Riding my bicycle in smog??

First...haven't been over to this forum for awhile...good to see some old friends here.  I try and bike between 4-7 miles a day.  I'll run errans with the bike.  If it is raining or too cold I will just walk around the neighborhood.  As many of you know I have had 2 heart attacks over the years.  I really want to ride my bike daily but I am concerned about the smog.  We are having the fires here in California.  We also have the almonds harvest coming up.  It becomes very dusty (almonds) and being in a valley we have a lot of trapped air.  I am thinking that it is best to do my bike riding or walking in the morning or after 7:00pm.  Am I playing with fire riding in the heat of the day?  Brian  PS  Both my heart attacks occured in the summer during smoggy days.  I think I'm answering my own questions...

Yeah sounds like you are answering your own questions although I'd check with your doctor and maybe see about a referral to a exercise/sports physiologist or pulmonologist. The only experience I have with this is cycling in Phoenix and finding myself talking with a local cyclist I met on one of my rides. I noticed we both were repeatedly clearing our throats and sometimes even coughing. I asked why and he said it was dust from road construction. Turns out they rarely get rain and while they do try to wet the sites down it's of little help in that dry climate. Also, we've got www.climbmichigan.com here and even though they wash the stair wells out the week before if you take part in that event you're going to get some dust in your lungs. Again, coughing a lot for a good 30-45 minutes post race is common, especially if you do a couple laps.

Maybe those medical professionals could suggest some sort of heart/O2 monitoring devices you could implement that might offer some predictive warnings.

There is a link between smog and heart attacks.  Why tempt fate? Where I live in Southern California, bicycle vs. car accidents happen almost on a daily basis - lots of impaired drivers out here.  It's a whole lot safer in the gym on the ones that don't move.