Do You Ride on Bad Air Days
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Do You Ride on Bad Air Days
I never used to give this much thought, so maybe I'm just getting older and wiser, but I thought I'd find out what the rest of you think. I primarily commute and generally average 30 miles a day. The last several days the Pollution Index was at the high end of unhealthy for sensitive groups. I opted to drive my car even though I do not suffer (yet) from any respiratory issues. Am I just being overly cautious?
Matt
Matt
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I keep my hair short enough that it ...... Oh, you said bad air day??
What is a bad air day?
What is a bad air day?
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You probably don't know because Coupeville, WA probably doesn't have bad air.
Here's what we see in Atlanta most days between May and October. Many days are well over 100 on the chart.
Here's what we see in Atlanta most days between May and October. Many days are well over 100 on the chart.
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Yes, I ride. I don't ride as fast or as far though and I benefit from being able to ride on well shaded trails through the woods if I need a break. On days like that I ride very early and humidity is both the biggest problem and sometimes the source of extreme beauty.
Some mornings I'm out at 6:30am and as the ride goes on shafts of sunlight light up the moisture in the air between the trees. Beautiful but very very humid. It's weather in which you take maximum advantage of "wicking" clothing.
Some mornings I'm out at 6:30am and as the ride goes on shafts of sunlight light up the moisture in the air between the trees. Beautiful but very very humid. It's weather in which you take maximum advantage of "wicking" clothing.
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Due to a nearby wildfire our PI has been hovering right around 140. The dry California heat doesn't bother me so much as I'm concerned about the deep inhalation of particulate matter. It just seems that riding in those conditions would do more harm than good.
Last edited by Hangtownmatt; 07-14-12 at 05:12 PM. Reason: clarify
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Last year The Great Dismal Swamps had fires and we had several weeks with "bad air."
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Bad air is a killer, high humidity is what I consider bad air, no I don't ride in bad air
But you mean particulate matter bad air, no I don't ride in bad air.
but I ride for exercise, if I were commuting I would ride, easy ride, no deep breathing, just transportation.
But you mean particulate matter bad air, no I don't ride in bad air.
but I ride for exercise, if I were commuting I would ride, easy ride, no deep breathing, just transportation.
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It was a Bad Air day here. A leisurely ride through suburbia was a pleasure. No heavy breathing except for the cutie walking the dogs.
Yes, I ride but take it easy.
Yes, I ride but take it easy.
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My answer was to move to a place with cleaner air.
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I live near a refinery. Every day is a bad air day here! I don't go out of the house on Orange air quality days, beyond getting mail and paper. On yellow air quality days, the mornings are usually still okay for light riding.
Last edited by David Bierbaum; 07-14-12 at 06:36 PM.
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I ride no matter what (commuting, same as you), but I also don't have any known allergies or respiratory issues.
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We have the occasional Ozone Alert days in Indy.
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Meh, it's nearly as bad in your car anyway, unless you have a scrubber to take care of gasses as well as a fine filter to take care of any particularly fine particular matter, beyond what a normal air filter would be capable of. Oh, and your interior would have to be air tight. May as well ride. The cardio will do more good for you than the small benefit you would gain from not breathing in as much crap. My plan is to move somewhere cleaner.
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There was a study that found significant lung damage to bicyclists riding in the wrong parts of town. Can't find it right now, but here are a couple of links.
https://www.bikeradar.com/fitness/art...-threat-28264/
https://www.active.com/running/Articl..._Athletes_.htm
https://letsgorideabike.com/blog/2011...and-bicycling/
Personally I go out of my way to get away from traffic. I have a nice bike path with not a lot of pollution.
https://www.bikeradar.com/fitness/art...-threat-28264/
https://www.active.com/running/Articl..._Athletes_.htm
https://letsgorideabike.com/blog/2011...and-bicycling/
Personally I go out of my way to get away from traffic. I have a nice bike path with not a lot of pollution.
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I never used to give this much thought, so maybe I'm just getting older and wiser, but I thought I'd find out what the rest of you think. I primarily commute and generally average 30 miles a day. The last several days the Pollution Index was at the high end of unhealthy for sensitive groups. I opted to drive my car even though I do not suffer (yet) from any respiratory issues. Am I just being overly cautious?
Matt
Matt
Something to bear in mind: in-car pollution can be higher (two to four times, maybe up to 10x higher) than in the surrounding area. So taking the car doesn't necessarily help us on these days. For example (random google): https://www.aqmd.gov/news1/1999/in_car_facts.htm
Some takeaway points:
It's worst in the congested slow lane
Being behind slow, high-emitting trucks is a large part of it
Air filters don't seem to help much
Rolling down the windows does help
Common sense is that avoiding the dense traffic would mitigate it, but that suggests that we're better off after all riding our bikes on the residential roads and trails as we normally do rather than taking the car on the obvious routes. Or, possibly, even driving on the same bike routes (as much as possible) might still be worse than cycling.
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Something to bear in mind: in-car pollution can be higher (two to four times, maybe up to 10x higher) than in the surrounding area. So taking the car doesn't necessarily help us on these days. For example (random google): https://www.aqmd.gov/news1/1999/in_car_facts.htm
Some takeaway points:
It's worst in the congested slow lane
Being behind slow, high-emitting trucks is a large part of it
Air filters don't seem to help much
Rolling down the windows does help
Common sense is that avoiding the dense traffic would mitigate it, but that suggests that we're better off after all riding our bikes on the residential roads and trails as we normally do rather than taking the car on the obvious routes. Or, possibly, even driving on the same bike routes (as much as possible) might still be worse than cycling.
Some takeaway points:
It's worst in the congested slow lane
Being behind slow, high-emitting trucks is a large part of it
Air filters don't seem to help much
Rolling down the windows does help
Common sense is that avoiding the dense traffic would mitigate it, but that suggests that we're better off after all riding our bikes on the residential roads and trails as we normally do rather than taking the car on the obvious routes. Or, possibly, even driving on the same bike routes (as much as possible) might still be worse than cycling.
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High humidity keeps me off the bike. Off my Ducati too.
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Staying off the bike because of humidity? REALLY? Are you afraid that you might sweat too much?
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That smog and smoke can damage your lungs. And, if you have asthma like I do--it will really put you in a world of hurt. Matt, if you're really in 'Hang Town, well-I know where that is and didn't know the smoke was getting up that far. I'd take the car! Here in Carson City, we only have bad air if there's a fire somewhere.
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That smog and smoke can damage your lungs. And, if you have asthma like I do--it will really put you in a world of hurt. Matt, if you're really in 'Hang Town, well-I know where that is and didn't know the smoke was getting up that far. I'd take the car! Here in Carson City, we only have bad air if there's a fire somewhere.
#25
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Started out on a ride yesterday in high humidity, knew it would be tough. As I was leaving my neighbor said "are you riding today,the air quality is bad", I told him I would see him in a couple of hours and went for my ride. So yes, I ride when I feel like it.