Pesticide Drift and Bicycling

I was reading a report put out by Californians for Pesticide Reform about pesticide drift. It reminded me of my son's first long bike ride.

Last year, during Team in Training season, my 14-year-old son, Ryan, volunteered to get up very early one morning and sag with me. He had never been to any kind of an organized bike event and was a bit shocked when we pulled up to a shopping center parking lot full of Spandexed people and bikes. I don't think he actually believed me that lots of people got up that early in the morning to ride bikes!

I tried my best to brief him on proper parking lot bike conversation. Once again, I don't think he believed me that all of these people would spend a half hour standing around in a parking lot talking about bikes. But they did! And eventually, so did Ryan! Bill McEwen, a TNT coach, asked Ryan if he was going to ride. Ryan explained that he didn't have a road bike--so Bill gave him one--right then and there!

Ryan was so excited that he could hardy contain himself! The next morning, I took him out into the country for his first "long" 10-mile bike ride. The route was perfect because it was on a oak-shaded, two-lane road that meanders through miles of orchards and farmland, past farms with goats and horses.

About two miles into the ride, we could hear the dull sound of a slow moving vehicle, somewhere far off in the distance. Before we could comprehend what was happening, we came around a curve and rode right into a foggy mist of pesticides. It was too late to turn around, so we rode fast and tried not to breathe. The cloud misted us, like riding past a sprinkler on a windy day. The chemicals were in our eyes and all over our skin. Ask my son about road biking--and he will tell you about pesticide drift!

Literally millions of Californians live near agricultural use of air contaminants including those that cause cancer and developmental disorders. According to census data and state agricultural pesticide use data," nearly four million Californians live within one half mile of heavy annual applications of the 152 pesticides identified by the state regulators as those most likely to contaminate air and threaten human health....more than 30% of these chemicals are designated by state or federal regulatory agencies as carcinogens, reproductive toxins or acute nerve poisons."

Because of the widespread use of pesticides (millions of pounds each year) in and around our community--and all over the San Joaquin Valley--we as bicyclists, must be informed as to type and amount of pesticides used in our bike region. Pesticidereform.org has a lot of valuable information on its website. Awareness is the beginning...