to push or not to push...
 

Since the price of petrol is rising and my waistline too! :funmeterno:
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.

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 ....

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.

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?

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.

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!

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.

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.

Im confused....
 

Thanks guys for all the advice :thumbup1:

Just some info's

Its never cold here (Min is 25 degrees Celsius) in case u didnt notice Kuala Lumpur is in the tropics!:palm:
Iits kinda of cool though if you think it would make me look like a Ninja:cool4:
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.....