I commute during peak traffic hours. I guess most commuters do. Are you bothered about the pollution?

I am considering going back to training rides after work in the back roads of the woodland area I live in. I'm quitting bike-commuting.

Actually i do hear car-drivers breathe more pollution in.. but, there are cars out there like **** diesels and 1994 jobs without catalytic converters.

The pollution is gonna get you somehow.

^ yeah of course, the pollution will get you. The thing is, on a bike, you're so breathing a lot deeper, a lot faster. In a car you;re just sitting down in a relaxed pose. Also, in the UK at least, diesel has become REALLY smelly. I dont know if they've just added something to the diesel mix.

Urea is now injected into the exhaust to neutralize some harmful chemicals. NO2 maybe.

It varies a lot - the amount of pollution you encounter everyday. Around here in the winter and the colder morning, cold engines pollute horrible since the catalytic converter isn't warmed up. I would be worried about asthma if you're breathing in that much.

Have you tried a good filter mask, not a cyclist one but a commercial one.

I'd heard that there's a higher concentration of pollution inside of the average car than outside of it. Don't know how true this actually is. True or not, breathing exhaust sucks.

I figure that as long as I'm no safer from pollutants in the car, and am getting a cardiovascular workout while I'm on the bike, then the bike is still healthier. And I'm not adding to the pollution to boot.

It seems that many feel that exercising when there is a lot of air pollution is a bad idea but I haven't seen any articles specifically measuring these effects on bicycle commuters. The air is generally pretty good here in Hawaii but Kilauea has been acting up lately and we are getting a lot of vog. Just doesn't seem to bother me when others are complaining. The worst air I get are from the stupid 2 cycle mopeds (although school buses are a close second). I'm starting to see a few electric mopeds and they are so quiet and clean I wish they would catch on.

I don't worry about the pollution aspect too much. It doesn't seem like taking another transportation mode would make much difference in your overall health. I only feel the pollution effects when riding in/alongside wall-to-wall cars that are inching along, and we don't get that around here much.

+1 on getting behind one of dem 2-stroke scooters.

The air is the air, don't worry about the things you can not control. It is better than it was 10 years ago. In the colonies I sware 1/2 the cars are those Toyota Prieus things.

I don't think it's any worse than the cigarette I light up after my rides.

I don't pay attention to it, just like with global warming.

Or during my rides!

Urea might make your crops green and healthy,since it is the active chemical in products like Vigaro, but a cars exhaust?

At least you aren't commuting here.

I dont think the pollution is too bad where I live, my health would suffer more if I quit commuting by bicycle.

not that serious man

if anything you'll contribute with drivving

No,I'm too worried about other things...like getting hit.

I'm not worried about it, but my traffic level is pretty light. The health benefits outweigh the risks, IMO.

Nope... not worried.

Only if it gets bad enough that I chip a tooth.

No, because I'm riding in an area that's in the 90+ percentile for clean air in the US. I looked it up a few months back and every place I've lived has been in the 90+ percentile, one was in the 98th percentile - to do better I'd pretty much have to live in a national park in Alaska.

Long ago, I read that the benefits of cycling outweigh the detriments of the pollution. Of course, this could be different in some places. It was written in the 1970's in the US.

I can say that after spending some time in Mexico city that anywhere else you go can only be up...

Research studies (will have to find them) show that the air quality outside a car is significantly better than inside as the car absorbs pollutants and also out gasses a lot of chemicals from the interior materials.

Riding and maintaining a healthy cardio system goes a long ways toward fighting bad air but there really is nothing like getting out of the city where the air is fresh and the only pollution smells like manure and sileage.

There was a study that said that bus and car users get more pollution than cyclists who then get more than pedestrians. I'm not too worried about it tbh.

Getting stuck behind one of these at a junction in Sheffield is not good. They smoke like crazy on set off and the position of the exhaust sends it directly into your face.

Buses are touted as the greenest transport but they are the dirtiest on the road, much worse than lorries.