CAT7RDR

AQI 320 right now in the East SGV. Stuck between the Puente Hills/San Jose Hills and surrounded by the San Gabriel Mtns. Have not seen it this bad since I choked on the 1970's LA smog. Need a strong cold front to blow all this crap out and light rain to put out the fires.

sternerp

I’m in Sacramento, and no, I’m not riding or going outside much. The air has been in the Unhealthy to Very Unhealthy ratings. Ash continues to coat everything outside; I made the mistake of trying my leaf blower (Briefly) and stirred up a cloud of ash.

LeftyS7

Here in Reno only when the wind is from the East which is rarely!

jskash

I live in the west San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles. We have been pretty lucky so far with the smoke, I check my AQMD app before I go out in the early morning to make sure the air is not worse than Unhealthy for Sensitive groups. Having grown up in the San Fernando Valley in the 70s, I knew of AQMD because they were the ones who called Smog Alerts, which there were many.
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Kabuki12

Here in Ventura County , Cal. it is kind of smokey today out by the coast. I live inland about 15 miles and it was ok yesterday so I did my Sunday ride. I couldn't go last week as it was 109 degrees! I checked outside in the morning and made the decision to go yesterday because I couldn't smell smoke and the marine layer seemed to keep it up high. There is less marine layer today and the air doesn't feel right. I haven't checked the weather app yet but yesterday it saiid the bad air was in Simi and Thousand Oaks.

fietsbob

Rumor of rain .. looking forward to that, this evening.. here..

Shipping on the river using their Fog Horns , due to the Smoke..

Norwegian flagged ship rigged to carry wind turbine blades (those are big!) passed up river on the high slack tide ..

Hackman61

Current AQI in Tacoma is 283. I haven't ridden in almost two weeks. Ugh. Update: Just rose to 321

Marci

Living on the coast in Oregon I have a little better quality air here. But I have lung issues so I feel it more. If its in mid yellow I try to stay inside. But we were all the way into the red purple zone a few days. I didn't dare go out longer than to let dog to potty. It did dip down into the yellow zone and that seems to be OK and I ride then. But lately that seems to be after 9 pm so not a good time to ride. Hoping for rain, I did hear the wind chimes a min ago so hoping it will blow the smoke away. Then rain so my car is clean. LOL
You can check here before you ride. https://www.airnow.gov

downtube42

Jees our AQI was over 500 this morning. I have not been outside since Friday. It's better than the high winds, which may blow smoke away but also fan the flames. The three nearby big fires are 0% contained, but reduced to ground fires because of weather.

fooferdoggie 

thats no big deal now 570 now thats a big deal.

Hackman61

570...ouch

fooferdoggie 

ya had to take the bus to work only did that because we have been locked into the house for the last two days. now it is 331 far better.

royphotog

I guess it's all relative, when been clear then 200+ is a big deal, but when its been 570, then suddenly that 250 looks pretty good.

fooferdoggie 

sadly true.

boomerbicyclist

I'm straight south of you, in Portland. There is no way in the world I would be pedaling right now, unless the circumstances were dire. Like you up around Puget Sound, our skies have been somewhere between grey, brown, and orange for days.

genejockey 

Ain't that the truth. Three weeks ago we were closing up the house when it went over 50. This weekend, when it dropped to around 125 we opened up the windows. Also, I'd made it a rule not to ride if it was over 70, but yesterday when it was <120 all along my route I went ahead and rode. The roads were very empty, not only of cyclists, but even of cars. No more than 10% of a normal Sunday afternoon, in terms of other cyclists.

I guess it was about as healthy as these guys....

caloso

It's been a consistent high 100s here, measured at the state air resources board which is conveniently halfway between my house and office, so that's both reliable and relevant. I'll be on Zwift again this evening.

terb

Before or after the last ice age?

mattcalifornia

Oh good grief.

But back on topic, air quality in LA area has really deteriorated the last few days. It actually feels fine to me, but based on the AQI numbers, I'm thinking that riding right now is probably a net loss health-wise. So, I set up a HEPA filter in my garage that monitors the air quality and will ride the Peloton or do some other workout in there.

Fourbtgait

Most of you are so lucky.
Saturday morning Oregon came to visit. ACI became 479 for us near Spokane. Other nearby areas was 525. It did clear off Saturday afternoon to 435.
Sunday morning was 445 I think, again clearing by afternoon to 425.
Monday morning was a beautiful day, headed to work and it was only 416. Luckily this afternoon it finally cleared off completely to 323.
This is supposed to be the gold standard for the rest of the week.

Helldorado

Anything upwards of AQI 100 is a big deal. Obvisouly the higher the value, the worse it is for one's lungs. But extended strenuous exercise in dirty air is definitely a bad thing for the physiology. The deeper the inhalation the more of the distal alveoli we recruit per breath, and the more these fine particles get stuck deep down. Over time that translates into permanent damage.

Today (Monday) was to be day one of three of a gravel ride on the Palouse-to-Cascades trail, from the western terminus all the way east to Ellensburg and back (150 miles total). I rode part of it last month and loved it so much that I planned a similar but longer trip for this week. But no way with this smoke. Now I just go into the garage and stare at my nearly new gravel bike, making sure that it doesn't get lonely. "Someday soon, my dear, we will be together again."

Mikier

I live to bike and rarely miss a day. However with daily AQI levels 300 - 500s , haven’t ridden in the past week. Even just a short ride feels like I’m risking my health. It’s ironic since as a fire fighter, I’m eating a fair amount of wildland fire smoke.
One suggestion ( just joking):

fooferdoggie 

I am thinking if I crank the assist up to max on my e bike my heart rate fairly gets above 90 so I might spend less time riding the waiting for the bus.

jay4usc

Rode 35 miles in the coast of SoCal today and it wasn’t bad. I couldn’t smell any smoke and I was wearing a thin mask. But I took the past 2 days off bc it was pretty bad Sat and Sun.

frogman

hahahahaha !!! Good idea. I was thinking about a Scott Air pack with bottle strapped on to my back.