poisoning yourself by riding

Quoted post said:

http://www.cyclingnews.com/fitness/?id=code_red

Has anyone here experienced chronic lung sickness that can be traced
back to when they started riding more/harder?

I think I have developed chronic lung inflammation after an enjoable
season of riding on urban CA. By riding a road bike alongside with
cars you are reduce polution and get in shape, but you are poison
yourself with car emissions. Cyclists, especially when going hard,
expose their lower airways and alveoli to pollution at least 10 times
more compared to the case of no exertion (i.e. compared to car
drivers). A cyclist going hard passes at least 100 lliters of air
through his/her lungs per minute (compared to ~10 liters per minute
when not exertiing, assuming 500 ml average breaths and ~20 breaths
per minute). Not everyone will develop problems, but susceptible
people will. If I could go back, I would have switched to m.biking or
trail running.

Hmmmmm... the information I've read suggests that the air the cyclists
breath is CLEANER than that of the motorist (at least, those in a
closed vehicle), because of the trapping of the noxious gasses in the
cockpit, and the fact that they tend to trail along nose to tail.
You're absolutely right about us using more air though - but I have to
wonder how much getting in "in and out in a hurry" matters to how much
nasty stuff actually gets absorbed.

I've ridden in places that would make the air in Los Angeles look
positively pristine, and never had any major lung issues (though I
could feel "something wrong" after a long ride in really bad air).

Mark Hickey
Habanero Cycles
http://www.habcycles.com
Home of the $795 ti frame

Mark Hickey said:

Quoted post said:

http://www.cyclingnews.com/fitness/?id=code_red

Quoted message said:

Has anyone here experienced chronic lung sickness that can be traced
back to when they started riding more/harder?

Quoted message said:

I think I have developed chronic lung inflammation after an enjoable
season of riding on urban CA. By riding a road bike alongside with
cars you are reduce polution and get in shape, but you are poison
yourself with car emissions. Cyclists, especially when going hard,
expose their lower airways and alveoli to pollution at least 10 times
more compared to the case of no exertion (i.e. compared to car
drivers). A cyclist going hard passes at least 100 lliters of air
through his/her lungs per minute (compared to ~10 liters per minute
when not exertiing, assuming 500 ml average breaths and ~20 breaths
per minute). Not everyone will develop problems, but susceptible
people will. If I could go back, I would have switched to m.biking or
trail running.

Hmmmmm... the information I've read suggests that the air the cyclists
breath is CLEANER than that of the motorist (at least, those in a
closed vehicle), because of the trapping of the noxious gasses in the
cockpit, and the fact that they tend to trail along nose to tail.
You're absolutely right about us using more air though - but I have to
wonder how much getting in "in and out in a hurry" matters to how much
nasty stuff actually gets absorbed.

The air could be cleaner (I doubt it... I kee my car windows closed
anyway), but it would have to be 10 times cleaner to make biking safer
than driving.

I read that what separates elite athletes from others is the exposure
of their lower airways to the elements when breathing. There is no
distrinct boundary here: when you are riding you are naturally
breathing deeper.. If you are going hard, you are exposing your lower
airways.

Quoted message said:

I've ridden in places that would make the air in Los Angeles look
positively pristine, and never had any major lung issues (though I
could feel "something wrong" after a long ride in really bad air).

You've got good genes. Just like those people who smoke and live to
100.

Mark Hickey said:

I've ridden in places that would make the air in Los Angeles look
positively pristine, and never had any major lung issues (though I
could feel "something wrong" after a long ride in really bad air).

OK, Mark. I'll bite. Where would the air in LA seem pristine by
comparison?

--

David L. Johnson

I believe that the motion picture is destined to revolutionize our
educational system and that in a few years it will supplant largely,
if not entirely, the use of textbooks -- Thomas Edison, 1922

On Feb 9, 9:52 am, "David L. Johnson" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Mark Hickey said:

I've ridden in places that would make the air in Los Angeles look
positively pristine, and never had any major lung issues (though I
could feel "something wrong" after a long ride in really bad air).

OK, Mark. I'll bite. Where would the air in LA seem pristine by
comparison?

--

David L. Johnson

I believe that the motion picture is destined to revolutionize our
educational system and that in a few years it will supplant largely,
if not entirely, the use of textbooks -- Thomas Edison, 1922

Mexico City, or some heavy industrialized city in China.

Quoted message said:

OK, Mark. I'll bite. Where would the air in LA seem pristine by
comparison?

David L. Johnson

Several years ago, I was in East Berlin and got bronchitis just from
breathing the heavily poor coal infested air. They used to burn (maybe still
do) an inferior grade of coal and the air was sort of bronze colored....

Quoted message said:

I think I have developed chronic lung inflammation after an enjoable
season of riding on urban CA.

Get yourself to a lung specialist. Don't speculate.

Quoted message said:

Get yourself to a lung specialist. Don't speculate.

I've had many, and they were all a joke (including very honored ones).

did you brochitis resolve when you left Berlin?

Quoted message said:

http://www.cyclingnews.com/fitness/?id=code_red

Has anyone here experienced chronic lung sickness that can be traced
back to when they started riding more/harder?

I think I have developed chronic lung inflammation after an enjoable
season of riding on urban CA. By riding a road bike alongside with
cars you are reduce polution and get in shape, but you are poison
yourself with car emissions. Cyclists, especially when going hard,
expose their lower airways and alveoli to pollution at least 10 times
more compared to the case of no exertion (i.e. compared to car
drivers). A cyclist going hard passes at least 100 lliters of air
through his/her lungs per minute (compared to ~10 liters per minute
when not exertiing, assuming 500 ml average breaths and ~20 breaths
per minute). Not everyone will develop problems, but susceptible
people will. If I could go back, I would have switched to m.biking or
trail running.

Some have postulated that ozone damage to
the lungs is cumulative and irreversible.

The air was so bad in Denver today that
you couldn't see three #$@!*$# blocks.

I hope your lungs get better.

Robert

David L. Johnson said:

Mark Hickey said:

I've ridden in places that would make the air in Los Angeles look
positively pristine, and never had any major lung issues (though I
could feel "something wrong" after a long ride in really bad air).

OK, Mark. I'll bite. Where would the air in LA seem pristine by
comparison?

China, for example (and Khatmandu, Nepal - which came as a real
surprise to me - I was expecting the air to be pristine there). On a
bad day in China, you literally couldn't see a hint of a building
across a city street.

Mark Hickey
Habanero Cycles
http://www.habcycles.com
Home of the $795 ti frame

http://www.cyclingnews.com/fitness/?id=code_red

Quoted message said:

Has anyone here experienced chronic lung sickness that can be traced
back to when they started riding more/harder?

I think I have developed chronic lung inflammation after an enjoable
season of riding on urban CA. By riding a road bike alongside with
cars you are reduce polution and get in shape, but you are poison
yourself with car emissions. Cyclists, especially when going hard,
expose their lower airways and alveoli to pollution at least 10 times
more compared to the case of no exertion (i.e. compared to car
drivers). A cyclist going hard passes at least 100 lliters of air
through his/her lungs per minute (compared to ~10 liters per minute
when not exertiing, assuming 500 ml average breaths and ~20 breaths
per minute). Not everyone will develop problems, but susceptible
people will. If I could go back, I would have switched to m.biking or
trail running.

Regarding the article you referenced... if you follow the science, rather
than the emotion, you discover an interesting thing about ozone formation.
Something I didn't know until looking this up just now. Check out this link-
http://www.arb.ca.gov/aqd/weekendeffect/arb-final/wee_tsd_ch2_6.pdf

There's a phenomenon called "ozone quenching" which occurs in the areas
where nitrogen oxides are emitted by gas-burning vehicles. Thus ozone
monitoring facilities located near freeways & bus terminals etc show
*depressed* levels of ozone. Because ozone isn't formed at ground level...
it occurs higher up in the air. Autos belching out bad stuff are bad, but
the immediate effect on the area in which you're riding, as far as ozone is
concerned, is ironically beneficial. Very bizarre.

Of course, ozone is only a piece of the puzzle. There are many other things
coming out of tailpipes that are undeniably bad for you. But if you're
worried about ozone, you're likely to get MORE of it, not less, by choosing
mountain biking or trail running. Strange but true.

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReactionBicycles.com

I did not say that I was paranoid about ozone specifically; in fact, I
react to small particulate pollution - PM2.5, and not to ozone (by
following air quality forcasts which report at least 5 different
pollutants - CO, NO2, O3, PM10, PM2.5, etc).

In article <[email hidden]>,

Quoted post said:

Quoted message said:

Get yourself to a lung specialist. Don't speculate.

I've had many, and they were all a joke (including very honored ones).

this is kind of a red flag to me.

..max

Mark Hickey said:

David L. Johnson said:

Mark Hickey wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I've ridden in places that would make the air in Los Angeles look
positively pristine, and never had any major lung issues (though I
could feel "something wrong" after a long ride in really bad air).

Quoted message said:

OK, Mark. I'll bite. Where would the air in LA seem pristine by
comparison?

China, for example (and Khatmandu, Nepal - which came as a real
surprise to me - I was expecting the air to be pristine there). On a
bad day in China, you literally couldn't see a hint of a building
across a city street.

Mark Hickey
Habanero Cycleshttp://www.habcycles.com
Home of the $795 ti frame

Great, I'm sure they care about the recent conference in France.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Get yourself to a lung specialist. Don't speculate.

I've had many, and they were all a joke (including very honored ones).

did you brochitis resolve when you left Berlin?

1. Yes, it resolved in 3 weeks. In the meantime, I was sick as a dog.
2. This comment reminds me of my mother who used to get all of her medical
advice from her friends in her Sunday school class. I would ask her how
many of her friends had been to medical school....

The bottom line is, don't tell us that lung specialists are "jokes." That
says more about you than it does about the doctors.

Pat in TX

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

The bottom line is, don't tell us that lung specialists are "jokes." That
says more about you than it does about the doctors.

The sole fact that I still don't have a diagnosis after more than a
year, and have to resort to speculations and asking people around on
the UseNet says it all. In fact, I think the whole healthcare system
is a "joke".

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

The bottom line is, don't tell us that lung specialists are "jokes." That
says more about you than it does about the doctors.

The sole fact that I still don't have a diagnosis after more than a
year, and have to resort to speculations and asking people around on
the UseNet says it all. In fact, I think the whole healthcare system
is a "joke".

If you have contempt for the entire health care system, have you
considered asking for help from a broad range of people--say over the
Internet--who have never met you and have absolutely NO medical training
whatsoever?

Neil Brooks said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

The bottom line is, don't tell us that lung specialists are "jokes."
That
says more about you than it does about the doctors.

The sole fact that I still don't have a diagnosis after more than a
year, and have to resort to speculations and asking people around on
the UseNet says it all. In fact, I think the whole healthcare system
is a "joke".

If you have contempt for the entire health care system, have you
considered asking for help from a broad range of people--say over the
Internet--who have never met you and have absolutely NO medical training
whatsoever?

Sorry. I realize that's basically what you said, but ....

Quoted message said:

Sorry. I realize that's basically what you said, but ....

The OP was about warning people that riding (especially riding hard)
is not necessarily a healthy thing to do, at least in polluted areas,
and to ask if anyone has had similar experience getting sick and,
probably, getting appropriate treatment (i haven't got any yet).

But, your posts come across as saying you haven't heard anything from the
doctors that you AGREE with--not that they haven't said anything. It sounds
as if you haven't heard what you want to hear, so you call the doctors
"jokes." Did they put you in one of those sealed diagnostic chambers? A
friend of mine had that done once and the doc told him that he had a virus
which just takes its own time to resolve.....