Ridetolive707

I had about a one hour window where is was decent. By the end of my ride the ash was starting to rain down again. Now it’s pretty hazy here again. I’m ready for some clear sky’s again!

2cam16

Nope. Not in my area. Another no-ride day for me. Ash was falling this morning. AQ is still high on numbers and it looks and smells ugly outside. Yesterday was how it looked, today is how it feels and smells. Hoping for tomorrow but I have doubts.

cthenn

Nicely put. Yesterday, apart from falling ash, the air wasn't terrible. Today it smells like pollution and soot and smoke, and the numbers reflect it. There's more of a grey cast to the sky, vs orange or gold, but it's still a no go. And it's downright chilly outside. Preparation for nuclear winter I suppose.

Ridetolive707

No ride days are such a bummer! It’s like you get a good momentum going and then you have to back off. I even walked / jogged on my wife’s treadmill the other day. I did 30 mins and it felt like 2 hours. Hopefully these fires go away soon. They have caused too much damages, displaced many people, and are just a pain in general.

Korina

Here are a couple of actual photos from the Humboldt Bay area:


The Arcata Plaza, four blocks from home

Carson Mansion in Eureka

genejockey 

Wow, he really DOES have a purposeful grimace.

Pavol Stromcek

I know what you mean. I was looking at the very fine layer of ash that has coated our deck, and it struck me that while, sure this isn't going to get deep in your lungs the way the PM2.5 particles will, this ash is still fine enough to potentially cause some unpleasant nasal/sinus congestion if I'm out doing some serious cycling in it.

But I did go for an hour-long walk Wednesday, when the air quality was still technically good, and I did see one cyclist out. And now that we're on our second day of abysmal air quality, I'm kinda wondering if maybe I should have at least done a short spin that day.

cthenn

I can't even anymore...

2cam16

Yup another bad start to the day. I think it stayed like that overnight! YouTube it is for the day. lol

cthenn

It seems the past few days with ash have been worse for me than those days where it just has a smoke smell in the air. The AQI may be "better" lately, but I definitely feel it in my sinuses, throat, and eyes. The longer term effects of the PM2.5 stuff is probably worse overall, but there's no way I can go out with all this ash around. It's probably also bad for the bike! All that ash mixing with greasy components, gumming up everything... I'm sure that's a bad combination. Even if the air quality was decent, and no ash was actually falling from the sky, I wouldn't ride my primary bike with all the ash on the ground. It's a rain/beater bike situation until this stuff blows out or gets washed away.

genejockey 

Yep. Looks to be >150 (LRAPA adjusted) pretty much across the whole Bay Area. Same readings as last night. I had hoped, when the smoke from the August lightning fires largely blew out that we might avoid a repeat of 2018, but this is looking awfully familiar.

I hate the trainer. I generally find it really, really hard to get my HR up to a decent level and keep it there, it takes too much concentration. I had been just playing loud music with a fast, driving beat on earbuds - The B52s, which I guess ages me! But I found that if I have a 'First Person Cyclist' video on the TV, I can actually get in a good ride. I found a local cyclist's videos on YouTube 'Shadow Cyclist', and strung together a 33 minute ride on Canada Rd from 92 through Woodside to Sand Hill and 280, then a 23 minute climb of Old La Honda, followed by a 5 minute descent of West Old La Honda. I even went to higher gears at the places on OLH where it gets steepest! It worked pretty well. But I miss the actual roads.

Barry2 

I'm not saying the air is bad today, but if I rode outside, I'd have to clean the chain on my return.


Barry

gsa103

If you get NBC's cycling pass, they have an ad-free TdF, you can stream the full stage (live or replay). Simon Gerrans and Ant McCrossan do a phenomenol job with the commentary. Simon retired from the Pro Tour in 2018, so he brings a very unique perspective to how the riders train and race. Ant does really good job of prompting things and keeping the action rolling.

Korina

According to IQAir Arcata's at 245. My mild headache and slightly burning throat agree that going outside would be a bad idea. The cat sleeping on my thigh adds emphasis. Joke's on him, though, as I have to use the bathroom. Podcasts and crochet today, I think.

caloso

I hate the trainer too, but Zwift has made it bearable for me, particularly if I'm doing a focused interval workout.

cthenn

Another morning with terrible AQI, but it doesn't have a choking smoke smell. I think with all the smoke and low clouds we've been blanketed with the past several days has trapped in smog and pollutants. I can go outside without gagging, but there's still a blanket of ash everywhere. This might have been a "go ride with an N95" day, I can tolerate the 'smell' of the air, but the ash just bothers my eyes, and again, it can't be good for the bike. Looks like there may be some relief in the coming days with some onshore flow, but this weekend might be more trainer days. There is just absolutely zero wind outside, nothing is moving! Hang in there everyone, we're all "spininng our wheels" indoors, but there may be some light at the end of the tunnel...

genejockey 

DId my first Zwift ride yesterday, in lieu of the Friday afternoon road ride I would normally do. Took a while to set up, but I think this will work out okay. It's less motivating than the real world, but more so than just listening to music, or trying to watch a movie. If I were made of money, I'd consider getting a smart trainer, but it actually works with just the cadence, speed, and HR sensors.

This morning's view on PurpleAir is amazing - bad air from Vancouver to Tijuana.

DiabloScott

I did a couple hours of urban biking yesterday and it wasn't awful and I thought today would be OK.
My riding buddy said he'd come if AQI<100, but it's close to 200.
And the ash that doesn't get included in the calc is still falling from the skies.
I slept in and made some special coffee.
I'd enjoy a smart-trainer too, but my garage is too full of crap.

caloso

Really bad all over NorCal. Can’t even get in the car to find good air today. I’ll be riding in London or Watopia instead.

Korina

Have you heard, our smoke made it to Russia, the long way 'round! Next stop China; give them a taste of their own air pollution.

Another day of literal smog; smoke mixed with fog/marine layer. And another day of zero air movement; it's weird. It's also unseasonably cool, a tiny taste of nuclear/volcanic/asteroidal winter.

And seismologists are picking this year to map Yellowstone's magma chamber by using giant vibrating trucks to create artificial earthquakes. If it doesn't wake up the supervolcano, it'll probably wake up the Old Ones snoozing inside.

sean.hwy

I wish I had smart trainer. I have been doing TRX workouts inside. I am looking forward to some clear blue skies and riding.

79pmooney

Sobering. You and DiabloScott have told me of fires at roads I used to ride. No, I never did go up Alba Rd, just down once in the year I lived in Santa Cruz. Alba Rd, a low altitude and paved 1/2 Mt. Washington. Like Mt. Washington, not a whole lotta fun going down. (I did Alba in a January Pacific storm on my 7 month old Mooney. Rivers an inch deep running across the road. The Mafc Cantis were awesome!

Morgan Territory is another road I have ridden a few times. Here in my home county, there have been much smaller fires along two roads I just rode in the past weeks. The early Portland Centuries I did took us to forest that are now devastated.

Ridetolive707

I hope that’s not the case. I just got back into Riding in July and I was doing great. Riding about 5 times a week for a total of 50-70 miles a week. (I know it’s not super far, but not bad for a 46 year old just getting back on the bike after being off for many years)

I’m afraid you may be right though. I’m up in Vacaville myself, the air has been bad here for weeks. Not to mention all the people that were displaced because of the fire.

Ridetolive707

I’m so sorry to hear about your house. That’s terrible. Hang in there!

sfrider 

I don't know about that map. I rode down the coast from SF to Pescadero and over Alpine Rd/Page Mill to Palo Alto today, and apart from tons of fog I couldn't discern any smoke anywhere along the way. There was a lot of haze coming up Alpine Rd when looking out over the mountains, but I couldn't really smell anything. I don't know where they get their data from, but it doesn't look particularly good. Zero irritation.

It was really a very nice day!