Bee editor trains months for 100-mile bike ride. Then wildfire smoke engulfs Fresno
My alarm went off at 4 a.m. Saturday, but I was already awake. Normally my super-early start would be due to excitement at the challenge before me — a 100-mile bike ride as part of the California Classic Weekend.
But this time, it was more from dread. I got up, made some coffee, then opened up the Purple Air app on my cell phone. The air quality index at my home in northeast Clovis, near the foothills, was near 200 and purple on the color scale. That’s pretty bad.
I had seen this coming for several days. A dry storm front had blown over Fresno earlier that week, clearing the air of the yucky smoke from the wildfires burning in Sequoia National Forest. But then high pressure had rebuilt, and with it the atmosphere got quiet. Smoke began flowing back across the Valley. By Saturday morning, it looked like fog outside, only it was something else.
The bike ride was to begin at Chukchansi Park in downtown Fresno and go up the 168 freeway to near my house before heading east into the foothills. At that, the riders would aim themselves toward the worst of the smoke before reaching Squaw Valley and heading back to Fresno.
Despite months of long rides to prepare for this day and my dream of completing another century ride, I decided it was not worth the health risk.
Others did not share my opinion. A while later, I drove to the gym for a workout indoors, in air conditioning. Heading on Fowler Avenue, I crossed over the 168. Looking down, I could see a line of cyclists rolling up the highway. Temperance Avenue lay just beyond, but it disappeared into a fog-like bank of smoke.
Riding in such conditions is just crazy, I thought. Inhaling wildfire smoke means taking in tiny soot particles that get embedded in one’s lungs. That can cause asthma and lead to strokes and even premature death.
Months of training, hard work, determination, and a personal goal vs. the health risk. In the end, one ride was not worth that price, I thought.
Smoke, no refund
The day before, I had gone to the pick up my ride packet from the organizers. I told the California Classic guy in charge of my concerns with the smoke. “Any way I can get a refund?” I asked. “No, no refunds this close to the event,” was his answer.
There was no way to know ahead of time what the smoke would be like. But I took the packet and prayed Saturday would somehow miraculously be better.
It was worse.
I was not the only one dismayed at the event happening in such conditions. Kevin Hall, a clean-air advocate in Fresno and longtime critic of polluters and air regulators, got mad at the California Classic organizers. He issued tweets with criticisms that the Saturday bike ride and the Sunday half marathon were allowed to go on.
Cancel fall events?
Climate change is clearly changing the California dream, at least for Valley residents. This is the second consecutive early fall that has been marked by persistent, dangerous wildfire smoke in our part of the Valley. Last year, smoke was due to the giant Creek Fire above Shaver Lake.
When these episodes of smoke occur, they wipe out any outdoor activities and force people to stay inside. There’s no bike riding, no running, no hiking in cool air in the Sierra. Just smoke, ash and hot days that don’t seem to let up.
I was glad the Fresno State football team was playing on the road and not at home, where a stadium of fans would have been sitting through the bad atmosphere.
Event organizers need to rethink their calendars. At least for this part of the state, there should not be major outdoor events when fires are happening. It’s too hazardous to everyone’s health.
The local air pollution control district extended the air quality alert to Thursday. Maybe, if a weak storm system arrives by Friday, the air will clear out and I can try to get a ride in this weekend.
But here in the Valley, in the fall, that’s become a dicey proposition.
