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Overland Bicycle Travel Overlanding questions for two wheels, no motor!
Photo by Daniel Rintz, Himba children, Namibia

The only impossible journey
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Photo by Daniel Rintz,
Himba children, Namibia



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  #1  
Old 11 Jun 2008
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to push or not to push...

Since the price of petrol is rising and my waistline too!
Im planning to ride to work. Im just curious:confused1: if the air quality is not that good & may cause more problems to me rather than making me healthier.....

I only live 12km from my workplace, but I have to ride through the "Hi-way" for at least 8Km, this is where all the fumes come from!
and btw I live in the chaos & humidity of Kuala Lumpur.
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Old 11 Jun 2008
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Mask it

Although I have no idea how effective they are, I have seen a lot of cyclists wearing quite high tec looking masks. Might be an idea ....
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  #3  
Old 11 Jun 2008
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The masks are good but if you're pushing it too hard and the weather is cold you get some condensation in them and they get a bit stuffy. Make you look like a ninja though.
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  #4  
Old 11 Jun 2008
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Everything we do has some degree of risk involved, we try & balance dangers and benefits, I might be wrong, but I would guess cycling will have a much higher positive effect on your health than a negative one, even if done in an area of poor air quality.
What's everyone else think?
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  #5  
Old 11 Jun 2008
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This won't really help to answer your question, although it might I suppose.
Some years ago, friend of a friend, went to the doctor for a checkup and the doctor was concerned about his lungs and told him he must stop smoking.
But guy did not smoke but jogged a lot, in Cairo.
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  #6  
Old 11 Jun 2008
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Respro pollution masks

I was riding my push bike 13km to work, each way, from West London to the city centre and then back again. I wore a carbon filter respro mask. I highly recommend them.

When I rode my motorbike 45km to the office, my shirt collar, poking above my jacket, was almost black from the road pollution. When I cycled, I was really pulling on the air, due to my exertions, so all that crap was going straight to my lungs: a big helping of hydro-carbon derivatives.

I say wear a mask even if its stuffy in summer: your lungs are worth it, plus the extra resistance helps develop your intercostals!
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Old 12 Jun 2008
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Quote:
But guy did not smoke but jogged a lot, in Cairo.
Don't see many of them too often, but there are some. There's also a load of cyclists I regularly see knocking around the Ring Road, not exactly the safest place.
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Old 12 Jun 2008
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I agree with Warthog - i use a carbon filter respro mask around central london. ...It can get a bit stuffy but it's worth it for filtering out the cr#P AND you can get spare filters so you can replace them when they start smelling like month old gym kit.
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Old 16 Jun 2008
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Im confused....

Thanks guys for all the advice

Just some info's

Its never cold here (Min is 25 degrees Celsius) in case u didnt notice Kuala Lumpur is in the tropics!
Iits kinda of cool though if you think it would make me look like a Ninja
8 years ago went for a lungs check-up and the Doc told me that my lungs was abit hazy:
"do you smoke?"
"Nope I ride(motorcycle) a lot (in the city)"
Yes! I do get the same black stuff on my shirt and smell like smoked salmon.

The thing is I still cant decide wheter its gonna make me healthier/poorer, or sicker/richer:confused1: wait a minute maybe I'll just alternate.....
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Last edited by Osama Radzi; 16 Jun 2008 at 09:25.
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