Cyclist0108

About 2 months ago, most of the area I bike in was incinerated in the 86,000 acre CZU fire. My main riding buddy's house was destroyed, as were those of many other friends and colleagues. (Mine dodged the bullet, somehow, but now I think I have survivor's guilt.) There is nowhere to ride near here that is not a burn area, with a few minor exceptions (where I now spend the bulk of my riding time). I'm finding it very hard to get motivated to go ride in the burn zone, and the stench of ash and whatever toxic substances from burned houses and cars is still present.

Anyone else dealing with this kind of thing (now that fires are consuming so much from Colorado on West to the coast, my guess is this is going to be a more prevalent phenomenon)? Suggestions?

Troul 

you didnt cause the inferno, so I wouldn't have those emotions imo.... Unless you did cause it? Did you??? You can tell the truth here.... No one will knows!

frogman

Just be thankful that you and your property came out unscathed. I live in northern CA and we have had more than our share of nasty fires. I ride through burnt areas now. Look past your emotions about the folks that were affected, it is unfortunate but you don't have any control over it. Between the fires and the pandemic I could stay in but I choose to not let them keep me from getting out there.

canklecat

Change is inevitable to our familiar landscapes. We're here for a short time relative to the grand scheme of things. Any changes tend to throw us off kilter.

One of my favorite routes was nearly deserted when I first resumed cycling five years ago. Now there's a growing housing development. In five years or less that route will be too dangerous for cycling.

And I vaguely remember decades ago when that area was just part of a huge ranch for mostly longhorn cattle. But now, only a year after rerouting a once familiar road, I can barely remember what the original route looked like.

A few nights ago during a long walk through the neighborhood I tried to imagine how that area looked 100 years ago, based on the rolling terrain and proximity to one of the many creeks and tributaries of the Trinity River. For a moment I could almost see it as it might have been, with some winding roads little more than paving over old cattle trails, and suddenly the surrounding houses with Halloween decorations seemed so insignificant.

genejockey 

I'm not surprised that it's hard to get yourself motivated to ride through the burnscapes. It stirs up a lot of different emotions, mostly unpleasant. Till spring, when the scars start healing a bit, it will probably be tough. Sorry I don't have any helpful advice, except the more you do manage to get out there, the more used to it you'll become.

Cyclist0108

Yeah, one of the problems is the magnitude (almost 90,000 acres, and ours was one of the smaller of the lightning complex fires). We have the scars of a 2008 burn near where we live, which was a pretty big deal at the time, but I can bike past it in 5 min (a bit more if I am headed in the uphill direction). It is part of my normal local loop, and has always been a bit of a curiosity. The current burn would take me several hours to traverse. I've done 100 mile loops (before the fire) that are contained entirely in the burn area.

My first experience with this kind of thing was a fire in the Berkeley and Oakland hills in 1991. I think that destroyed 3000 homes and killed 25 people, including some students trapped in an apartment building at the base of Tunnel Road. It, too, was in a favorite ride area. I was writing up my PhD and looking for postdocs then, so I didn't really have to face the consequences, but it did spoil the ride. It looks ok now, but you can still see the effects. Many people evacuated the Berkeley Hills last night, simply based on the threat from Diablo winds. They've cut off our power too (wildfires do strike in the same place, twice), but so far no major disaster that I am aware of. I got about 20 seconds of sleep spaced over 8 hours last night.

canklecat

That sounds exhausting. Best wishes. I was a lot younger when I had to scrape by for days on little or no sleep, between emergency repairs to our rural home (mostly flood control since we were on a lake front, plumbing, roof leaks, etc.) while simultaneously looking after my aging grandparents. I'm not sure I could handle that anymore.