Olympic cyclists

[Crankin]

Have you seen the pictures of the Olympic cyclists who had to apologize for wearing masks? The one who is front and center on the current Yahoo page, with the glasses, is Bobby Lee. My "German son" is his roommate and they both ride for the Rite Aid Drug team out of Philadelphia. About 5 weeks ago he stayed at my house for 2 nights.
I know someone famous! Seriously, he was one of the nicest people I have ever met. He has a master's degree in some impressive subject and his parents actually met each other on a group ride here in Concord, when they were in college. They were both serious racers.
I can see why he wore the mask. The pollution looks awful. I don't think that is just haze.

[newfsmith]

I'm wondering how many athletes are going to have their performance questioned because they had to max out their inhalers because of pollution.

[rachael24]

Is the pollution and air quality really that bad in China? I would think they are exaggerating.

[sundial]

It is bad. One former Olympic mtb'er chose not to compete at Beijing because of the air quality. Several pro mtb'ers said they were hacking, coughing and getting nauseated half way through the training rides. Some were hurling.

[SadieKate]

I remember Adam Craig saying that the air during event he went to last Fall (a kind of goodwill pre-Olympic race either on the same course or in the same area) caused a lot of problems for him and other cyclists. Back in December he guessed his plan would be to fly in the day before the event, race and get out. And if the polution was too bad, just pull from the race. No one wanted to risk long term damage.

He was obviously very worried about the balancing act of health and wanting to race in the Olympics.

[csr1210]

Maybe I'm the only one, but I thought it was ridiculous that they felt they had to apologize. From what I understand, the masks were provided by some Olympic committe - not the US, not the US cycling team, and not the individual athletes. So, basically they are apologizing for using protective gear that was given to them by an olympic organization that felt the athletes' health/performance could be compromised by existing conditions?!? What - were they supposed to only wear them in private? If there is more to the story, please let me know.

Sorry, based on what's been reported in the news, I just don't get it
Christy

[Trek420]

Is the pollution and air quality really that bad in China? I would think they are exaggerating.

I don't want to politicize the thread so let's try real hard to keep this to cycling but yes, it's that bad. Bad enough that it effects us here. This is from 2007. We all breath the same air

http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?sec...ent&id=5747398

[mimitabby]

yes, Trek, you're right, it all blows around, but when there's an inversion, bad air gets trapped in an area, particularly when the emissions of that area are out of control.

from today's news:

Air pollution shrouds Beijing on eve of Olympics

By TINI TRAN – 3 hours ago

BEIJING (AP) — The wall of gray haze around the National Stadium and across the city cut visibility down to a mile. On the eve of opening ceremonies, Beijing's polluted air took center stage Thursday as the most visibly pressing problem for Olympic organizers who had promised to clean up the Chinese capital.

[sgf726]

I travel to Beijing on a regular basis for business and the pollution is usually pretty bad, most days you can't even tell there are mountains right outside the city.

We commented at work as well how the athletes were going to perform with the air quality, the first time I went there I ran outside but didn't feel good afterwards since then I have stayed on the treadmill in the gym as I didn't want to breathe the air.