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Old 07-21-15 | 02:39 PM
  #19  
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GovernorSilver
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Joined: May 2015
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From: Washington DC Metro Area

Bikes: Breezer Uptown 8, Jamis Renegade Expert

Originally Posted by Tundra_Man
My opinion, FWIW, is that lightning is overrated as a risk to the bicycle commuter. Sure a handful of people get hit by lightning every year. Maybe even some of them might be on a bike. But compared to the number of people in the world, the number is staggeringly small.

If I was in a car/bus, what's to say it doesn't have the same risk of being hit by lightning that I do on my bike? Perhaps even more because it's a bigger target? Being in a vehicle hit by lightning can also be lethal, but we don't seem to have the same aversion to being out in an electrical storm if we're in a steel cage. I suspect being isolated from the elements gives us a false sense of security?

I'll play the odds and keep riding. I realize that not everyone is comfortable with that decision. But in the grand scheme of things getting hit by a car because of poor visibility is a much greater risk than lightning. And that's pretty small too.
I'm mainly referencing this thread, in which the consensus (not including joke posts and the like) seems to be "get under a bridge" or "just don't ride" - if you don't agree, feel free to jump in, as it's still a live thread - you wouldn't be alone, btw - there was at least one other person who said he'd "just ride":

http://www.bikeforums.net/general-cy...derstorms.html

My hat's off to the truly hard core commuters who will ride no matter what, lightning or not. Never claimed to be one of them myself and the record will bear this out.

Last edited by GovernorSilver; 07-21-15 at 03:24 PM.
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