Not to be Debbie Downer, but a little caution is advised in some places when biking on gravel roads that can at times become thick with dust. Maybe not so much on the wind swept corn barrens of Iowa, but if anyone has a penchant for the often calm valleys of the Northwest, dust exposure while exercising may be a concern.
On some gravel roads, motorized traffic can kick up a lot of dust, and under some conditions it can hang there in a heavy concentration for a long time. It is certainly possible that cyclists traveling a lot on roads that get very dusty could be building up a level of silica in the lungs that can eventually manifest itself as silicosis. As a Forest Service employee in Idaho and Montana in the way back era, I was exposed to lots of dust in van caravans to and from a day's project. Then I'd hop on my bike in the evening or on days off and ride up to scenic and trouty places. More often than not, there were a bunch of people in their pickups ripping by, looking for bears to shoot or Western cedar to poach, raising a lot of dust. I developed a pretty strong case of dust sensitivity, and tried to get my crew buckled in the fastest so we could be in the lead... No one seems to study the impacts of silica dust on active people. The only research funds seem to center on examining occupational exposure. Risk of silica exposure among forestry workers Safety Alert Type: Workers Location: British Columbia Date of Incident: 2013-09-12 Company Name: BC Forest Safety Council Details of Incident: The BC Forest Safety Council has recently looked into the risk of forestry workers being exposed to damaging levels of airborne silica and the related health implications. Silicosis is a form of occupational lung disease caused by inhalation of crystalline silica dust, and is marked by inflammation and scarring in the form of nodular lesions in the upper lobes of the lungs. The most common activities in which workers are at risk of exposure to silica dust are those that undertake chipping, grinding, drilling or hammering of rock or concrete that contains silica. Although silica is a common material, its relative presence in parent materials varies widely (e.g. crystalline silica is typically present in dust emanating from quartz, marble and sandstone). The U.S. Department of Labor estimates that silica exposure is a serious threat to nearly two million American workers. However, low historic frequency of claims citing silicosis suggests that, while its risks are not insignificant, silica exposure is not a primary health concern for the BC forest industry. Forestry work activities with a greater likelihood of exposure to crystalline silica include: * Road construction that involves drilling and blasting (noting that wetted, well-ventilated coastal conditions reduce risks associated with airborne silica) * Frequently hauling logs or driving in very dusty conditions, hauling gravel (road dust and from the material being transported) * Working on a landing or at a dryland sort * Sandblasting -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Michael Lemberger Sent: Friday, March 28, 2014 9:38 AM To: William Hauda; [email protected] Subject: Re: [Bikies] How bicyclists, not drivers, spawned first "good roads" Actually, Bill, having done a number of contemporary gravel events, I get the impression that nostalgia has almost nothing to do with it. People are riding gravel because it's there and offers a sense of adventure. Iowa might be stuck with 67K+ miles of gravel roads (I don't know whether that includes B- and C-level roads) but I guess if life gives you lemons, you can always make lemonade. <http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20140327/LIFE08/303280026/Adventure-Iowa-Bike-racers-on-gravel-face-rocky-road-and-love-it> Minnesota and Iowa's driftless gravel roads are arguably as scenic as the ones in Wisconsin. <http://www.flickr.com/photos/mababo/sets/72157634670335618/> A fat bike might be overkill, but it can be done: <http://www.flickr.com/photos/mababo/8767024753/in/set-72157633573776284> Cheers, Michael On Mar 26, 2014, at 4:21 PM, William Hauda <[email protected]> wrote: > > It's quite apparent from Wheel Fever, State Historical Society > materials and LAB archives that bicyclists paved the roads (paving was done > first with wood, i.e., Watertown Plank Road leading west out of Milwaukee. > With the rise of the Wisconsin dairy industry and the need to get perishable > milk reliably to cheese factories and consumer markets, the farmers came to > appreciate the gift of paving, and we now have all those wonderful paved town > and county roads that Robbie refers to. Even Iowa, which touts its RAGBRAI > tradition, is still stuck in the mud with lots of gravel. (Although there > recently has fairly recently emerged a "bike gravel" movement, sort of a > reminiscence, I guess, with their own events. And my Pugsley is seriously > thinking about that.) > > At 03:52 PM 3/26/2014, Michael Lemberger wrote: >> On Mar 26, 2014, at 12:58 PM, Robbie wrote: >> >> > Even the little farm roads with almost no traffic are paved. That's what >> > makes road biking so amazing here. >> >> It's arguably the lack of traffic, more than it is the pavement. Gravel can >> be most excellent, and is exactly what we'd be doing in the absence of our >> pavement. >> >> <http://gravelgrindernews.com/?post_type=tribe_events> >> >> Michael Lemberger >> Madison >> _______________________________________________ >> Bikies mailing list >> [email protected] >> http://lists.danenet.org/listinfo.cgi/bikies-danenet.org > _______________________________________________ Bikies mailing list [email protected] http://lists.danenet.org/listinfo.cgi/bikies-danenet.org _______________________________________________ Bikies mailing list [email protected] http://lists.danenet.org/listinfo.cgi/bikies-danenet.org
