Last week, and that was before the Franklin Fire broke out in Malibu, there were warnings that the local air quality was dangerously low. With the smoke from wildfires drifting south, the air quality is getting worse.
Back in 2009, during the Station Fire, I reached out to bike instructors and activists to ask if they had any advice for people who had to, or chose to, bike in areas with poor air quality. The advice they gave then is still good today, and I’ve summarized it below. If you want to go back in time to 2009 Streetsblog, you can read the original article here. My thanks to Shay Sanchez, Joe Linton, Don “Roadblock” Ward, and Ron Milam for their wisdom from a decade and a half ago.
- Find alternatives to biking. The air is laden with smoke and health experts are advising that we minimize our exposure to air pollutants by not engaging in outdoor physical activities. This, of course, includes city bicycling. The risks to your health can be serious, especially if you’re grappling with asthma or another respiratory or cardiovascular health challenge. So if you can, think about finding an alternative to bicycling. Consider riding public transit, car-pooling, hailing a taxi (remember, this was 2009), or even renting a car during this time (if you’re currently car-free).
- Take it easy. If you are going to ride, reduce your effort. During aerobic exercise (even at low-intensity) you may breathe as much as 10 times more air than you do when at rest. So it makes sense to s-l-o-w it down. Be aware that at lower speeds the speed differential between you and overtaking traffic increases, possibly increasing the risk for a collision. Be alert. Better yet, choose lower speed street alternatives whenever possible. Another benefit to streets that carry lower traffic volumes is that they feature lower air pollution levels in general. Pollution levels are likely to start decreasing at 50 feet from a main arterial.
- Keep it short. If you are going to ride, limit the length of your journey. Many of our trips are 2 miles or less, so this should be pretty easy for many of us. For longer trips, see if you can shorten the bike portion of your trip by incorporating multi-modal options such as bus and/or train.
- Wear a mask. Another helpful option is to wear a filtering face mask. Be sure that it’s a carbon-impregnated face mask, which are known to be helpful in reducing the amount of air pollution that enters the lungs. Your mask should fit your face well, with almost no gaps between you nose and mouth.
- Plan Your Trip. Guage the wind and terrain. The idea is to stay upwind from the smoke at all times. Barring that, if possible, try to take downhill routes in the smokey areas and try to place the the uphill portion of your route upwind of the fires. It might mean adding 10 or 15 miles to your route in the same manner that sailboats zig and zag across the ocean using triangular routes against the current of the wind to reach their destination. If all else fails hit the subway or take the bus.
- Remember the Big Picture. There are causal connections between our driving and the fires. Auto emissions are a major part of what’s heating up the planet. In order to park and to drive, we’ve paved over our landscape with impermeable surfaces, breaking water cycles, shrinking groundwaters and causing desertification. Combine these with Southern California’s natural fire cycles and you get the devastating fire events including what we’re seeing right now. The big picture remedies include not driving, and working to heal our watersheds.
