I'm not sure if our current situation along the Wasatch Front meets Jimi's definition of a true purple haze but after nearly a week it's really getting old!
Today I did a quick ride out to the Salt Lake Marina, starting from the Wells Fargo on 5200 W. Originally I was scheduled to do a 20 minute full gas TT up City Creek but due to the poor air quality I decided to go with the alternate plan of a 20 minute interval at a heart rate of 155-165 (Piotr will probably never visit my blog again after reading that I use heart rate. Yes, it is true that I have yet to spend the big $ on a power meter). I kept the intensity on the high end of the range and finished the effort with a 165 average. My legs felt decent considering I had lifted Tuesday morning but mixing strength and bike workouts leaves me tired at night!
Anyway, the reason for my post is to ask if anybody else has been riding (and breathing) in this crappy air? Tonight my eyes are really irritated, burning and watering which I assume has something to do with the polluted air. I suppose I could hit the trainer but now that I've had a taste of the open road the thought of riding indoors is even less appealing than it was a few weeks ago. Hopefully the forecasted storm on Friday will be enough to clean out the valley.
7 comments:
When I get to ride outside -- you're a lucky guy -- I like stay up on Wasatch or Emigration just to stay a little higher up. I'll take the mtb out on the BST a few times this summer, too.
But I haven't had too much trouble with the air. But I have a feeling I might when I start skipping the gym because the road is calling.
But I'm hoping for a little precip and/or high winds in the next day or two just to scrub the air.
I was going to head up City Creek myself but decided to stay out of the air today. I've had symptoms like your experiencing before and for healthy people like us, at least in my experience, they don't stay around too long. Be careful though.
A guy I ride with occasionally is an Industrial Hygienist and he told me a lot of bad things about air pollution. PM 2.5 is particularly nasty for lungs. I also try to ride the benches or canyons to get out of the bad air. It's a two-edged sword: as you're trying to get fit, riding outside on bad air days could be damaging your lungs.
Smog Valley my friend. Head up to the hills and do some skiing to get above the bad air. Everyone likes to complain about the storms in winter, but guess what, they keep the air clean. I rather have clean air and snowy storms than bad air. Every year since I have moved here I have had to go to the doctors for sinus infections and a dose of antibiotics. It makes me wonder why I moved from the fresh air of Colorado on many occasions. I have already had one sinus infection this year and I usually end up with two before the winter is over. Write to the governor and state legislators. For every one letter they recieve they calculate it represents a substantial portion of the population. Also there is an orginazation called http://www.utahmomsforcleanair.org/
Yes, long story short, its SLC's dirty little secret.
I have been seeing these bogus messages on a lot of blogs, increase your security by having them type in the letters
I spent all week on the trainer, you got all summer to ride outside... I love my trainer
Ride up the canyons with a backpack full of extra clothes to stay warm on way back down, or you can take the ski bus back down.
Post a Comment