Time for sunblock...

[andyoxon]

Apparently the sun now is at a very similar angle in the sky as mid-late August...  Last Sunday's ride was the first time I'd plastered myself with suncream.  A colleague sitting in the garden managed to turn his face beetroot colour...

[Jaded]

There's an unexpected hole in the ozone layer at the moment, which might explain the red faces.

[gibbo]

My son and I saw a chap yesterday with the best panda eyes I've seen for a long time. We couldn't help but laugh - sorry Mr Panda Eyes.

[vorsprung]

My daughter went red on her arms/hands revising in the garden.  She'd put suncreme on her face

After coming back from audaxing in Wales at the weekend, the family said I'd "caught the sun"  We had approximately 30 seconds of direct sunlight in 13 hours of riding

[mattc]

Saw first sun-burn 15 days ago, on a trip to West Wales.

This is the best time for sun-burn. Air temps aren't hot yet - so we don't think to slip-slap-slop -  and noone's skin has built up any protection.
_{(does that actually happen? Or is it one of those flawed common-sense things? )}

[De Sisti]

  and noone's skin has built up any protection.

What about non-white people then?

[Jaded]

He definitely looks suntanned to me

[mattc]

  and noone's skin has built up any protection.

What about non-white people then?

They are just as welcome to start an argument as anyone.

(I'm surprised you forgot to mention folks in the Southern Hemisphere ... )

[barakta]

Even BME people with darker brown and black skins can be sensitive to the sun.  My mum once had a primary age black kid who burned and it turned out her family didn't use suncreams cos they'd only recently come to the UK from somewhere in Ghana and they were used to year round exposure/tolerance which the child didn't have after a few typical British summers

[De Sisti]

  and noone's skin has built up any protection.

What about non-white people then?

They are just as welcome to start an argument as anyone.

(I'm surprised you forgot to mention folks in the Southern Hemisphere ... )

Who's arguing? Just posed a question.

[mattc]

OK then - could you expand a bit? Cos I don't understand the question, sorry.

[Cudzoziemiec]

Even BME people with darker brown and black skins can be sensitive to the sun.  My mum once had a primary age black kid who burned and it turned out her family didn't use suncreams cos they'd only recently come to the UK from somewhere in Ghana and they were used to year round exposure/tolerance which the child didn't have after a few typical British summers

I remember a ride to the new airport (this was a more interesting ride than it sounds!) in Bangalore with an Indian friend, at one point on the return journey I said to him I could feel the skin on the back of my legs burning. "What do you mean, burning? How can you tell?" He, having dark brown skin, simply could not conceive of sunburn - purely an academic concept to him.

[Polar Bear]

I use factor 30 or above all year round.   I know when to upgrade from 30 to 50 when I look in the bathroom mirror and my eyebrows are visible to me due to the 'pink' skin highlighting them.      

[Notsototalnewbie]

I got sunburned when we cycled to Southend about four weeks ago. First time I've ever been burned so early in the year.

[Canardly]

According to the Beeb skin cancer has rocketed over last few decades so a bit of slip slap slop all round seems to be the way to go.

[phantasmagoriana]

A few people have got burned on rides I've been on this weekend. I played it safe with the SPF50 and long sleeves!

[reddo]

For northern European caucasians (whether living there or ancestral) pretty much don't have much sun UV protection. A tan means damage is being done. Now, I love tans but coming from Australia I know it means a risk of cancer and definitely photo-aging.
If you don't believe the photo-aging thing, have a look at the skin on your bum and compare it to your face. 

So wearing a hat, sleeves and block out can slow down photo ageing as well as reduce the risk of skin cancers.

Australia went through the skin cancer pain and now has less deaths from malignant melanoma than the UK.

I've already had a couple of solar keratoses zapped.

Wear a block out. Factor 15 for daily use is fine. I do use Factor 20+ for specific outdoor use or strong sun situations (eg down at the Med etc).

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-173900/UK-skin-cancer-death-rates-worse-Australia.html
http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/cancer-help/type/melanoma/
http://www.cancer.org.au/about-cancer/types-of-cancer/skin-cancer.html

[Ashaman42]

Mentioned this tidbit re the sun being similar to August on a ride with a friend today and that I should be wearing sunscreen.

She expressed disbelief... I'll have to show her my now rather burnt arms when we're back at work Tuesday      It's deceptive with the breeze keeping one cool on the move.

And of course she'll be okay as she happened to be wearing a long sleeved top due to said breeze.