tan lines & breathing question

A sunny afternoon ride on Saturday resulted in sun burn for myself, my husband and my brother. My husband and I were doing some volunteer work yesterday and one of the other volunteers says to him, "what is your garden like?" My husband gives her a confused look, and she explains that she noticed the sun burn, and since there was nothing on our hands, she presumed we were wearing gloves, so therefore doing gardening. :D

A question though - all 3 of us were coughing after the ride - we couldn't breath too deeply. Shallow breaths only. Is this a function of our level of fitness or a function of the lovely "scenery" (ie, road paving construction, construction sites, city traffic, etc, etc) that we passed?

I live in Los Angeles, smog heaven. I ride primarily in early a.m. to avoid traffic and smog. On the tan line, I enjoy my white hands with a small oval cutout tan from my gloves (on the back of my hands), I enjoy my tan arms and 2 tone legs. White feet are fun too. On the cough side, I cough when I've gone up a steep hill. Though I've noticed as I increase my endurance, my lung capacity is better. Allergy times are not the best for me. I do try to avoid constuction areas, because of the dust. I'm not an expert, however I would guess the high traffic areas are not the best. I hate bus fumes and will often turn down a side street or take a 5 minute break, rather than peddle behind a bus.

Cdalecat,

It's possible that you have exercise-induced asthma. Coughing can be a symptom. EIA can occur even in folks who have never been diagnosed with allergic asthma (tho' is more common in those with allergic asthma), because cycling is a "high ventilatory" activity - i.e., you breathe a lot more than in normal daily activities.

Or, it could have just been pollution since you mention city traffic and construction, and since you were all affected, not just one of you. Riding in a rural area might be easier on your lungs, if at all possible.

You might want to do a google search on exercise induced asthma - there's tons of information out there. I take a daily medication for it (Singulair) and have found it to help my cycling somewhat, but it's not for everyone. Check with your doctor if you continue to have problems.

Good luck and keep on pedaling!

Emily

I'm thinking it had to be an enviromental issue. All three of us were effected and none of us pushed the ride hard enough to ever breath heavily. I've never had that problem before, including the summer that I took up jogging (and *that* got me out of breath!).