal the junction between my visor and helmet with duct tape to keep moisture from dripping off your helmet onto your goggles.

Rain

This is probably one of the most difficult conditions to prepare for. Rain really plays havoc with your goggles. I begin by no-fogging the inside of the lens. I’ll run a clear lens with rain-x applied to the outside. This seems to work the best when it is actually raining. I’ll try and keep the goggles on as long as I can, because once you take them off your eyes are vulnerable to the roost, branches and other debris you find in an offroad motorcycle event. Remember that you only get one set of eyes so take care of them.

Perfect Conditions

Though we don’t see perfect conditions all that often it is still important to prepare your goggles correctly. Once again I like to use a no-fog cloth on the inside of my goggles to keep them from fogging while I’m on the starting line. In perfect conditions I like to use tear-offs because they offer a full field of clean vision and you can get by with the five or six uses they provide.

These are just a few little tricks I use to make sure I’m prepared for a race. I hope they help you at your next race. One thing I didn’t really mention is colored lenses. I like to use colored lenses (usually amber) when I’m racing in really bright conditions. It seems to help me see changes in terrain when the light makes it hard to see. Have fun and I’ll see you at the races!