If any of you have ridden your motorcycle in the sun, without applying sunscreen lotion like I have, you may have learned the hard way at the end of the day that you have been fried to a crisp. There is nothing worse than having bad sunburn, especially on overnight or multi-day motorcycle runs.

The suffering of a sunburn can be prevented by simply apply sunscreen lotion before and during your motorcycle rides!

I am not going to write a scientific article on sunscreen or sunblock lotions. You can do a Google, Yahoo, or MSN search on sunscreens to find out all about them. You can read a good article about sunscreen lotions by clicking here.

The bottom line is that these sunscreen lotions do in fact protect you from getting sunburned. I can attest to this from first hand experience. If you are going to ride, you need to protect yourself and your skin unless you want to look like a wrinkled up old sun burned prune.

Maybe it is just me, but it seems as though the Sun burns your skin much quicker than it used to. This might have something to do with the decrease in the Ozone layer of the atmosphere, or maybe it is just me getting older.

In anycase, riding your motorcycle will be much more pleasurable if you apply sunscreen lotion 15 to 30 minutes before you ride, and every couple of hours thereafter. I have found that anything above SPF 35 is the best if you don’t want to get sunburned.

My doctor turned me onto a new sunscreen lotion by Neutrogena that is not greasy and smelly like the older types of sun blocks. Click here to check out the lotion that my doctor recommended. This lotion has a new chemical and is SPF 55. My doctor told me to put it on my face every morning whether I am riding or not. I used the lotion this past weekend, and it did its job perfectly.

Wearing a good leather jacket or other type of long sleeve shirt while riding, will also prevent you from getting sunburned. What is funny is that each summer for I don’t know how many years, I looked like a raccoon from my sunglasses and sun exposure, due to riding my motorcycle. When I started using sunscreen lotions about 8 years ago, this all ended; well kind of!

I am sure that many of you are thinking; “wearing sunscreen is for sissies.” On the contrary; if you are a serious hardcore rider you know or should know that applying sunscreen lotion while riding your motorcycle is as important as wearing your other gear.

In Laughlin a few weeks ago, and this past weekend on a ride that I did, I saw many riders that obviously were not wearing any sunscreen. They were sunburned pretty well. If you enjoy that sunburn feeling than have at it. As for me, I will wear the sunscreen!

By Norman Gregory Fernandez, Esq., © 2007