odds in lightining
 

hi all, just a general question about cycling in inclement weather, regarding lightning.

i know common sense tells me what i really need to know, but is there any evidence or reports that riding a bicycle in rain/lightning makes a better target than say a nearby utility pole or tree or someone with an umbrella?

i got stuck in a pretty good storm on the way home from work friday afternoon. as i got closer to my house, the lightning seemed to get worse. i tried to take as many back roads as possible to avoid traffic... and being a typical guy, i pressed on. if frame material makes any difference, it's Ti.

just wondering.

Considering that I ride steel frame bikes, I would NOT want to get caught in an electrical storm.

On the other hand, I'm probably shorter than most of the other objects around me :D .

An interesting question, this one.

East Hill

Lightening will usually strike the tallest object in the area, but if your hair starts standing on end dive to the ground immediately and lay as flat as possible.

I got stuck riding towards a storm going home one night, riding on a MUP that went under some high tension power lines. It was just sprinkling where I was, but there was heavy rain and a lot of wind and lightning coming my way that inspired me to push harder to get home before the storm hit. I wondered if the power lines/poles would be great lightning rods, or if they'd increase my chance of getting hurt, and got home shortly before the storm hit. Was I safer under the power lines, or in more danger from the lightning?

As far as metals go titanium is not a good conductor. If one is worried about the bike drawing lightning strikes stay away from aluminum. Go for one of Calfee's bamboo bikes. Anyway at the power levels involved the metal involved is the least of your worries. Much more seriously laying flat on the ground is a good way to get fried. The ground current from all the electrical charges rushing to/from the strike will go through your body possibly killing you. The recommendation I've seen is to squat down with only your shoes on the ground and hold your ankles.

If the buildings or trees alongside your route are 30' tall, the lightning will hit the building or tree rather than you if you are less than 30' away them.

Crouch low, don't lay down if a strike feels imminent due to raised hair and/or tingly sensation.

Tall structures such as towers, trees, buildings, and similar items can draw lightning even before the storm is really evident, so they should be avoided if electrical storms are reported within the geographical area. If caught in an electrical storm, my metal bike is usually leaned against something low (like a wooden fence) while I walk 20 yards away to wait the storm out for a bit. Good luck.

You might like to do a little reading at this site on lightning safety.

The odds are 50/50. You get hit, and spend the rest of your life with Gene Wilder hair, or you don't.:D

They announced on the radio this morning that the chance of getting struck by lightening is 1 in 400,000.

The reason they announced that is because 7 young people were struck by lightening near here this weekend. One was killed, and his wife's unborn baby was also killed. The rest are in critical condition. The all stood under a tree to get some shelter from the storm. The lightening struck the tree ... they were apparently too close ... and ......

Interestingly, a friend of mine and her husband were struck by lightening last summer. They were up on scaffold painting the side of their house. Next thing they knew they were lying on the scaffold, badly burned. The Drs told them the burn pattern was like that of being struck by lightening. They were months in the hospital and going through the recovery process.

And I've come very close to being struck by lightening myself, once in the backyard of a friend of mine. It struck just a little ways away, but my hair all stood on end, and I saw it very vividly. And once during a ride. A friend and I ended up lying the bicycles down, walking a ways away from them, then lying down in the ditch with a bivy over us until the storm moved on a bit. But lightening was flashing EVERYWHERE and nailing the telephone poles and things around us.

Everyone says that, but I wonder ...

1) Are tires still really rubber, or are they some sort of plastic/rubber blend?

2) What about the wire or beading in the tires?

3) What about the fact that the tires are very small, and the only contact between the tire and the road is really just a very small patch?

4) What about the fact that we are not in direct contact with the rubber tires?

Rubber tires won't help in a lightning strike. The only reason a car is good protection is that the occupants are surrounded by a partial Faraday cage, and that only works if the car has a metal body.:)

From what I understand about lightning, the material your bike is made of won't make a difference in your chances of being hit. Lightning strikes with millions of volts, and thousands of amps, the 5-6 foot gap from your head to the ground is nothing for that kind of power to traverse. A little metal in your frame isn't going to attract the lightning. Height would be my main concern in an electrical storm. Being the tallest object in the area is not a good situation, nor is standing near a tall object because of the charge that travels through the ground.

"Rubber tires won't help in a lightning strike. The only reason a car is good protection is that the occupants are surrounded by a partial Faraday cage, and that only works if the car has a metal body."

Exactly. Many people believe the rubber in the tires protects the occupants of a car. In reality, if lightning strikes a car, the electricity just travels around the outside of the body to the ground. Again, the few inches of rubber insulation from the tires is negligible when dealing with the magnitude of electricity in a lightning strike.

The odds getting struck by lightning are better than winning the lottery.

How many know that lightning travels from the ground to the cloud?

This website explains it in simple terminology:

http://mmem.spschools.org/grade5scie...ightning2.html

Maybe this should be on "Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader!"

It's not the tires that protect motorists in lightning strikes, it's the cage they're sitting in.

Google is your friend:

lightning

and lightning

etc.....

It may be chances of being struck by lightning are 1 in 400,000; but who are the 400,000? Are they people who are also out playing golf or riding bicycles during storms? Or, are they the general population, most of which are inside buildings or even hundreds of miles from the nearest storm? More meaningful would be statistics that give the chances of being struck among those who are also outside during a storm in similar circumstances. I would suspect the chances of being struck rise considerably when the sample is those who are likewise exposed to a thunderstorm.

Taking refuge under a tree is about the most dangerous thing one can do during a thunderstorm. The same goes for being near to a fence. Lightning can strike the fence some distance away and follow the fence to injure anyone near to the fence. Even being near a metal object is dangerous. The advice above to get away from your bike when caught in a storm is good advice.

People struck by lightning may survive (or not), but survivors often have adverse after effects from which they never fully recover.