Got this today from the are article on how to ride your bike to work, dealing with something I haven’t thought about, pollution intake when riding your bike.

Arturo had this to say

“Hi. I ride almost every day to work in Mexico City, one of the most congested cities in the world. I ride flat for some 2.5 miles, then uphill for some 5 miles from 7450 ft. to 8322 ft ASL.

I ride a mountain bike, which must weight a little less than 20 pounds: it’s a commuting bike, so it has no fancy gadgets, and I’ve never felt like I would need shocks/springs or any high-tech breaking systems. I think biking is about keeping things simple, and as we say here: it’s mostly the Indian that counts, not the arrow.

The ride up is kind of tedious, but riding back home is a fascinating experience. With gravity on my favour, I go as fast, or even faster than the traffic (some 30mph), and of course I get to go in between the cars and pass everyone when cars stop at the red light.

Going up in the morning sets me up for the day: I listen to the news while riding, to keep my mind busy and forget about the slow pace (which at is anyways faster than all the cars where the traffic totally jams). At the same time, I burn a lot of calories, so I don’t have to worry about working out to keep myself fit, but there’s one warning: cycling will never make you get rid of that belly, if you eat too much… either do some abs, or reduce your calorie income! It is good for the legs, though.

I could ride down back home at an easy pace, but I like the speed and the adrenaline rush: this is a personal taste and is totally unnecessary; I trust my riding experience and still ride defensively, as most have stated here. People in traffic have been amazingly polite. I have been commuting to work for 10 years now; sometimes it has been very close to home, and sometimes further, like now. With this job, I’ve been riding for some 2 months, and I have only ran across one asshole in the road in this period. The rest of the time, everybody has been either neutral, or quite considerate, which has surprised me: I think bike awareness among motorists has rose quite considerably in the last few years.

I’ve read this whole thread, and nobody has mentioned anything about wearing a pollution mask. In my case, this is a must. I use 3M 8514 disposable masks, with an activated carbon filter and an “exhaust” valve to keep things cooler inside the mask. Disposable respirators, as they also call them, are compact and don’t look too weird. It also keeps you safe from bad odors from some streets, and lets you ride by the trucks and buses with confidence, even if they are pumping out lots of smoke.

I would recommend people using Google Earth to find their optimal commuting route, specially if you are going to ride up or down-hill.

Greetings!”

I have been very surprised at the number of interesting comments from people about riding their bikes, if you have one feel free to add along with the others.

Do you worry about breathing in fumes when you ride your bike? I sometimes notice that I have a raw feeling in my lungs if it is a particularly smoggy day, and I can’t help but notice the stink of the cars and buses when I am close to the tail pipe. I wonder if riding your bike could negatively impact your health by exposing you to toxins from the cars you are trying to avoid? My solution of course would not be to stop riding my bike, but to get more people to start riding theirs (lowing the amount of emissions). What do you think?