Living Car Free - Top reasons not to bike-commute

My excuse for not bicycle commuting is simply that I just can't afford it. I know many of you will say that to pay insurance and gas money for a car costs more money, and I realize that, but it just isn't practical for me to save up money for a bike. I'd love to get a bike and start commuting, I've always wanted to, but it's just not practical for me (which is unfortunate, because my area would be pretty nice to cycle in).

So, my only other option is to just read these forums and dream about having a decent road or hybrid bike until I can actually afford one. :lol:

You don't have to start out with a really fancy bike. I bought my current bike at a used bike shop for $75, and it's decent, too. You don't need a titanium Bianchi to go car-free.

My excuse for not bicycle commuting is simply that I just can't afford it. I know many of you will say that to pay insurance and gas money for a car costs more money, and I realize that, but it just isn't practical for me to save up money for a bike. I'd love to get a bike and start commuting, I've always wanted to, but it's just not practical for me (which is unfortunate, because my area would be pretty nice to cycle in).

So, my only other option is to just read these forums and dream about having a decent road or hybrid bike until I can actually afford one. :lol:

One of the frequent stumbling blocks to any cost saving measure is that there are upfront costs to be paid which are recovered later. Fortunately biking can be very cheap to get into and can pay for itself quickly. I don't know your details so I will give a scenario and you can correct it. If you are driving to work more than 5 miles you are likely paying close to $2/day in gas, and if you got a cheap "thrift shop" beater for $50 and spent another $50 on a tune up and new parts you can get your money back in 6 weeks or sooner. By the end of the year if you bike 100 days you will have doubled your money. If you eventually retire the car or sell it you may potentially end up saving several thousand dollars a year and can buy your dream bike. So biting the bullet now wouldn't hurt much if that happened.

The top reasons my co-workers gave for not commuting by bikein approximate order:


Not enough time.
The weather--it's always too hot or too cold.
Crime--I feel vulnerable when I'm not in a car, especially in the area around our work place.
The traffic is too dangerous.
I never thought about it.
I'm in bad shape--I wouldn't make if 3 blocks.
I live too far away.
It seems like too much trouble--buying a bike, repairing it, changing clothes, etc.


Actually, some of them do sound like pretty good reasons.

Harrassment from CoPs, Cagers and
the Bus Driver that almost killed me
last night on my way home!

Lots of responses, hehe. Thanks r8ingbull for the offer; unfortunately, don't live near there, or else I'd take you up on it. But, I'm going to start looking around craiglist and local areas for cheap bikes. My biggest concern isn't a fancy bike, but a (like I said) decent bike. I got a road bike about a year or so ago, and was thrilled when I got it for $30 dollars. Well, not knowing anything about bikes and being quite gullible, the bike was pretty crappy. I had to bring it into the local bike store about 3 times in 3 weeks before I finally gave up on it. Ever since then I've been really discouraged from getting a lower-priced bike.

.. Buuut, you guys have convinced me to try again. So I figure I'll look around for a bit and try to find a good roadie that will fit me (6'1-6'2). I'm really desperate to get one, though, so I hope I'll have more success at it this time. Now (since I'm not quite as broke as I was a year ago) I'm willing to try it again and put $50 or so on repairs.

If I have any luck (or a lack thereof) I'll let you all know. :p

I think one of the main things that keeps people from using their bike is a sort of a mental block that bicycles are toys and not transportation. Hence, people don't even think that the bike they store in their garage or buying a decent machine might be a way of getting to work that doesn't involve burning gas. I recall a conversation with co-workers while I commuted by bicycle who thought spending a significant amount on money on a bike as insane. I immediately challenged them to total up the amount of cash they spent on cigarettes over the course of the year which could have easily paid for two or three decent bicycles annually. That caused them a moment's pause. :)

And, despite the lip service paid to alternative transport by various government officials, urban design at least around here is still centered around the car. Intracity transport here in KW is good but if you have to get down to Cambridge or head out of town it is a real nightmare. Sub-divisions are also popping up all over Waterloo County where commuting by bike is virtually impossible especially in the winter.

I-Like-To-Bike, you've already established that you hate most of the people in this forum and/or what they write here, and we've already established that most of us hate you back.

The only thing we haven't established is why you keep coming back to a section of bikeforums where you do nothing but flame most of the people that start a thread here and then argue and complain when people flame you back.



What's next for the Car-free self appointed moralists - a conjured listing (with smarmy comments assigning values/validity determination ) of the reasons why others are/are not vegetarian; religous; liberal; soccer or cycle racing fans? Why should someone justify his choice Not to partake in an activity to the satisfaction of an inquisitive joker with an agenda to prove him wrong?

If you hate this forum or all the self-appointed moralists in it, get the heck out of it already.

I-Like-To-Bike, you've already established that you hate most of the people in this forum and/or what they write here, and we've already established that most of us hate you back.
What a real smart guy! You really do think you are clever stating that hate is defined as not buying into your group think/conventional wisdom. Are the same smart guy credentials required as well for anyone else that belongs to your "we" club of smart guys?

All right- let's get this thread back on-topic. If you need to go back and forth, do it via PM.

Thanks!

Koffee Brown

Forum Moderator

Well following Koffee's advice to get back on topic, I guess there were two things I had in mind when i started this thread:


Given the state of the infrastructure and the city in general, there are some compelling reasons why it's difficult for some people to ride bikes to work. Things like crime and the traffic, for example. These issues require some adaptation and planning to get around.
OTOH, a lot of the reasons are just excuses. I mean, I work with these folks, I'm not especially tough or vigorous, and yet I manage to get there on a bike every day.


So I guess I think about what needs to change to make bike commuting more palatable for these people. And I hope to get some fresh ideas to share with them about how they could try riding to work.

...there are some compelling reasons why it's difficult for some people to ride bikes to work...OTOH, a lot of the reasons are just excuses. I mean, I work with these folks, I'm not especially tough or vigorous, and yet I manage to get there on a bike every day.

So I guess I think about what needs to change to make bike commuting more palatable for these people. And I hope to get some fresh ideas to share with them about how they could try riding to work.
And again what I suggest to you is that you realize that you won't get anywhere as long as you feel it is up to you (and others who share your values) to evaluate others' reasons for NOT doing some discretionary activity as compelling or just "excuses." Your contempt for others "excuses" will derail any legitimate advice you may offer.

And again what I suggest to you is that you realize that you won't get anywhere as long as you feel it is up to you (and others who share your values) to evaluate others' reasons for NOT doing some discretionary activity as compelling or just "excuses." Your contempt for others "excuses" will derail any legitimate advice you may offer.


I think everyone needs to back off a little and go back to their corners. ILTB does have a point in that it is not for us, as cyclists, to decide how people exercise their options in regard to transport. On the other hand, Roody is right to demonstrate that many reasons for not thinking about bicycles show evidence of the idea being dismissed without much thought. I believe the best thing for all of us is to think about and advocate alternatives to everyone jumping in their cars, clogging the roads and choking our planet to death. Using a bicycle to get to work, get groceries, go to PTA meetings is one strategy to cope but is not universally applicable. By pressuring for reasonable alternatives and challenging people to think outside of the key in the ignition, press the accelerator paradigm (I hate that word, but there it is), maybe we can make life a bit better for all of us. For example, the local bike clubs here pressured the regional government to put in bike lanes as well as having bike racks installed on EVERY transit bus in the tri-city area. Also, they were in involved in advocating an express bus system. As a consequence, if I leave my car at home I can get to work almost as fast by bus and don't have to pay for parking. If I ride my bike in the morning and I am too tired to ride home, I can throw the Mongoose on the bus rack and zip home. One less car on the road and my options for getting to work have more than trebled and I can leave the car parked for most of the week.

And again what I suggest to you is that you realize that you won't get anywhere as long as you feel it is up to you (and others who share your values) to evaluate others' reasons for NOT doing some discretionary activity as compelling or just "excuses." Your contempt for others "excuses" will derail any legitimate advice you may offer.

What do you suggest then? I suppose one could adopt a laissez-faire approach and just let everyone do what they want. The problem with that is that we are all tied together in a social, economic and environmental web where what one person does affects a lot of other people, so we have not only the right, but, some would argue, the obligation, to work for system everyone benefits from. If people drive excessively it raises my taxes, reduces the purity of air I breathe, puts me at risk of injury or violent death, and generally lessens the quality of my life - and that of many other people. How would you suggest I try to effect change, namely (as one outcome) getting more people riding bikes?

See the thread started by Diane in Advocacy and Safety

"Good info about how to make cycling safer and more frequent"

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=214431

No job to commute to.

I agree with nelson and cooker -- very well said.

And I wonder why I-Like-To-Bike wonders why Roody wonders why his co-workers don't bike-commute. ILTB: If you walked your laissez-faire talk, I think you would leave us all alone.*

That is, unless you are an evangelistic libertarian, which (IMHO) ought to be an oxymoron, if it isn't. "People should leave each other alone, except when they're telling** each other that they should leave each other alone. People should mind their own business, except when they're telling** other people to mind their own business."*** Is this what you believe?

(Excuse me for making fun of this belief. If it's a straw man, no need to take it personally. Just answer no, and correct me if you wish. If you answer yes, I challenge you to defend evangelistic libertarianism, or whatever you prefer to call it.)

* The reverse is probably not true, because most of us aren't as ostensibly laissez-faire in our posts as you. I know I'm generalizing, and I'm not ashamed of it. It's my observation, and you don't have to agree.

** Telling, suggesting, insulting, verbally accosting...whatever. Different means, same end.

***Thinking about what other people might be thinking is NOT leaving them alone. To truly leave other people alone, you must never, even privately, consider the possibility that you might be able to guess what they're thinking. You absolutely cannot ever have the slightest chance of knowing what in the world might possibly be going through their mind or informing their behavior. Not a friggin' clue, guaranteed. You wouldn't know an excuse from a valid reason if it hit you smack in the head. So don't even try to figure them out. Just leave them alone. I said, leave them alone. Leave them alone and I'll leave your thread alone.

Well following Koffee's advice to get back on topic, I guess there were two things I had in mind when i started this thread:


Given the state of the infrastructure and the city in general, there are some compelling reasons why it's difficult for some people to ride bikes to work. Things like crime and the traffic, for example. These issues require some adaptation and planning to get around.
OTOH, a lot of the reasons are just excuses. I mean, I work with these folks, I'm not especially tough or vigorous, and yet I manage to get there on a bike every day.


So I guess I think about what needs to change to make bike commuting more palatable for these people. And I hope to get some fresh ideas to share with them about how they could try riding to work.

I sometimes exhibit the zeal of the convert, so I have to watch myself, but in the two major cities in which I've lived, biking is actually MORE pleasant and convenient than driving a car, as long as you live in the core areas, the ones that have a lot of mixed-use neighborhoods. I'm certain that most people, if they live within 10 miles of their work, and crime is not a serious issue in their neighborhoods, would be much happier and healthier on bikes than in cars, and if they tried it, they would be easily convinced. We should get the word out, without being obnoxious, of course. (And even with the crime issue, I'm not totally convinced. My experience has been that no one will mess with you unless: 1. You have something they want badly enough to risk their safety and/or freedom for; or 2.You appear to be an easy target. A person on a bike going 15-20 mph, looking like they know what they're about, is neither an attractive or an easy target, and chances are excellent that you will be left alone.)

The top reasons my co-workers gave for not commuting by bikein approximate order:


Not enough time.
The weather--it's always too hot or too cold.
Crime--I feel vulnerable when I'm not in a car, especially in the area around our work place.
The traffic is too dangerous.
I never thought about it.
I'm in bad shape--I wouldn't make if 3 blocks.
I live too far away.
It seems like too much trouble--buying a bike, repairing it, changing clothes, etc.


Actually, some of them do sound like pretty good reasons.
Whilst a lot of reasons have been given by people i have spoken to, i think it often just comes down to conforming to our society's expectations - as an adult, you get around by car. And once someone is into that cycle (no pun intended!) of driving whenever and wherever they want to, it is unlikely they will choose to lose the comfort and convenience it provides.

Whar do you suggest then?
I suggest that those who would like to promote the use of car-free living through bicycling get over their tendency to sneer/smirk and disparage others' reasons as inferior "excuses" for not making the same choices as themselves. The issue in this thread is this counter productive approach by smug holy roller types promoting their superior choices by insulting the alleged backward masses.

Promote by saying how wonderful certain actions are and the reasons why thesereasons are so wonderful/beneficial; NOT by implyng that everyone else's reasons for not behaving like yourself are unworthy "excuses".

I guess I'm pretty good at sharing my enthusiasm about cycling with my co-workers. I think riding's the most fun way to get around our city, and I think it's more practical than they can imagine.

As for proselytzing, no, not my style. But I don't think sharing my own knowledge and experience is anywhere near the same as trying to convert somebody.

A hypothetical example: Say somebody wouldn't ride to work because their bike was red, and they believed red bikes were illegal in the city. I would certainly feel comfortable pointing out to them that they are mistaken, and if that's all that's stopping them, they can ride in tomorrow.

Similarly, if a co-worker says they live 3 miles from work, and that's too far to bike-commute, I will point out tha--in my experience--it's not too far, and in fact it might be quicker than driving. If they say they're not in good enough shape, I'll say fine, but if you want to get in good shape, cycling is a great way to do it. If they say the traffic is too bad, I'll tell them alternative routes and I'll explain that you can learn to ride in traffc just as you learn to drive in traffic. If ILTB thinks that means I'm a busybody or a zealot--his problem, not mine.

OTOH, if they say the crime is too bad, all I can say is that I've not yet had a problem, but I'm a big guy on a heavy bike, and I've lived in the inner city most of my life. But I can't say "It'll be fine, there really is no crime," because that would be a lie. If they say the weather is too crappy to ride, I'll offer to help them with that problem, but if they really hate being outdoors, I'll drop it real quick. And if they say "I hate riding bicycles," I also sure can't argue against that. I'll just say "Cool, what do you like?"

Similarly, if a co-worker says they live 3 miles from work, and that's too far to bike-commute

I live 5 miles from work and I don't commute by bike because I think 5 miles is too short! Extra 30 min ride in the morning is not worth a hassle of changing , taking shower after ride, waking up earlier...
I ride my bike every day after work if it's not raining. Safe ride on bike trail is a great way to clear your mind after busy work day.
Or may be I am just not a morning person...

You might not have to shower if it is only 30 miles. (unless you have to wear a suit or have the uncrontrollable urge to fly there)

I don't like it when it snows heavily and I have to take the bus because I have to wake up earlier than normal.

Oh, and I love riding in snow storms - there's hardly any cars, it is warmer if it snows, and you can get a massive workout going really slowly. (unless I am riding to work, because then it is a bit too tiring/slow)
Oh, and the other thing is the sound - it is so quiet.

I suggest that those who would like to promote the use of car-free living through bicycling get over their tendency to sneer/smirk and disparage others' reasons as inferior "excuses" for not making the same choices as themselves. The issue in this thread is this counter productive approach by smug holy roller types promoting their superior choices by insulting the alleged backward masses.

Promote by saying how wonderful certain actions are and the reasons why thesereasons are so wonderful/beneficial; NOT by implyng that everyone else's reasons for not behaving like yourself are unworthy "excuses".


Thanks. No more sneering, smirking and disparaging, then. I will do my best.

The top reasons my co-workers gave for not commuting by bikein approximate order:


Not enough time.
The weather--it's always too hot or too cold.
Crime--I feel vulnerable when I'm not in a car, especially in the area around our work place.
The traffic is too dangerous.
I never thought about it.
I'm in bad shape--I wouldn't make if 3 blocks.
I live too far away.
It seems like too much trouble--buying a bike, repairing it, changing clothes, etc.


Actually, some of them do sound like pretty good reasons.

It seems to me a more fundamental reason might be inertia. It's easier to keep doing what you've been doing, and to do what everyone else does. And it's typically easier to justify (to yourself, anyway) what you've been doing and what everyone else does than to justify doing something different.

The fact is, there are many reasons for biking to work, and there are many reasons against it. (True with almost any issue.) It could be that your co-workers had really considered riding their bike, but had decided against it for some of the reasons they mentioned. Or, what I guess is more likely, most of them never seriously thought about biking to work, and when they're asked why they don't, they just name whatever reasons support their current behavior, ignoring those which don't. (Inertia.)

Wouldn't any of us do the same if asked "Why don't you do [something which you've never even thought about doing]?" Some of us might answer #5 (never thought about it), but even so I think most of us try to produce additional reasons in retrospect, which might or might withstand scrutiny. (After all, we haven't given them scrutiny; we've just pulled them off the top of our head.)

Roody, I don't know exactly how you approached your co-workers or what you asked them, but a better question than "Why don't you bike to work?" might be "Have you ever thought about biking to work?" This demonstrates your curiosity and invites them to think about it and make their own decision, hopefully free from your judgment, rather than challenging them to defend their (presumed) decision to NOT bike to work. In other words, one invites them to think of reasons FOR and AGAINST biking to work; the other invites them to think mainly of reasons AGAINST biking to work. Of course it depends on how you ask, and probably neither question should be asked out of the blue, unless you want to sound like you're selling something.

I suggest that those who would like to promote the use of car-free living through bicycling get over their tendency to sneer/smirk and disparage others' reasons as inferior "excuses" for not making the same choices as themselves. The issue in this thread is this counter productive approach by smug holy roller types promoting their superior choices by insulting the alleged backward masses.

Promote by saying how wonderful certain actions are and the reasons why thesereasons are so wonderful/beneficial; NOT by implyng that everyone else's reasons for not behaving like yourself are unworthy "excuses".

That's actually a good point. Additionally, I would suggest:

Promote your opinion by saying how wonderful it is and the reasons why it's true/beneficial; NOT by implying that everyone else who doesn't agree with you is "smug and arrogant", "passing off their own prejudices, straw men, factoids, blatant stereotypes, and lines of pure BS as some sort of representation of fact or truth", and needs to "get over" themselves.

I think you would be better understood that way, and would receive less of the sneering/smirking/disparaging in return.

Speaking for myself, anyway, I know I would have understood you better that way, and would have replied with a much more friendly and less sarcastic tone.

I live 5 miles from work and I don't commute by bike because I think 5 miles is too short! Extra 30 min ride in the morning is not worth a hassle of changing , taking shower after ride, waking up earlier...
I ride my bike every day after work if it's not raining. Safe ride on bike trail is a great way to clear your mind after busy work day.
Or may be I am just not a morning person...
Sorry...I wonder why you would need to change and shower after a 30 minute commute? If you are going 5 miles in 30 minutes, that's a reasonable pace, and I bet you don't get super stinky in that amount of time. I work in a hospital, closely with the public, and I do not need to shower after my commute. I shower just before I leave home--just as I would if I were driving.

Personally, I do change when I get to work. That takes 3 or 4 minutes. But many--maybe most--bike commuters would take such a short commute in their work clothes. If you have to wear a business suit, you can buy garment-hanger panniers. Or you could get a more utilitarian commuter bike with fenders and chainguard, and ride to work in the suit, though only in nice weather. I see many commuters doing that, with their neckties flapping behind them.

It sounds like discomfort while riding in traffic is another reason why you don't want to ride to work? I say that because you referred to a "Safe ride on bike trail." (Sorry if I'm reading too much into that phrase.)

BTW, I guess I didn't explain myself very well. I never asked my co-workers why they don't commute. Over the 4 years I have commuted, the topic has come up many times in casual conversation, and these are reasons they have volunteered for not commuting. I think I trust these unsolicited opinions more than I would trust responses that I trolled for.

Heres a reason not to bike commute on busy streets: POllution. When Cycling, you breath in numerous times the amount of air as you would driving. Especially on busy streets, the air quality is very sub-par. You breath in this bad air longer, more (volume), and more deeply into your lungs as a result. This can actually cause you to damage your cardio system more than you are helping it. I do alot of running, and have done research on this, concluding that it is not in your body's best interest to exercise on the sidewalk along a smewhat busy street. They have conducted reasearch in the August issue of Men's Health (for any of you who get it), thats where I got these ideas from. Of course, that assumming your commuting route is along a path of poor air quality.

Here's the article (Its a good informative read for everyone):

http://www.menshealth.com/cda/article.do?site=MensHealth&channel=health&category=other.diseases.ailments&conitem=6dd09e134d1fb010VgnVCM200000cee793cd____

Heres a reason not to bike commute on busy streets: POllution.

Unless you already get the same amount of exercise that your commute would otherwise get you, this argument falls apart quickly...see the thread about this in the commuting forum for other arguments.

Again, to be specific...being a total lazy-a$$ versus cycle-commuting, you get more health benefits from the cycling than associated pollution risks from the air. on the other hand, I can't objectively vouch for someone who already gets a daily hour of cardio as to whether commuting would really be that much worse for them, and I'll be that's the kind of person the Men's Health article was based on, not the typical couch potato.

Well when i started riding about ten miles to and from work i thought i couldnt do it but, it was pretty ez.
Now i can do it without even breaking a sweat.

Heres a reason not to bike commute on busy streets: POllution. When Cycling, you breath in numerous times the amount of air as you would driving. Especially on busy streets, the air quality is very sub-par. You breath in this bad air longer, more (volume), and more deeply into your lungs as a result. This can actually cause you to damage your cardio system more than you are helping it. I do alot of running, and have done research on this, concluding that it is not in your body's best interest to exercise on the sidewalk along a smewhat busy street. They have conducted reasearch in the August issue of Men's Health (for any of you who get it), thats where I got these ideas from. Of course, that assumming your commuting route is along a path of poor air quality.

Here's the article (Its a good informative read for everyone):

http://www.menshealth.com/cda/article.do?site=MensHealth&channel=health&category=other.diseases.ailments&conitem=6dd09e134d1fb010VgnVCM200000cee793cd____

Well since no car I heard of has a magic pollution filter, my guess is that the cagers are getting as much of the bad air as we are.

And making a whole lot more!

Actually, in the article it gives facts. At rest, the guy in the car is breathing in 6litres/min of air. The guy exercising outside is breathing in a whopping 60 litres/min. So indeed, cars dont have magic filters, but the people in them consume less air, and thus much less pollution. Either way, I just though it was interesting.

Actually, in the article it gives facts. At rest, the guy in the car is breathing in 6litres/min of air. The guy exercising outside is breathing in a whopping 60 litres/min. So indeed, cars dont have magic filters, but the people in them consume less air, and thus much less pollution. Either way, I just though it was interesting.
Sorry, the link wouldn't work for me. i think this computer has a filter of some kind and it won't take this site's cookies.

Sorry, the link wouldn't work for me. i think this computer has a filter of some kind and it won't take this site's cookies.

Here's a cut-and-paste:

[Graphic: "Men's Health: Tons of Useful Stuff"]
Dying Breaths
Every day, millions of men run and cycle to improve their health and fitness. So why are some of them speeding toward an early grave?

By: John Brant, Photographs by: Justin Steele

Five times a week for the past 5 years, I have been unwittingly but systematically poisoning myself.

Each lunch hour, I run for 30 minutes on a wood-chip trail in a leafy park in my hometown of Portland, Oregon. But there's a catch to my moderate, seemingly harmless routine: To reach the park, I must first jog nearly a mile along a busy thoroughfare named Fremont Avenue. Until recently, the screech of city buses and the reek of diesel trucks always felt like a small price to pay for the pleasures waiting on the trail.

Here's what I didn't know: With every deep draught of oxygen, I also gulp down alarming quantities of ozone, carbon monoxide, microscopic particulate matter, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, lead, and a witch's brew of other pollutants. By conducting part of my workout at midday along a congested street, I am reducing my lung function, constricting my air passages, courting chest pain, increasing my chances of developing asthma, unleashing free radicals to catalyze carcinogens in my bloodstream, and activating cellular processes that might lead to a heart attack.

"When I see people running or bicycling along a busy street in the middle of the day, I want to tackle them and scream at them to stop," says Rachel Langford, coordinator of the Clean Air Project for the American Lung Association in Oregon. "At some intersections, we ought to post 'No Exercise Allowed' signs."

Inhaling the Ozone
It may be hard to imagine that vigorous outdoor exercise -- generally trumpeted as an all-purpose antidote to disease and a retardant to mortality -- could actually help bad air hurt you. But the explanation is simple: When you're running, cycling, playing tennis, or shooting hoops, you breathe in more of it. A lot more.

A sedentary person inhales approximately 15,000 liters of air per day, or 6 to 10 liters per minute. During heavy aerobic exercise, however, you draw in 60 to 150 liters per minute, delivering oxygen throughout 600 to 900 square feet of surface area in the lungs.

"That means the exerciser breathes in 10 to 15 times more pollution than the sedentary person, and he's sucking it deeper into his lungs," says Rob McConnell, M.D., a researcher in the department of preventive medicine at the University of Southern California medical school. "In fact, just by stepping out the door, you could be exposed to five times the ozone you'd inhale if you stayed inside. So if you're outdoors and exercising . . . well, do the math."

The numbers grow more harrowing, because you breathe primarily through your mouth during exercise. At the same time that I'm pulling vast clouds of bad air deep into my lungs during my noon run, I'm also bypassing my body's remarkably effective air-filtering system: the nasal passages. (Mucus traps particulates, and then tiny, waving, hairlike structures called cilia push the old mucus up and out of the body.) The triple whammy of breathing fast, deeply, and through the mouth makes my daily run -- and perhaps your regular workout -- an ozone/particulate/carbon monoxide orgy.

Eventually, our bodies defend themselves against air pollution by breathing less. Air passages tighten, and breathing becomes labored. Our exercising bodies are ensnared in an intractable dilemma: While working furiously to process more air to feed oxygen-hungry muscles, they simultaneously strive to protect us from that air. Our pulmonary and cardiovascular systems strain like air conditioners in an extended heat wave and eventually, inevitably, break down. Early symptoms often include wheezing, coughing, scratchy throat, headache, chest pains, and watery eyes. Other, longer-term effects are considerably more dire.

Gasping for Polluted Air
In Scotland, for instance, researchers studied 30 healthy men cycling on exercise bikes while exposed to diluted diesel exhaust. After 1 hour's exposure to the fumes, the cyclists developed constricted blood vessels and showed a reduction in tPA, an enzyme that breaks down blood clots in the heart. In another study, 17 competitive cyclists were exposed to varying levels of ozone while exercising; their endurance decreased by approximately 30 percent, and their lung function by 22 percent.

Research conducted in Finland shows an even clearer connection between dirty air and heart-attack risk. Every 2 weeks over a 6-month period, scientists monitored 45 volunteers as they exercised in simulated dirty-air conditions. Results linked both fine-particle pollution (the effluvia issuing out of smokestacks) and ultrafine-particle pollution (the invisible emissions from motor vehicles) with a threefold increase in the risk of ischemia, a potentially lethal shortage of oxygen reaching the heart muscle.

Perhaps most disturbing is how airborne toxins can harm us without triggering symptoms. In Southern California, for instance, researchers examined 107 fatal-accident victims, ranging in age from 14 to 25. Before their deaths, none reported breathing problems. Yet autopsies revealed that 86 of the deceased -- 80 percent -- had chronic lung disease. The message to cardio devotees: Easy breathing can confer a false sense of security.

"Healthy, active people tend to underestimate the harmful effects of polluted air, because they don't wheeze or experience chest pain," says Henry Gong Jr., M.D., an air-pollution researcher at the University of Southern California medical school. "Feeling invulnerable, they continue to exercise, putting themselves at greater risk."

The Big Six cause an Asthma Spike
I wanted to know the kind and quantity of pollutants I was inhaling, and thereby gain a rough sense of what my lungs might look like after years of unintentional abuse. My investigations took me from academic experts like Dr. McConnell to officials at the American Lung Association, and finally to a state DEQ air-monitoring station in my neighborhood in Portland. The station is overseen by Holly Stewart, a biologist and air-quality specialist.

A vigorous woman in her mid-40s who used to fight forest fires, Stewart takes me around the station, which lies less than a mile from the street where I run. She shows me the pumps and filters and computer monitors packed inside the 12-by-12-foot shed. She then leads me up a ladder to the flat roof, where there are more measuring devices. It's an abnormally sunny autumn day in western Oregon, with a cool breeze washing over the playground adjacent to the station, and the steady din of traffic rising from the I-5 freeway about a half mile to the west.

"Things are looking pretty good today," Stewart says, checking the nephelometer, a device that measures ozone levels. "And with that wind picking up from the east, we should stay well within the AQI [Air Quality Index] limits for the next several days."

Today's favorable air-pollution readings are characteristic of Portland, which made headlines in 2004 when results showed that the city's ozone-pollution level had decreased over the past decade, despite sharp rises in population, traffic, and economic growth. But over that same period, there was also an increase in Oregon's statewide incidence of asthma. The asthma spike is particularly pronounced among young people, who, with their high rates of physical activity, mimic the characteristics of healthy adult athletes.

The explanation for this might lie in two cutting-edge areas of inquiry: the study of pollutants other than the Big Six (ozone, carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, particulate matter, and lead) and analysis of air-pollution microclimates -- i.e., localized areas in which the air is significantly dirtier than in regions as a whole. Among the former, diesel particulates -- the black waste issuing primarily from trucks, buses, locomotives, and other large conveyances -- are emerging as particularly worrisome.

No More Smog Jogs
Despite the darkening diesel cloud, spiking asthma rates, and proliferation of scary studies, all the experts assure me that, on balance, I've been doing myself more good than harm with my daily run.

"By all means, keep running," Dr. Gong says, "but for goodness' sake, stop running along that busy street. If you run just a block away, your risk will be significantly lower."

Dr. Gong also suggests exercising early in the day, when diesel particulates, ozone, and other air pollutants are at their lowest levels, or after nightfall, when traffic abates. Ozone forms when sunlight reacts with automobile and industrial emissions, so it accumulates to significant levels by about 11 a.m. and peaks at around 3 p.m. (After sunset, ozone can no longer form, so the concentration decreases.) By the same token, ozone levels are significantly higher during the sunnier months. Some experts, especially in notoriously smoggy cities such as L.A. and Houston, recommend tailoring training cycles to the season.

Other commonsense mitigating tactics include standing in front of the line of traffic at stoplights and busy intersections, and skipping your outdoor workout if the AQI exceeds 70. (Go to airnow.gov (http://www.airnow.gov) and click on "Local Forecasts & Conditions.") Consuming fruits and vegetables high in vitamin C, such as peaches and red peppers, stimulates production of glutathione, a liver enzyme that helps prevent free-radical damage in the lungs. And just a few places down the antioxidant alphabet is vitamin E, which can also help repel radicals.

The most effective and logical response to air pollution, of course, is to drive less, consume less, and thereby reduce what you are, directly and indirectly, pumping into your city's atmosphere. No one is greener in this regard than bicycle commuters -- and no one, ironically, breathes more traffic exhaust.

"I'm aware of the 'superpolluters' when I'm riding," says Scott Bricker, policy director for the Oregon Bicycle Transportation Alliance, an advocacy group. "When I ride behind one, I go into this thin, shallow style of nose breathing. That gets me through the worst of it. At least I like to believe it does."

Back at the air-quality station in Portland, the wind shifts, and the freeway din grows louder. Stewart opens the top of a PM10 particulate sampler, a device that measures diesel particulates, and extracts a filter clogged with black soot. She explains that this grime has accumulated over just a 48-hour period. I recall all the miles I have logged along Fremont Avenue.

"Actually, this doesn't look so bad," Stewart says. She points to my black jacket. "Some cold days, when people have their fireplaces going, or during temperature inversions in the summer, it shows up darker than your jacket."

She replaces the filter, her expression thoughtful. "Besides, when you're talking about air pollution and exercise, it's often what you can't see that gets you."


http://www.menshealth.com/cda/article.do?site=MensHealth&channel=fitness&category=fitness.tips&conitem=6e2da992e3fd9010VgnVCM200000cee793cd____&page=0&pageLocation=true

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Thank you.

That's an interesting article, offering the (often) simple solution of taking a less congested route to minimise the danger.

Here is another type of in-car pollution that is tricky to avoid: www.ecocenter.org/dust/followupreleasefinal.pdf