Etna

[boomcie]

does anyone here have any experience of being near an erupting volcano?

i'm wondering more about the air conditions and such, as i think they will do their best to clear the roads.

I once saw a small eruption on the isle of Stromboli. At night. That was beautiful.

 

[kuat2770]

Its highly unlikely that the conditions near an eruption of that size are any worse than cycling through a polluted/industrialised city (unless cycling through an active ash cloud, where it would be like a very very dusty day - a simple cloth around the face would negate 95% of the effect of the ash on the lungs).

Etna is basaltic in composition (by and large) and these magmas tend to release a lot of water vapour, some CO2 and small amounts of SO2 etc. Indeed if it has erupted there might even be less SO2 post eruption I think there was a research paper in 2007(?) that talked about degassing as an eruption neared (and increases in SO2/H2O ratios). It might not be as pleasant compared to say a rural valley in the Alps, but shouldn't make things too bad. If the eruption worsens this might change, but the style of eruption (strombolian) makes that pretty unlikely (there is no build up of pressure to allow an explosive style eruption).

I don't know how close the crater is to the finish, but I would think it would be OK.

Disclaimer I am a geologist, but I don't specialise in volcanoes, this is just my opinion sitting a couple of thousand km away.

 

[The Hitch]

Giro sending squads to combat a volcano and make sure the peloton passes it.

Zomegnan dismisses volcano activity calmly, basically saying "**** the volcano, nothing interrupts Il Giro".

He is rapidly moving up my list of all time favorite personalities. What a legend.

Odd that someone who feels the need to start their own thread about meeting what they consider a posting milestone would question a thread that is directed at a topic that is of actual importance.

To defend ACF, I dont think he started the thread about the posting milestone, but rather, it was started by a moderator. Palmerq i think.

 

[Angliru]

Giro sending squads to combat a volcano and make sure the peloton passes it.

Zomegnan dismisses volcano activity calmly, basically saying "**** the volcano, nothing interrupts Il Giro".

He is rapidly moving up my list of all time favorite personalities. What a legend.



To defend ACF, I dont think he started the thread about the posting milestone, but rather, it was started by a moderator. Palmerq i think.

If that is in fact the case, my sincere apologies to ACF.

 

[Boeing]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/etnaboris/5711951955/

Great photo.

I wonder how they will go riding through the ash...

they will use 29ers

 

[Francois the Postman]

If that is in fact the case, my sincere apologies to ACF.

It is. The mods had started a thread to mark the occasion, but replaced theirs with a new thread, by moving the 10,000th post by ACF himself [from elsewhere] to open this new thread.

 

[auscyclefan94]

The topic was clear. Let the initial posts in response allow the thread to form a dialogue and take on a life of it's own. Odd that someone who feels the need to start their own thread about meeting what they consider a posting milestone would question a thread that is directed at a topic that is of actual importance.

I didn't even start that thread.

 

[thirteen]

Its highly unlikely that the conditions near an eruption of that size are any worse than cycling through a polluted/industrialised city (unless cycling through an active ash cloud, where it would be like a very very dusty day - a simple cloth around the face would negate 95% of the effect of the ash on the lungs).

Etna is basaltic in composition (by and large) and these magmas tend to release a lot of water vapour, some CO2 and small amounts of SO2 etc. Indeed if it has erupted there might even be less SO2 post eruption I think there was a research paper in 2007(?) that talked about degassing as an eruption neared (and increases in SO2/H2O ratios). It might not be as pleasant compared to say a rural valley in the Alps, but shouldn't make things too bad. If the eruption worsens this might change, but the style of eruption (strombolian) makes that pretty unlikely (there is no build up of pressure to allow an explosive style eruption).

I don't know how close the crater is to the finish, but I would think it would be OK.

Disclaimer I am a geologist, but I don't specialise in volcanoes, this is just my opinion sitting a couple of thousand km away.

thank you for all that info!

i've been looking forward to this stage, silly as it sounds, just because it is a volcano

then i got to thinking about the intangibles...

eta: have you guys seen the raw footage shot at night? cool!

 

[9000ft]

thank you for all that info!

i've been looking forward to this stage, silly as it sounds, just because it is a volcano

then i got to thinking about the intangibles...

eta: have you guys seen the raw footage shot at night? cool!

Yeah, I was going to reply similar but not as detailed but kuat beat me to it. Every volcano is unique in its eruptive type and chemical composition. Some are very dangerous in the gasses they vent but some aren't. Etna seems fairly benign as volcanoes go. Still wouldn't want to have to bunny hop over the lava flow but as long as the vent isn't threatening the road and the ash isn't falling on the riders it's most likely OK as long as it doesn't escalate

 

[The Hitch]

I didn't even start that thread.

to be fair to Angiliru, he did apologize.

 

[bicing]

I opened this thread to read about Etna only to learn an enlightening story of the truth of ACF's 10,000th post.

Safety should be the first priority when going there although it'd be cool to see all the smoke/ash/watevaer.