As a cyclist and professional advocate, I have heard both sides of the debate on whether the air is cleaner for bicyclists or auto drivers. I care a great deal about clean air, however I am going to ride my bike regardless. What I really want to know is, where should I ride for the cleanest air?
Robert Amundson, PhD, of the Oregon Toxics Alliance framed the issue for me. He said, “The determining factor to air quality for cyclists is the proximity to automobiles. Sit in your garage with the car idling and you’ll die. Walk outside of the garage you may get sick. Walk down the block and you’ll be fine.�
A revelation for all bicyclists –
Clean air is found on LOW TRAFFIC streets and CAR FREE trails. Sure it’s a no-brainer, but it just another reason for you to ride on these bikeways and for the BTA to seek drastic increases of miles of low-traffic bicycle boulevards and multi-use trails.
I’d guess that Skyline would be one of the routes with fairly clean air. Only problem is that there is no shoulder on Skyline for most of it. And there are occasional idiots in Lamborgini’s (spelling?) and other rich-kid cars that use it as their personal racetrack.
Since it’s on the ridge and there is usually a breeze I’d think most car exhaust would be blown off the roadway pretty fast.