Only if its a short horse

If you want to look up specific probability for cyclists, then be my guest. Frankly the general environment, such as the mountaintop or open plain I cited, are much more likely to increase the probability of being struck. Frankly the odds of getting hit while riding unsafely (which the op admitted to) in a heavy rain are much higher than a lightning strike... Hence the advice to seek safety as soon as possible while still riding safely...

Its funny you talk about sampling error while agreeing with a gentleman who did exactly the wrong thing to shelter from lightning (against a rock/granite cliff in a puddle of water). He would have been better off to continue riding. And regardless of the actual probability of a lightning strike, it is clear that riding in an unsafe manner as described by the OP in poor visibility conditions is likely to be much more risky...

So again, seek shelter as soon as possible, but do so while continuing to ride safely...

You don't know the odds of being hit while riding in a storm - yet you somehow compare those odds to the odds of being hit by a car? Ok...

My point is the odds are not 1:250,000 if you're out there flying a kite with metal wire... those type of odds really aren't relevant and are so general as to only serve as false comfort for people.

I'm sure parachutists tell themselves the same thing! only 1:1,000,000 die in parachuting accidents... so it's safe for me. This completely ignores the real situation that many people will never parachute, that dramatically increases the odds of the parachutist dying. It is the same with lightning strikes. Get what i'm saying?

Of course, lets not forget he was also outside during a storm to begin with. I don't disagree that one should seek shelter if lightning becomes more intense.

I'm not sure why you're laughing at the sampling error comment... maybe explain your idea some more. I'm not agreeing with his philosophy either, i am just agreeing to the fact that lightning is dangerous.

I am not really laughing at the sampling error comment per se. But lightning strikes are fairly uncommon, being hit by a car is not. I was mostly suggesting to the OP that his somewhat reckless riding to get out of the storm was more likely to result in injury then a chance lightning strike. And yes for the purposes of determining if being hit by a car or a lightning strike I think the original probability estimate range I provided is pretty reasonable.

So do you actually disagree with my suggestion that getting to shelter as soon as possible while still riding safely is what the OP should have done?

i ride carbon

Better watch out your clothes don't rub the frame and build up a static charge!

And I live in Florida. When I see it I count the seconds between the flash and the boom. I do this while riding to get a sense of how far away it is. When I start counting less than 5 seconds I get really worried and I look for shelter. Gas Stations work great if they have an overhang you can get under for protection.

The worst part is when I'm crossing Tampa Bay on the Gandy bridge, which is 3.5 miles in open water. Half way across that bridge one day I was watching bolts strike the water and I was heading right for them. by the time I got to the end of the bridge the bolts were striking in front, back, and both sides of me. And it was still two more miles to the nearest shelter. I pedaled like a mad man for those two miles until I reached a gas station, where I pulled in under the overhang and waited it out.

I guess people dont get it, it doesnt matter frame material or tires the lightning is gonna be attracted to you the person, easiest path of resistance.

It wouldn't help. The lightning bolt is, what, a mile or more long? It hits your head, if your bike conducts no electricity it will travel through your body and out your feet to the ground. A few more inches of air travel at the end won't bother a mile long lightning bolt. Your aluminum bike is not connected to the ground, the lightning is going to have to jump an air gap at the end either way. By the time the current flows from your head to the bike frame it has passed through and stopped your heart. Sitting on a backpack isn't going to help either. Getting down low is no certain protection, I once saw a lightning bolt hit a low building right next to a 100 foot plus commercial radio tower built of nice conductive aluminum. You cannot predict what lightning will do out in the open. Aircraft traveling hundreds of miles per hour get hit by lightning, speed is no protection.

Part of the reason that lightning strikes are rare is that sensible people do not stay outdoors in lightning storms! Ignore that advice and you do increase your odds of being hit by quite a bit. I don't know by how much and your odds of being hit are still small. My lightning drill consists of not going out in lightning storms and getting indoors as soon as I can if one catches me unawares. Stop and get inside a public building if you can. Beat it for home, work, a friend's house if you can. If you are stuck way out in the country with no possible shelter then just ride. Your odds are good enough that if there is no real shelter available you might as well just continue on. A tree is no shelter and its height actually puts you at more risk, don't bother stopping under a tree.

If you can feel the tingling sensation from an impending strike you have little, if any, time to do anything. If you can I would get as low as possible and if you are off the bike try to stand/squat on one leg or with both feet very close together. If you are lucky the lightning will only strike nearby and when it does the enormous current from the bolt will flow radially outward from the strike point. If you are standing/squatting on two legs in that zone where the current is high some of it can flow up one leg, through your body, and down the other depending on how your feet are placed with respect to the current flow. Keeping your feet very close together or supporting yourself on only one can prevent that and save your life. Not that you are likely to accomplish any of this in the time you have....

Ken

Exactly. Open air is a terrible conductor and lightening passes through thousands of feet of it. If you happen to be in the way, it won't matter what your frame is made of or what kind of tires you have. Lightening doesn't have to pass through your bike to get to the ground. It'll pass through the air around you just fine.

In retrospect, I was wearing a helmet so a direct hit to the head would have been NBD.

Stop arguing and go on with your lives. And wear a helmet, it just might save you from death by lightning. It certainly saved me yesterday.

Myrridin wrote: Its funny you talk about sampling error while agreeing with a gentleman who did exactly the wrong thing to shelter from lightning (against a rock/granite cliff in a puddle of water). He would have been better off to continue riding.

Yeah that was me down South on tour. Surprisingly caught off guard in a storm. Had the traffic not been so heavy (in blinding rain) I would have gotten back on the road. As it was, I had to sit on a small rock against the bluff and hold my feet up out of the water for 2 hours...until the storm passed. I'm just glad I lived through this one so I can learn what NOT to do on my next tour.

Myrridin, believe me, I can't tell you how many times I asked myself '...you freaking idiot! How'd you manage to get caught in this?"

All kidding aside, I do plan my rides much more carefully.

Jerry H

Reread the posts, I also said the gentleman who sheltered against the cliff face did the wrong thing and would have been better off continuing to ride.

Seek shelter (and know what is appropriate shelter) yes, but do so while continuing to ride safely... It doesn't do any good to avoid getting hit by lightning if you get hit by a car or truck instead...

jharte: Truth be told I probably would have done the same thing in your situation... Sometime, s%^&t happens.

Hey a new excuse for buying a carbon bike!

I don't want to get hit by lighting!


I have almost the same chance of both.

Uh...I just keep riding and enjoy the show.

Honestly, getting hit by lightning is not something I've ever thought about.

According to this commercial, you are probably safe from lightning... if you are a woman. If you are a man, well, better stay indoors. Although getting hit by lightning looks kind of fun.

As a fly fisherman I am very aware of the danger of lightning. I think graphite is something like 4 times more conductive than steel. That is way distributor caps have a carbon element in the center of them. When I am waving my 10' fly rod around in a lightning storm it is much like waving around a 40' steel rod. This is just a bad idea. I try to avoid it, but sometimes the fishing is too good. I can tell you that graphite will warm a bit just before a lightning strike, and that when that happens a fisherman can just about fill his own waders. I got lucky. The lightning struck a tree on the bank about 40' from me. I had my rod parallel with with water at the time. I was changing flies and had the rod in my hand. I noticed it was sort of humming and warm, thought "that is not good" and then the whole world lit up, and I was deaf for a few minutes. I wobbled back to the truck and went home. I am more careful now, but honestly I wouldn't worry too much in my bike even if it was carbon.

Chuck Norris hits lightning

Incredible... you are so lucky to have even survived. As for the Gatorade commercial, that may even be true and it's funny. I'd bet everybody in this thread who has been struck was a man, and that goes back to what i was saying about the odds - you can't win the lotto if you don't play and many women aren't buying a ticket so to speak.

People always throw statistics around but if you're golfing, fishing, bicycling, etc during a lightning storm, the chance of being struck is probably closer to 1 in 100 than the aforementioned 1:1,000,000.

Your odds are way too high. If they were even close we would have hundreds and probably thousands of deaths by lightning every year. Without specific data on the size of the risk pool and number of cyclists deaths it is impossible to determine the actual probability; however, the following numbers do indicate that the 1:250,000 to 1:750,000 range that I quoted from another source is likely pretty close.

Here are some actual facts:

1. Lightning kills an average of 58 people per year source:https://www.lightningsafety.noaa.gov/overview.htm
2. About 700 cyclists die annually, of which about 80% are a result of a collision with a car. source: https://bicycleuniverse.info/transpo/almanac-safety.html
3. I can find no statistics concerning cyclists struck by lightning; however a google search turned up 170,000 hits. On the first page of results there are only five deaths listed, three in 2009 and two in 2006. This would indicate that the number of cyclists killed per year may well be less than 1 or 2 out of the 58 average. Many of the links points to stories of cyclists struck who survived... And one of the deaths cited earlier was one cyclist in a larger group of cyclists.

Clearly, you are at a greater danger from cars than lightning. Yes, you should seek shelter, but do so in a safe riding manner...

For those interested here is some information on what is the safe course to take in different circumstances by the national weather service.

https://www.lightningsafety.noaa.gov/outdoors.htm

The only thing that is clear is that you are not in possession of relevant statistics regarding lightning strikes. 1 in 100 may be BANG on for cyclists out in the middle of a lightning storm. Stop guessing and stop comparing lightning to cars - the circumstances and event of being hit by lightning or a car are two VERY different things.

Respect lightning, don't travel on a bicycle and try to stay indoors during storms.