McG,
Yep, for me it started at age 45 and it does not go away, ever; of course the reality is that your eyes will continue to slowly deteriorate no matter how many miles of exercise etc are completed! The only full solution appears to be death which is a tad extreme really. The contact lens solution is worth a go - opticians generally allow trials for free to see if it works for you; one for distance and one for near-vision in each eye doesn't work for everyone:( but I understand that there are bi-focal contact lens on the market as well - I have never tried them! I have just taken out my contacts after two full weeks of wear; I give the eyes a rest for a couple of days and then pop them back in - you can get used to poking yourself in the eye!! In the meantime I am back on the vari-focals which is a PITA after the convenience of lens.

Reading glasses
 

I have been riding and wearing normal glasses for most of my time on a bike. I now wear glasses that are Varifocal, have light reactive (plastic) lenses and have scratch resistant coating. It might be a good idea to wear varifocal lenses when walking around for a few days, as they can feel a bit 'strange', and not jump straight on to the bike!

Fasteddie

Eye surgery
 

my long distance sight was getting progressively worse last year in March that I finally decided to get bifocals . Except the optometrist could not get the prescription set right. Turns put I had cataracts in both eyes,but of two different types (due to too much sunlight sailing and skiing when I was young). turns out I would be blind by October! Got silicon implants to replace my lenses and now have perfect long distance vision! Brilliant for riding.

Ye gads we are all old folkies here, my eyes went crap a few years ago and I have the same problem - I do not use a gps so its maps etc. Generally I just live with it and carry a pair of reading glasses in a tank bag so when I stop I can read its really a problem and annoying. However I ended up going to a very good optician and now sport some very dashing four eyes!!!. I had tried those variofocals but A ) found they made me feel sick, B) the reading areas were very small and took a lot of eye training to try to use - I failed on this count. C) on the bike they were very dangerous as peripheral vision is distorted quite a bit and there are large blurred areas so looking around gives you lots of blind spots - just no good for the bike.
I have ended up with Tri Focals (go give it the mr Magoo thing - Im ready). The Tri focols give a big area for normal vision, a mid section for intermediate vision ie to your clocks/instruments and the bottom section is for reading close up and detail. They do have lines in the lenses but after a few days use you hardly notice them. the lenses are plastic and coated with anti glare and anti scratch stuff - the frames very well fitted have lightly sprung arms and grip well without giving pressure to your head - so they do not move around or fall off the optician did a proper fitting and adjusted the frames and made sure they were fine under the crash hat - with no pressure spots behind the ears. They were available as tinted or reactolite but I just stayed clear on this pair but may get a second pair in reactolite now I know these work. Yet again you pay for what you get I suppose - these were not cheap no buy one get one free or anything but are totally comfortable, work and fit properly. But the tri focal bit gives us sad buggers a chance to keep pottering along as we slowly deteriorate and fall apart at the seams.

The ones I bought were a variable tint, dark at the top fading to clear in the reading section. Wrap around means less wind in the eyes if you have the visor up, or an open face helmet.

EDIT: I found a new listing of the type I bought. Not the most stylish (!) but perfect for my needs.

Tim

Hi, well my partner works as a OT (Ophthalmic Tech, aka lady in the shop who fits glasses), I am long sighted but now of the age where i need glasses for close work reading.
Apparently depending why your eyes where like as a kid, (lone or short sighted) as you get older your eyes, mussels will get weaker and eventually you will come to a stage of needing 2 prescriptions.

I would suggest you go see the opticians get a full eye test, & discuss your options for glasses, I personalty use Dirty Dog Glasses, Polorised lenses only, not all are.
but in essence her advice is get professional advice, to assist you with your prescription, note if bi focal or verifocal the reading section of the lens is always at the bottom half of the glasses.