Why do i have a chesty cough after 10 mile bike ride?

Question

felt fine after but got up next day and have bad cough , some of the road had just been resurfaced could this be why i have been coughing lots of phlem up for past 2 days

Answer 1

its the cold air hitting your chest. you will see in the tour de france that the pros are handed a old news paper at the top of a long fast decent they put this on there chest under their zip top and chuck it at the bottom of the hill, sounds a bit gash, but its true!!

Answer 2

How intense was your ride?  Do you often go on 10 mile rides?  What is the ambient temperature outside?

The mucous lining of your sinuses and throat can be irritated by the extended rapid breathing when bicycling.  If you do not often do long rides, this could be the case.  If you give your body time to rest and heal, and then go for more long rides, you should build up some level of tolerance to it.  Another possible thing to do that may help is take small sips of water to keep your throat moist.  If your throat dries out, it cannot properly moisturize and heat or cool the air coming into your body before it gets to your lungs.  Try to breath through your nose as much as possible to help with this as well.

If you are riding in cool or chilly weather and are not used to it, you can find face masks that are loose fitting but designed to let you breath air unrestricted that comes from near your torso so is a little warmer.  I've never used one but the concept makes sense.

Also, the combination of the dry air and irritation could have weakened your immune system slightly and given you a bit of a cough and maybe a touch of a virus causing an upper respiratory infection (common cold).  I'm not trying to imply that you are sick now, but listen to your body.  If you feel fine otherwise but have this cough after, it could be the case.  If you get worse or develop a fever, or are not better after about a week, see your physician.

As far as the freshly surfaced road, the smell tends to bother me as well.  I imagine some of the fumes could cause more irritation, but I wouldn't worry about any long term issues.  I've not heard of long term health issues among road workers who are exposed to the fumes from resurfacing all the time.  The fumes are irritating but not toxic to my knowledge.

Hope this helped.

Answer 3

More than a cycling question it is a health matter. I would ask a General Practitioner first.

It could be due to many factors as other have stated before, but make sure you are healthy, for the rest is just circumstances than can be easily dealt with; chest wind, over-doing it, just resurfaced road, etc. etc.

Answer 4

well after i did 50 miles i had a slight cough the next day might just be the wind thats hitting your chest and causing something, for me it went after a few hours though so might just be a normal cold.

Answer 5

maybe you smoke to much and need to cut down

Answer 6

ask jeeves

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