Inclement weather
 

So it's been decided that riding in the rain is fun, but what if there is lightning? Do I just ride anyway and hope my rubber tires insulate me? Do I just not ride if lightning is in the forecast? Or do I just do what the wife tells me to?

I guess I always ride, 30-50 mph winds or no. Lightning is one of the weather phenomena we basically don't have though so I can't tell you if faced w/ cataclysmal thunderstorm I'd definitely ride or not. I think so, but I haven't really had to make that choice.

If you're in the city, there are many, many things taller than you are, so it's not a big risk. If you're riding through open fields or something, it might not be so advisable (not sure how much the rubber tires would help in insulating).

I think that you're chance of getting struck by lightning is miniscule, especially when compared to getting run over.

http://www.funny2.com/odds.htm

The chance of getting hit by lightning is about the same as winning the lottery. It just feels a lot different.

Your tires aren't going to help. If lightning strikes your car, it's not the tires that insulate you. The cage of the car is like a Faraday Cage. Since electricity always follows the path of least resistance, that happens to be down the outside of the car and away from you. You don't have the same luxury on a bike.

I don't like riding during a thunderstorm. I have. It's not pleasant. If I have to I will. But I prefer to wait a bit and let it blow over.

Avoid being the tallest thing around. This is easy in the city, but impossible other areas. Tires have a high carbon content which renders them quite conductive. Cars are safer than bikes if lightning is about.

There have been a number of tornados spawned by thunderstorms in the DC area. If one of these forms, head for a ditch and get into it. Your chances of detecting a tornado and quickly diving for shelter are probably much better by bike than by car. Neither is as good as a safe basement.

Thunderstorms are made up of many "cells" of intense convection. Leaving as little as fifteen minutes late or early will often get you out of them. Checking radar services like Weather Underground will quickly tell you if severe weather may affect your route.

Paul

:lol: nice

We get a fair amount of severe weather and lighting. A lot of people get struck by lightning every year around here so there is quite a bit of coverage in the media and they try to increase peoples awareness of the dangers.

If the weather report says a possibility of lightning I'll usually ride, and keep my and eyes and ears open for confirmation. If the weather reports say definite thunderstorms I usually wont go out in it.

I commute on a steel bike and a lot of my route is fairly wide open and exposed, so if I do get caught out, I'll find a place to stop take shelter if only until it passes which usually isn't too long. These kind of surprise storms are generally pretty fast moving around here.

And no, your rubber tires will do nothing to insulate you from a lighting strike.

If I understand this correctly

Odds of being killed sometime in the next year in any sort of transportation accident: 77 to 1

Odds of being killed in any sort of non-transportation accident: 69 to 1 (from http://www.funny2.com/odds.htm)

Then a person's odds of dying such that there is a greater than 2% chance of dying for any reason, and that fully 1.3% of all americans die in transportation 'accidents' yearly - which is about 3.9 million americans, which happens to be about 100X bigger than the DOT stats for motor vehicle deaths. I guess there are about 100x more people dying in america from ferry accidents and train derailments than in car accidents!

Something smells funny about this site.

I know people that have won the lottery and I know people that have been hit by lightning. The lottery winners all seem to agree that they had a positive experience. Lightning victims have avoided a repeat of the experience and have found it very difficult to talk at all after the experience.

getting wet during a thunderstorm.. that's no big deal.. unless lightning strikes you. I would just wait it out personally. If you were in a real hurry to get somewhere, you would be in a car anyway, right?

Right, but it's all about perceived risk. And I happen to perceive powerful bursts of energy that are hotter than the sun violently ripping apart the skies as a risk. I could be wrong, statistically speaking. Lightning freaks me out a bit. YMMV.

I ride thru thunderstorms....I do make sure my rear Blinkies are lit up! (+ the Dinotte Tailight this season) I don't consider it an issue...actually on hot days, I appreciate the cool down.

pull over, catch breakfast, read the newspaper when lightning is striking.
i, personally, don't mess with ice on the road or lightning in the sky. have fallen on ice, close ZAPPED with electrical storm and avoid BOTH now!
choices could be to drive, stay home, catch mass transit, enjoy that raison/bananna muffin (till storm passes), get off the bike when lightning is present!

Your okay if you have questions consult the good folks at NOAA you can get a weather radio for 30 to 50 dollars. Or you can go online and check to see if there is severe lightening.

From what I gather: do what you want. Got it.
To clarify: I'm riding a steel bike, and weather.com is calling for thundershowers Friday afternoon (from 4-6-ish). It's supposed to be in the 60s all day long so I'd love to ride if I can, and prefer to NOT stay later at work than I have to....which reminds me, I could always have my wife pick me up, she loves rescuing her wayward bicyclist.
My ride is mostly on an MUP, with plenty of trees and the real tall electrical towers. The rest is typical suburbia.

I wonder how many people, if any at all, have been struck by lightning while riding a bicycle.
As for the rubber tires helping out. Forget about it. Even if they do conduct the electricity, which the won't, a bolt of lightning is hotter than the surface of the sun, reaching upwards of 50,000 degrees Farenheit. That's slightly warmer than McDonalds coffee. ;)