Mountain Biking - Why riding in a thunderstorm is a bad idea.

I was out on the trail today and found this. There was some serious lightning here last Saturday. I actually considered riding but the sky was scary looking. I'm glad I reconsidered.

The debris field from this was about a 50 yard radius from the remnant of the tree. It was splintered into tiny little pieces. This thing exploded.


These were taken with my phone so the image is a bit fuzzy.

YIKES!!!!!! The first ride on my new Slayer I got caught out in a wicked bad thunderstorm. But the bike up against a tree and squatted down about 100 ft away on a rock. It proceeded to rain and hail on me for about 20 minutes with high winds and lots of close-by lightning. The storm took so long I had to start moving before it was past because my toes and fingers were starting to go numb.:eek:

I live near the lightning capital of the world (Tampa, FL)

I wonder what would make anyone think that doing anything except staying indoors would be a "good" idea????

Cool picture by the way. I've seen lightning do some wild (yet cool) things.

I've seen an asphalt road take a hit and crumble the asphalt.

I saw a man get struck while at the beach standing in front of a Bar-b-que while holding an umbrella. Luckily, his wife was a nurse and saved his life. Had 3rd degree burns in his quad where his keys once were.

I saw a car get struck by lightning. Was driving one day and this guy was pulled over on the side of the road and his hood was smoldering. He claimed he was just riding along (JRA) and the next thing he knew his engine stopped and he coasted off to the side of the road. Apparently he was driving over the spot were lightning was striking and it seized his engine. I didn't "actually" see it happen, but I did see the car.

In May I got caught a mile and a half rom my truck by golf ball size hail.....my most painful ride to date.

It's a humbling experience to be caught in the middle of such power. I always try to square things up with my Maker just in case. Sometimes there's not much to do except increase the pedal strokes and get back to the car. Luckily the only time I got caught out in hail I was running and it was in town. I got under the roof of a drive thru bank.

Scary. It'll probably happen to me at some point - storms roll in quickly in Oklahoma. If the lightning's within a mile, and I'm not right by the trailhead, I'd be off the bike, waiting it out in lightning position.

what I hate is getting caught in one and have the hair raise on my body as Im haulin bass back to the truck. a sure sign the strike is nearby. it happened twice last year to me and my buddy Vince. we parked on the opposite side of the park the second time in case it stormed again and dam if we werent near where we SHOULD have parked( the place where we parked the first time) to escape quickly when the storm hit because as it turned out it hit about the time we got on the opposite side of the park from where we were just like the previous week only 3 miles, as the crow flies, 5 miles by trail away from our vehicles and both times we were VERY close to being dust in the wind from lightning strikes.
I definetly used my big gears those days!!!!

Had that "standing" hair thingy happen to me while surfing at Jax Beach. It started popping all over, so I headed in and was standing at my Jeep, just threw my board in back and felt the hair rise. I jumped in the Jeep, I literally JUMPED in, just as the Clap hit. Scared the beejeezus out of me.

Ah yes good ol tampa. I have to admit for the rainy season starting weather has been pretty good so far. Raining or not wet areas are dangerous ^^ my only acident was sliping on a turn on a wet road, and today I almost busted on a wet wooden bridge (with my clipless at that :/)

I was hit my lightning almost once when mowing the grass durning a storm, sent my flying back abit I think it hit the mower but I never really found any marks on it, you definitly feel the static of your hair comming up for a split second.

Somthing intresting you may not know is that lightening comes up from the ground not down from the sky. (excpet rare exceptions)

Still I have always felt it would be nice to go while biking.