city commute, pollutants?

So.... I think overall I may just be being paranoid....... humor me ;)


I live in Austin. On my morning commute to school (4.5 miles-ish), I bike through the downtown of Austin.

During my morning bike ride, my exposed skin feels weird. (Prickly, irritated, itchy etc.) My skin is sensitive, but, in my totally paranoid mind, I am wondering if it is possible that I am being so irritated by pollutants? I keep having these images in my mind of being splashed by antifreeze, oil, and gas that has leaked from cars...


When I go on long rides, I ride in areas where there are cars, but it is not the downtown area, and it is much more "open". I do not have the skin sensations then.

Has anyone had this? Is there a danger risk in any way?


I shower once I get to school----and the skin feeligs all go away. I also can't bike to school without going through downtown unless I turned my 10 mile roundtrip into a 60 mile roundtrip!

do you have allergies? is it hot? I get sensations like that sometimes from the sun on my skin.

no allergies.

at least not the basic ones that they test.


it has been cooler than normal in austin recently...in the 70s and 80s instead of the 100s...but.... the temperature isn't any different than it is when i go on long non-downtown rides and don't experience the skin feelings.

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Originally Posted by Onix

no allergies.

at least not the basic ones that they test.


it has been cooler than normal in austin recently...in the 70s and 80s instead of the 100s...but.... the temperature isn't any different than it is when i go on long non-downtown rides and don't experience the skin feelings.

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You might have very sensitive skin.

Do you have any problems breathing? I usually have problems breathing or catch a cold shortly after visiting a polluted city. If I start off biking next to a road with a lot of cars - I have a terrible time breathing and getting warmed up. If I start off in a low traffic area, get warmed up, and then ride somewhere with heavy traffic, it's not quite as bad.

I definitely have sensitive skin. (when I was a kid i had to use special sunscreen etc.)

Interesting about the pollution/hard time breathing. I was diagnosed with asthma about 6 years ago...so its hard to sort out what is what. But, that is still really interesting.

It is hard for me to get to an area that isn't high in traffic from where I live without first going through high traffic. But, come to think of it, I did have an easier time breathing in Colorado small town.

I also wondered on my way home today (just got back) if I was maybe having heat rash? I don't have any more or less skin exposed on commutes than I do on my long rides---but on my commutes I don't usually have wicking clothes on (or clothes as breathable), and I have a backpack on... so maybe it makes me really hot??

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Onix

I definitely have sensitive skin. (when I was a kid i had to use special sunscreen etc.)

Interesting about the pollution/hard time breathing. I was diagnosed with asthma about 6 years ago...so its hard to sort out what is what. But, that is still really interesting.

It is hard for me to get to an area that isn't high in traffic from where I live without first going through high traffic. But, come to think of it, I did have an easier time breathing in Colorado small town.

I also wondered on my way home today (just got back) if I was maybe having heat rash? I don't have any more or less skin exposed on commutes than I do on my long rides---but on my commutes I don't usually have wicking clothes on (or clothes as breathable), and I have a backpack on... so maybe it makes me really hot??

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do you get prickly heat? My cousin gets that, but I'm not exactly certain what it is.

If I go visit toronto for a week, I get sick. Same with visiting european cities. Or being around smokers. In grad school I lived on an apartment on the main road for 2-3 years and was sick a few times every winter - then I moved to one about a block or two off the main road for another 3 years and have hardly been sick every since.

As far as I know, I don't have asthma, but wouldn't be surprised if I have a mild form of it or something.

Hmm. I will have to look into this more! Thanks guys!