mrdoright0405

LOL! Lighten up fellas. I ride in the afternoons because I have to "Work" during the day. And I really dont like getting up at 4 or 5 am for a bike ride. So I have no choiuce but to ride in the afternoons. I didnt mean to head out while the storm was going on or hey dude a storm is coming lets ride. Storms in Bammer pop up out of now where. For instance one hour ago it was storming like HELL. Now the sun is out like nothing ever happened. I know Florida Lightning storms are Very Bad down there thats why Im not in FL.

I figure if Im out in the middle of nowhere and a storm comes up. Im in GODS hands. Duck and ride low.

samp02

rain yes. T-Storms no.

Stubacca

Rain - no problem. That's what fenders and rain jackets are for.

Thunderstorms? If the lightning seems close, I'll take shelter while it passes. Around here that'll only take about 10 minutes anyway.

Hail I usually stop for. It hurts! I got caught by a big storm on Friday afternoon on the way home. Got to within 2 miles of home, and had to take shelter for about 40 minutes at the local high school while it passed. Rode home while it was still raining .

Quite cathartic, really...

Noif666

Just did that this morning. It's so refreshing to go for a ride in the rain
I also like having too spend extra time in cleaning my bike up afterwards; there's nothing like coming home with a muddy, road gritted bike giving it a wipe down and quick oil and grease then stepping back and seeing a shining beauty!

vtjim

Somebody needs to work on reading comprehension. I say I hide from hail. He interprets this as hiding from lightning and I get an f'ing public service announcement.

Lighten up, dude.

Bekologist

Wouldn't the rubber tires insulate you from the lighting strike occuring? That's why people don't get struck by lightning in their cars.

If a bike increases your chance of a strike, I think you'd be able to tell then, when a strike was imminent, when your cables and loose metal bits begin to rattle, your hair stands on end, and you smell what seems to be ozone. At that point, I'd jump off the bike.

I've been in a few to many electrical storms up in the mountains, luckily never got struck. It's unnerving, however, when your rack and gear all begins to rattle furiously from the electricity in the air...

I think you can hide under trees during a T-storm, just pick the small trees or the ones down in a depression or draw.

I live in Seattle and we all spend about 8 months a year riding around in the rain (but not every day.) You generally just watch your braking, and cornering traction.

And visibility is key, riding around in downpours, you want to be as bright as possible.

phantomcow2

If my bike is really muddy from a ride and i was too lazy to clean it off. I ride in the rain briefly and lube my chain right after to prevent rust. It cleans off the frame really well

Stubacca

In the car, lightning strikes the body of the car.

On the bike, lightning strikes you.

You wanna test your hypothesis?

MediaCreations 

I've been riding in the rain over the last few days. I rode to work in the rain this morning and will probably riding in the rain on the way home this afternoon. It's just water.

My bike is my vehicle. Rain, hail or shine, I ride.

Bekologist

I don't think lightning "strikes" cars because the car is not grounded. The tires insulate the vehicle from the connection of current from the ground to the sky- didn't you know most lightning "strikes" actually go from ground to sky?

If lightning stuck cars, a lot more people would be sporting the Al Sharpton/ Phil Spector look!

[bEn]

It rained today for the first time in like a week here in Melbourne. I like riding in the rain, but you have to be careful though, it slipperly as all hell sometimes.

Stubacca

Lightning strikes typically go both ways, but it comes from the cloud first. The negative charge at the bottom of the cloud sends out a stepped leader toward the ground, which enhances the positive charge at the ground, and objects can form a charge that reaches up and completes the connection. The flow of the discharge is always from negative potential to positive potential. The stepped leader from the cloud makes the connection, then we see a flash as the return stroke from the ground channels the charge back.

Sometimes you'll even see cloud to cloud lightning - very spectacular.

A car offers good protection not because of the tires, but because the metal frame of the car channels the charge away from the occupants. If you touch any exposed frame (or metals connected to the exposed frame) in the car and it gets struck, you're probably toast!

Shifty

Ride in the rain - yes, Oregon deserves it's reputation in winter and spring.

We don't get thunderstorms in western Oregon.

Stubacca

Yep, I've heard of cases where it's happened. Anyone who thinks the rubber tires will help insulate you somehow and stop the ground from sending up a charge needs to have a look at how tall those tires are. If the charge can travel that far through the air, do you really think it'll have much problem with the inch or so to the ground from the rim? Same holds true in a car.

Stubacca

Why? Because you told me to?

The case I've heard of was one I read in the paper a few years back. It doesn't happen often in the grand scheme of things.

You can search the internet as well as I can if you really want to know.

Don Cook

Never, if I can avoid it.

Don Cook

Think. The lightening has just jumped a few thousand feet through the air to strike earth. Now, do you really think it can't make the last three inches because of your car tyres? It is the car's metal skin surrounding you that acts as protection. There have been scenes on TV and in the movies where a couple of folks are semi stranded in a severe storm and some type of power line/power pole has fallen and a "hot" 440 volt line is laying across some part of their car. Then the rocket scientist opens the door and steps out. In this case the rubber tyres had been protecting the scientist until he just couldn't hold it any longer and went to take a leak.

Wurm

I don't make a habit of rain rides, because I don't care to go through an entire cleaning/lubing process of my bike after each one.

But on yesterday's group ride, we did get caught in a downpour on the last 3.5 miles. It was great for a cool-down after the near-90F heat.

Mr. Miskatonic

I bike in the city, so my concerns when riding during thundestorms are those drivers who think they can go as fast as sunny conditions. Lightning doesn't even register on the list of risks.

meme

What? You mean you guys don't wear a Faraday cage when biking out in a lightning storm?

jeff williams

Air heated next to the lightning strike is approximately 30,000 K.
50,000 degrees F hotter than the surface of the sun.

Wurm

Me, I don't like to ride in that kind of heat.

colinm

I think if I wouldn't walk in it, I wouldn't ride in it.

grolby

While I'm not paranoid about lightning strikes on my bike, it might be smart to correct a common misconception about lightning and electricity that has popped up in this thread. Rubber tires, either on bicycles or cars, don't have any effect. Enclosed vehicles protect you from lightning for a very simple reason: electricity is conducted along the outside of conductors, like the aluminum or steel paneling and frame of an automobile. If you're on the inside, the charge simply doesn't reach you. Your vehicle's electrical system will likely fry, but you'll be safe, and the rubber tires have nothing to do with it whatsoever. You can't hide from lightning in a convertible - it has rubber tires! But it isn't enclosed.

So yes, you could be hit by lightning on a bike. You aren't at any more risk than a pedestrian on the same roads would be, but a slight risk does exist. It seems unwise to deliberately court that risk by taking a ride in a T-storm, but if you're just on the way home from work, chances are that you'll be okay. Does this really need to be such a controversial subject?

DamianM

So, to recap..

People are effing idiots riding bikes in storms, because when you were a pilot, you didn't fly in a storm, and other people did, and they were fine too.

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