Ka_Jun

https://www.airnow.gov/index.cfm?action=static.aqi

Just curious if there is a point you would wave off the commute?

tarwheel 

If the AQI is Code Orange, I will usually ride if the weather is OK otherwise. If Code Red or worse, I don't ride. Our problem is usually ozone, which is only high in the afternoons, so I'm only getting exposed to high levels on the way home. However, we had one day last summer when the forecast was Code Orange for particle pollution from a large forest fire. I should have called off the commute but rode anyway not realizing how bad it was. When I got to work, I found out the AQI had actually worsened to Code Red-Purple, so I caught a ride home with someone who drove.

DallasSoxFan

I've got a 15 minute ride each way. When it gets to Orange in Dallas, I don't make the ride a race or extend it. When it gets to red, I stick in the granny gear and try not to break a sweat or raise my heartrate.

Bat22

When the local stations report I didn't worry about it at first.
From a distance I could see a brown hazy cloud hanging over the area.
If the report is expected for more than a few days I pay attention.

DataJunkie

I do not pay attention to it.
I suppose if the sky was orange \ brown \ and red like 5 years ago when Colorado was covered in quite a few wildfires I would pay it notice.

MikeOnBike

I used to ignore it but I ended up off the bike with bronchitis this winter because I spent a week riding in a bad inversion. Maybe I'll remember to pay attention next winter.

JeffS

No.

Riding a bus, or taking the train is one thing, but driving your car because the air-quality is bad seems very wrong to me.

shouldberiding

My city used to be on a watch list for air quality, and I ride past a small coal fired power plant on my commute every day. Also, I have mild asthma.

I just try not to think about it...

ian123

i just hold my breath until i arrive at my destination.

breadgeek

My commutes are short (< 10km each way), and mostly flat, but I live in an area infamous for its poor air. While i do pay attention to the figures, I go slower than usual (which is already very slow) when the air gets really bad. I also write my US Congressional Representative on occasion to see what he can do to help us clean the air.

PaulH

No. Don't pay any attention to it.

Paul

SSP

We had forest fires last summer that made the air hazardous due to particlates for days on end. I bought a Respro Sportsta filter mask so I could continue to ride. It worked well - with it, I could ride easy and not end up with a cough or the taste of smoke in my mouth.

stomppow

Yeah you're breathing hard and pumping lots of blood while biking, but the worst stuff, the PM2.5-10 builds up inside cars, especially in traffic, and you can't smell it. In traffic, you're probably better off on a bike on a smoggy day.

gmule

Same here dosen't really bother me.

HardyWeinberg

Nope.

tjspiel

I don't really pay attention to it though I don't think it gets bad here very often.

itsajustme

As the others have noted, a car doesn't provide much protection so the only solution is to call in sick and even that isn't going to work forever.

IMO, best thing you can do is to simply get out there and make the motorists feel unwelcomed. Mark my words: we'll be collecting reparations from them one day. That or riots (it's already starting with critical mass and such).

ItsJustMe

Doesn't really apply where I live. We're in I think the 87th + percentile for clean air in the US. The only places cleaner than this is places like in the middle of Lake Superior or in large national forests.

I've never lived anywhere below about the 75th percentile and rarely travel, so I don't really even know if it would bother me.

bcarter6

I never pay attention to it, although I feel that I should. I just can't muster up the energy to care. I tell myself that the harm I am doing to my lungs breathing is counteracted by the exercise I am giving my heart. I don't have asthma or any kind of breathing problems, so I don't really notice it anyway.

I remember when I was in Johannesburg/Pretoria for a summer (their winter I guess), the air pollution was so bad that I had regular nose bleeds and noticeable breathing problems. If I lived in a place like that, I may act differently. Atlanta is not known for its clean air, I believe we are still paying the EPA a millions $$ + fine per day for the poor quality, but it is nothing like in other parts of the world.

tarwheel 

Seriously folks, if you live in an area with heavy smoke (that is, visible) from forest fires, you shouldn't be riding your bike for prolonged periods. PM or particle pollution is nasty stuff, and people exercising outdoors get some of the worst exposure.

https://airnow.gov/index.cfm?action=smoke_fires.main

Torrilin

Madison is in trouble with the EPA for pollution levels. Me getting in a car does not help, since cars are a major contributor (the other major contributor is the number of coal power plants... so we've been making a real effort to curb our electricity use). If my lungs are unhappy, I may choose to walk or take a bus rather than ride my bike.

I'm hoping we can keep our use of the air conditioner to a bare minimum this year. It's a "modern" 1960s building, with all the stuffiness that comes from being built when air conditioning was new... And there are no trees to shade the giant windows.

rhm

Pay attention to it? Sheeyut, I don't even hear about it until, at best, when I get home.

modernjess

Awww hell no. Not contributing to it is enough for me.

AndrewP

It doesnt affect my decision to ride, because I will be breathing it whether I ride or not. The air conditions will be worse on the roads than on the bike paths/side roads that make up over 50% of my route. I will ride slower if the temp and air conditions make me uncomfortable.

snowman40

You haven't been to SoCal have you?