Commuting - maybe dial it back below 400W

A cyclist who suffered second degree burns while riding may have been pedalling so hard his trousers caught fire.

...

A police spokesman said: "Witnesses said he was like a flaming torch cycling along the road.

"We do not know how it happened but we have heard that it could have been caused by a reaction between friction as he cycled, sweat and the material of his trousers."

http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30200-1307359,00.html

That guy is badass. I doubt many BFers can boast that they've rode so hard that they caught fire.

That really kicks ass.

I've had to dial it up to 400W before, but I never went for the afterburner.

Sounds like one for mythbusters! :D

From MSDS:

Flash Cotton -
Flash Point > 335*F

Holy hellfire! Even if the guy was wearing pants made of flash cotton, there's gotta be a warning sign before they just catch on fire. You have to know something's wrong by the time they get up to 150 - 160*F.

Flash Cotton -
Flash Point > 335*F

Static spark? As far as I know tiny electric arcs/sparks produce temperatures well over 335* momentarily.

Friction and/or body metabolism will never get you those sorts of temperatures.

his cigarette probably fell on the leg of his pants that had his potent vodka spilled on

his cigarette probably fell on the leg of his pants that had his potent vodka spilled on

probably something like that.

As I recall, mythbusters did do an episode trying to light jeans on fire by friction, or soaking them in explosives, or something like that. Either way they couldn't get them to light.

Ahh, now I found it. They tried to light jeans on fire by dragging one of the guys from a horse.

http://mythbustersresults.com/episode89




If a person is being dragged by a horse, the friction caused by the movement will make their jeans catch on fire.

busted

Wearing full body padding and a denim shirt and jeans, Tory allowed himself to be pulled along the ground by a horse. While the movement and friction did increase the surface temperature of the jeans, it wasn’t enough to cause the jeans to combust. The Build Team then moved the experiment into the lab, where they simulated the friction caused by being dragged by a horse with a power sander. However, when they applied the jeans to the power sander, the jeans were torn apart before they could combust. The Build Team agreed that friction alone cannot make jeans catch on fire.

his cigarette probably fell on the leg of his pants that had his potent vodka spilled on

I'm surprised this never happened to my grandfather. He'd ride his Schwinn beach cruiser up and down the boardwalk every morning, cigarette hanging from his mouth, and kerosene (his favourite general purpose solvent for nearly all garage and household cleaning purposes) on his pants.

:eek:

that is some serious power

Its obvious though isnt it

Dude told a whopper of a lie

I have another theory:
1. filling kerosene lamp while chugging vodka
2. needed some smokes
3. rode bike to get smokes
4. um, I can't think of anything else

...bad curry, real bad curry :eek:

Its obvious though isnt it

Dude told a whopper of a lie
Still badass though. Would you light yourself on fire to prove a point?

The picture looks like a crop of the one of the burning bike from recent southern cali fires.

Call me crazy, but I'm guessing there was a Bic lighter in his pants pocket. Ya think??

Sounds like one for mythbusters! :D

submitted! I vote for the burning cigarette theory though.

Its obvious though isnt it

Dude told a whopper of a lie


Hence the phrase "Liar...Liar..Pants on Fire..."

I had a terrible equipment failure once...

http://members.cox.net/netwurkin/rocketbike.bmp

Did it say what kind of bike he was riding?