Forget to blink?

I remember this happening to me last year as well. I get done with a crit and a couple minutes later my eyes feel all dry and start to tear up and they hurt so bad I cannot see.

Is it possible I am concentrating so hard and trying to see everything and trying not to get in a crash that I simply don't blink?

This last incident happened at the Ronde Van Brisbeen Masters Race. It was sunny and windy and cool. We raced 50 minutes. Chris got off the front in a group of five. He got second in the crit but won the Omnium! In the field I had worked hard. I took both the pack primes. Rested and worked my way back up to the front. I was sitting third wheel behind Roemer then my teammate Michael Ma. Someone rolled a tire in the 180 on the next to last lap. We got through with about 8 others. Roemer pulled to the finish straight but started to slow (he had been up there a while). I pulled out, yelled "Mike let's go", and buried my head into the wind. I tried to slowly wind it up so that I could keep accelerating all the way to the 180. I think I did OK. I got through the 180 first, Mike came around me with a confident, "I've got it". And I jumped on the third wheel to come by me. Almost straggled in for 10th but put a little extra effort to it for 9th (BAT Points baby). 2 minutes later I couldn't see. I couldn't even see well enough to ride my bike back to my car, or to drive home.

Now it is two days later and my eyes are still irritated. My eyeballs actually HURT. Maybe I need to get a pair of these. Will someone see if Adidas wants to sponsor us next year?

Bizarre isn't it? And last year, it just quit happening.



One of the websites I was researching says:

Avoid wind
Avoid heat
Avoid using air conditioning in a house.
Avoid turning on the air conditioning or heater in a car
Take a bath
Avoid too much caffeine. Limit yourself to one or two cups of coffee

I was taking notes until the last one. Not gonna happen! I will not give up my Peet's. But, maybe, how big a cup?