ARCHING BEFORE THE SMOKE
VERY unhealthy air quality at the moment. Seems just about all of the west coast is burning and we are getting smoke not only from the eastern part of our state, but huge amounts are being blown in from California and Oregon. With current AQI of over 250, we are being told to stay inside as it is hazardous for ALL, not only those with compromised health or breathing. .
Starting yesterday, and for some more days coming, there is NO GOING OUTDOORS. My coping mechanism for all this other stuff (pandemic, riots, election) has been riding my bike every day. Will be off of that for a while now. Need another coping mechanism.
I did get some photos from rides I had done a couple of days before the smoke, including ride #4 with Laura. So here are some more arches.
Double arches…
Over and under arches…
A rather tall arch…
Arch surrounded by brick…
Large window arch…
A couple of flattened arches…
An arch above, an arc below…
A natural arch…
I don’t know when I will be out there hunting for more arches, or for any riding actually. But the moment the air quaility is safe, I will be on the saddle. Maybe a soggy saddle as rain is due in early in the week. We want rain ?.
Stay well everyone — and safe inside for those on the west coast.
7 response to "ARCHING BEFORE THE SMOKE"
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Lots of great arches — Im learning a lot here, like, how do they build a brick arch without it collapsing as they go — found the answer on Youtube.
Learning about AQI too — downstate IL not too much (if any) of an issue — driving north toward Chicago, you can begin to smell the pollution as you get north of Kankakee, IL.
Present AQI PM2.5 is 37 (Yes, Im feeling guilty and bad for you guys)
Cannot imagine the smoke issues there.
Headlines such as: “Oregon braces for a “mass fatality incident” as wildfires rage in western states”
(CBS News)
–are terrifying.
Stay Safe from the multitude of dangers!
I feel such sorrow for all of you on the west coast, Nancy. From across the ocean and under clear skies I can only imagine how horrid this must be to experience first hand. It’s especially amazing to see that this is even a serious issue as far north as you are. Hang in there!
The arch photos are brilliant, by the way. I especially like the driftwood double arch. Very imaginative.
Sorry the smoke has locked you in. I can empathize. AQI getting slightly better down here, but — like you — pedaling has been right out. I’ve been planning a ride at the coast for a week, but every day the AQI keeps me home. My ace support crew seems to think that has caused me to be especially grumpy. Hmmphf. Anyway, hang in there and stay safe. Tiny smoke particles in lungs not a good plan.
Like Scott, I also admire that driftwood arch. Regarding the second picture on your post, the one with the “over and under arches,” I noticed that if you had climbed up to the roof on top of the “over” arch and aimed your camera downward, you would have gotten a picture of the arching cast iron railing down below. But then, it would be absurd to climb up on somebody’s roof . . . wouldn’t it?
That is a gorgeous collection of arches – and a lot of really nice buildings (they make my area look like a slum!). Sending my best thoughts to you, as you hide out from the smoke. It has been such a horrid year. During our ‘unprecedented’ fires last summer – I spent most of late Jan and February inside and had to tape off all the windows and vents to keep the smoke out. I coped by watching the copious amounts of bike touring videos available online. I hope you can find something to keep your spirits up, too. If you like to learn new stuff, check out “coursera”. It has free courses on a huge variety of topics (just use a secondary email account so all the promotional emails don’t clog your main email). I’ve done several of these that were really interesting. If I weren’t doing an online diploma for a real qualification, I would do a lot more of these. Stay safe and take care!
You’ve been in my thoughts. Sorry to hear it has worsened and you aren’t going to be able to ride every day this month. You can start again in October, which should be a beautiful month for riding. Any chance you will take the camper and move east for awhile until the smoke subsides? You have that gorgeous camper and maybe you should consider that. I loved the double arches in the first picture and the arch above an arc one, too. Take care.
So sorry to not have responded to anyone’s reply. For some reason I have been unable to get on the site. I’m sure it must be from my end, but am happy to be here no matter! I so appreciate everyone’s response and caring thoughts — thank you so very much.
Today the news is calling it “toxic air” — unhealthy to hazardous. It will be GRADUALLY getting better over this weekend, with some rain coming in this week. That should help clear it out some, and I am anxiously waiting for that! The hardest part is not being able to get outdoors at all — let alone on my bike!
Thanks everyone, I will continue my search for arches when the air allows me out for rides. And Em — thank you so much for that learning site. I will definitely be checking that out.
I appreciate all of you and am grateful for your concerns and care.