Am I over reacting. Please tell me I’m wrong.

[KnackeredBike]

Total overreaction. Like anything there is obviously some risk to any exposure, but if we assessed risk on that basis we'd all be living underground to protect us from (some) of the background radiation.

In an ideal world you would be dancing in a field inhaling cow fart but if you want to live a modern life there will be some extra exposure to pollutants. Your commute tomorrow may be the one that kills you but in reality you are lowering your risk of acute and chronic diseases by being fit and cycling.

Plus if you have bad exposure a good few feet up imagine all those car drivers who have a fan slowly sucking air from over the bonnet into their confined space. They may look a bit pasty but they seem to be surviving even without the benefit of your exercise.

Something is going to kill you in the end, might as well do what you enjoy in the interim.

 

[classic33]

Total overreaction. Like anything there is obviously some risk to any exposure, but if we assessed risk on that basis we'd all be living underground to protect us from (some) of the background radiation.

In an ideal world you would be dancing in a field inhaling cow fart but if you want to live a modern life there will be some extra exposure to pollutants. Your commute tomorrow may be the one that kills you but in reality you are lowering your risk of acute and chronic diseases by being fit and cycling.

Plus if you have bad exposure a good few feet up imagine all those car drivers who have a fan slowly sucking air from over the bonnet into their confined space. They may look a bit pasty but they seem to be surviving even without the benefit of your exercise.

Something is going to kill you in the end, might as well do what you enjoy in the interim.

Where's that air being drawn in and at what height?

 

[nickr]

You ask us if you are over reacting.

Someone tells you that you are.

You then challenge that with the link above.

That being the case, you think your actions are justifiable, so why bother asking what we think?

This is a forum for discussions, I am hoping to be persuaded that I'm over reacting - I have to illustrate why I am worried about the dangers of cycling in London.

I get where you're coming from, totally. But London has terrible air quality full-stop, and Richmond borough is one of the greenest places you could live (I live here too). Even riding along the river doesn't help? I know it lengthens the commute, but...

I avoid Richmond - too much traffic and mad cabbies

On a related thought, does the OP own a car? Is it diesel powered?

I don't own a car

Switching to the train is a very expensive way of reducing further what is actually a very low risk of damage from pollution or other vehicles.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-31612253

I have to say, the dangers of PM10 (particulate pollutants of around 10 um) was well known, and covered in the course material when I started my degree in '95 or so.
Has it really taken 20-odd years for people to start worrying about them?
And, to the OP, if you've been riding through them for the last five years, then what makes you think stopping now will help? Diesels have been around for years and years.

The advise given to smokers is that giving up will drastically reduce the chances of lung cancer - would not a drastic reduction in carcinogenic exhaust gas achieve the same?

 

[Drago]

Not in the same way, no.

You're still over reacting.

 

[TheDoctor]

We're talking entirely different levels of risk here.
About 90% of lung cancer cases are due to smoking, so that's 10% of lung cancer deaths down to everything else, including diesel fumes.
The study most often used to scaremonger about diesel fumes, the Diesel Exhaust in Miners study, shows an increase in risk of lung cancer due to diesel fumes if you work underground amongst high concentrations, all day, every day. It also shows an increased risk of cirrhosis of the liver. It goes to great pains to point out the uncertainties and limitations of the study. None of this ever makes it into the press.
But, as others have said, you've obviously made up your mind. I'm out.

 

[Lee_M]

Give up riding, be miserable, unfit and stuck in a train with other miserable unfit people

Or keep riding, be happy, avoid crappy public transport.

and if you die a year earlier who cares?
I'd rather die happy at 60 than die miserable at 65

BTW I'm 55 so hope I dont die at 60!

 

[Shut Up Legs]

Give up riding, be miserable, unfit and stuck in a train with other miserable unfit people

Or keep riding, be happy, avoid crappy public transport.

and if you die a year earlier who cares?
I'd rather die happy at 60 than die miserable at 65

BTW I'm 55 so hope I dont die at 60!

Too true. Unfortunately, the majority of non-cyclists just don't understand this, and when they find I commute 30km each way regardless of how bad the weather is, they're surprised. But the cycling is why I can virtually run up escalators , overtaking the non-cyclists who just stand on the escalators and let them do all the work.

 

[Drago]

Ronnie Pickering inhales pure oxygen and exhales VW grade diesel fumes.

 

[mjr]

Here you go, a smog free bicycle, invented by a Dutchman, that cleans the air as you cycle.
http://road.cc/content/news/223830-dutchman-invents-bike-tackles-air-pollution-you-pedal

Which I posted at 15:38 yesterday...

 

[jefmcg]

You're welcome

 

[Drago]

His will @nickr get himself to work now he's quit cycle commuting?

 

[vickster]

His will @nickr get himself to work now he's quit cycle commuting?

He says by overground train (#38)

 

[boydj]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-31612253

You have to put these figures in the context of the millions of cycle journeys taken in the London area every year. Statistically, cycling is very safe for adult cyclists, even on busy roads.

It seems to me you are looking for excuses to justify not cycling, exaggerating the risks and ignoring the benefits, not least of which is a substantial financial benefit.

 

[User16625]

In the light of what seems like almost daily reports about the danger of inhaling diesel exhaust. I have from today stopped commuting to work by bicycle.

I’ve been commuting by bike for 5 years between Kingston and Chiswick and have loved it. Its been additive, like a drug. I've tried to ignore the dangers, but cannot do so any longer. I've tried many different routes but have found it impossible to avoid what I consider to be a dangerous level of exposure to the fumes.

Its seems to me that to have continued would been as idiotic as climate change denial.

You're overreacting. The thing to worry about isn't the diesel fumes, it'd be the bus / lorry / taxi that's producing them.
Truth be told, you're far more likely to die at home in your sleep.

She's right Nick. You don't even need to be asleep to spontaneously combust or more likely, have a brain haemorrhage. People die all the time, its nothing to worry about.

 

[jefmcg]

You don't even need to be asleep to spontaneously combust

Yeah, you do,. Well, unconscious actually.

Still, I hope @nickr is OK