banerjek

I had something almost this weird happen to me just last week. I was riding on the shoulder and a bunch of cars passed me. No fooling...

Genaro

Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't you grounded, due to the rubber wheels, therefore not a target for lightning ? Same as a car ?
Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't want to find out.

Rx Rider

protection from a lighting strike is the electrical field the car creates rather than a grounding from the tires.

Joe360

About a year ago I was riding my bike on the SGRT in Azusa in So Cal. I was about half way through the part of the trail that rides on top of the Santa Fe damn when I heard a loud buzzing, I looked in the direction and saw a huge swarm of bees. There were enough of them to cast a shadow as it climbed the rocks that make up the damn. I slammed my breaks hard and skidded to a stop just as the swarm started to cross the MUP about 2 feet in front of me. I actually had a few of them bounce off of me as I (as quickly as cleats allowed) backed away. Im not allergic to bees but seeing that many so close really scared the s**t out off me. I can swear that Ive read that somewhere that as little as 10 stings can put enough venom in you to kill, that was the only thing that I could think of as I rode back home.

DaveWC

A bunch of years ago I was riding home on a relatively busy highway when I passed a cyclist and recognized him. As I went by I turned and said "hey Rene". He looked at me and his face went white. I turned to the front and slammed my face into the rear windshield of a car that had suddenly stopped. The glass shattered, my nose split a bit and my head went into the car, back out of the car and I slumped over the handlebars. Nothing was broken, my front wheel was bent at a huge angle. It turned out the guy was a pizza delivery dude who needed to turn right into his shop & didn't want to get behind me and wait for me to pass his turn so he pulled in front of me from the center lane and hit the brakes hard... hard enough that he didn't stop in time to make his turn. I sued him (at the time there wasn't no fault insurance maxs up here) and got $12,000. Luckily for me there was a man & son at a bus stop right at the impact that witnessed the whole thing unfold and they gave their statement to the police. btw, this was a bunch of years ago & I wasn't wearing a helmet at the time... didn't want to mess up my hair.

UCIMBZ

On 04 July 2012, at approximately 2245 hours, I rode my bike to watch the fireworks display on north Lake Leelanau. I was at N45 01.210’, W085 44.060’. I was approximately 250 feet from Porter’s landing at a depth of 48 feet. The winds were calm, light and variable. I observed an orangish-red glow moving from left to right from my position along the 45th parallel, travelling south to north. The object appeared below the clouds that were present; and it moved silently. I estimate that it was approximately 5, 000 feet AGL. Nevertheless, it was in between the ground and the clouds present. The orangish-red orb was followed by 14 other objects that followed the exact same flight path as the previous one. This all occurred just prior to the start of the firework show; and I observed two of the objects go black and I could see their outline in the sky. I could remember thinking that they looked like about the shape of a quarter. I had no success obtaining accurate weather information from the FSS, NWS, NCDC and others. I have seen many crafts from both ships at sea, on vantages at land and from aircraft that I myself have piloted. These looked like nothing that I have seen. No strobes, nav lights or noise were present.
Or they could have been firewoks.

RecceDG

I had a hawk drop a dead pigeon on me once.

Well, he tried - I dodged.

DG

njkayaker

Yes, you are grounded. That's actually the problem. "Grounded" means that a path is provided for the electricity to travel into the earth (that is, ground) where it can dissipate harmlessly. Lighting rods work because they are grounded (they, along with a connecting metal wire/cable, provide a better path to the ground for the electricity than your house).

Lightning has such high voltage that it will travel down most anything, including rubber and wood. For low voltage, rubber is an insulator, which means electricity doesn't flow through it (which means rubber would be a poor material for a ground).

The reason you are fairly safe in a car isn't because of the rubber tires. It's because electricity travels on the surface of things and, in a car, you are inside.

The material (metal or otherwise) really doesn't matter. Lighting strikes trees all the time (and wood is generally a good insulator).

??? No. Anyway, the idea (which is wrong) is that the rubber tires insulate (not ground) you. Insulators block the flow of electricity, grounds facilitate the flow.

Genaro

I'm going to look up my 4th grade teacher, find him, and punch him in the mouth!!

KDTX

I had a rat fall from a tree dead and almost land on me. It it the ground about a foot in front of my tire. Not sure if he just fell from the tree or a bird dropped him or what.

Ice41000

So, how was your hair after this merry event?

DaveWC

Not so good.

Rx Rider

If you'd only known sooner Dave.


the hair-met would have saved your melon and do.

DaveWC

Great. Then people would be describing seeing me as the weirdest thing that's happened while cycling. Mind you, they might do that already.

brogster

Was out riding on the local MUP when a squirrel ran out in front of me ,then doubled back right into the spokes of my front wheel. He took a few turns in the wheel then flew out !

banerjek

This thread has made me realize that in decades of riding, nothing truly weird has ever happened to me.

Strangest thing this year was almost hitting a peacock by the highway a few weeks ago since peacocks aren't supposed to be out here at all. But I've had all kinds of wildlife encounters that were considerably more exciting. My favorite BF wildlife story is from a guy who had a run in with some javelinas.

Best human encounter was from the early 80's. A friend and I were forced off the road by darkness (we didn't have lights) so we decided to sleep in an unused field. A bit after midnight, this guy blasts us with one of those million candlepower spotlights and says "Mah name's Troy Bitner, and if you give me any trouble, I'll give you trouble with my Colt 38." We stood there doing nothing until the Sheriff came to evict us.

Except that particular stretch of road was suicidal and famous for drunk drivers and racers. Even with a legal order, there was no way we were just riding off. The Sheriff agreed to take us to the next town, but our bikes wouldn't fit in the car. We told him we wouldn't leave unless he road behind us with all his flashers and lights on. I could tell he didn't think he got paid enough for crap like that, but he agreed and followed us about 5 miles to a rest stop where we spent the night (we didn't know it was there).

Archergal

This wasn't really weird, but I thought it was funny.

Back in the 90's I was riding the Bicycle Ride Across Georgia (BRAG). At one point in north GA, I was on a stretch of road with no other cyclists I could see up ahead of me for a bit. I was riding along, just kinda groovin' on being on the bike. I saw a wet spot in the road up ahead and had time to think "Huh, that's interesting" before the kid hiding in the lawn on my right shot me with water from a hose. He'd been lurking there shooting cyclists with water as they rode by.

It was a hot day, and I didn't mind. I actually thought it was hilarious.

Dave Mayer

Sarcasm.. As a Canuck, I've dodged freak snowstorms (in every summer month), golf-ball sized hailstorms, biblical downpours that left you stranded on the wrong bank of a river potentially for days and winds that would blow you off of your bike. And then there are the flies and bears. If you are skiing or mountain biking in the Canadian backcountry, you'd better be ready for massive weather shifts and every possible class of mechanical failure. A cell phone is your lifeline? Nope: there is no coverage and who is going to stage a rescue in an all-out blizzard?

My strangest event was when I came upon two squirrels chasing each other. They were approaching at high speed perpendicular to my travel. The first squirrel cleared my front wheel - barely. The chasing squirrel ran into my wheel, did a complete 360 caught up in the spokes, and then exited at the bottom of the revolution still in fast flight. Didn't even miss a stride.

mprelaw

Nope. The tires don't do a damn thing in the car (and in actuality, most car tires now contain a fair amount of carbon material, and carbon is an excellent conductor). The metal body and frame of a car creates what's called a Farraday cage, which conducts the electricity around the interior and lets it discharge into the ground. Lightning strikes can contain up to a million volts of electricity, and that charge can easily arc from the car frame to the ground despite the "grounded" tires. So, how much will 2 cm of rubber protect you?

Paul Y.

saw a totally white deer with a herd of regular tan ones. I had to go back to see it again, thought it was a goat at first.

MarkThailand

I was riding my usual 70km Saturday morning ride.

As I was rounding a gentle corner at 35 kmh, a 1 meter long snake slithered across my path. It was too soon to swerve away and I was too shocked to attempt a bunny hop so I had to run over the snake.

The sight of it writhing and slithering underneath my wheels is stuck in my mind.

When I rode back the same way about 30 minutes later, I did not see it so I guess I did not kill it.

How about them road hazards in Thailand huh?

Mark

Bill

I have been stung by a bee a couple of time. First time I had to go to the Med center because my hand swelled up. The bee attacked me right where the little material-free circle is on my hands with my gloves on. A weird thing that happens to me quite frequently when I ride is that the middle of my upper lips swells up. It goes away eventually after the ride. Can't figure this out. I sound a little weird when I'm talking when this happens.

pmaz77

Got smacked in the head by a guinea hen whilst traveling ~30 mph in the drops (thankfully not on the hoods). Jumped out of some long grass and bounced off the top of my helmet.

Oh, also, while riding in the lovely town of Moosup, CT, a young man apparently mistook me for his proctologist, as his buddy pulled his pickup truck about a foot from my bike and proceeded to spread his cheeks for me. Now that I think about it, my water bottle would've fit perfectly. No sir, you can keep that one, I've got a spare......

Rx Rider

I just got nailed in the chest by a dove coming down a hill tonight, I bet that was nothing compared to a guinea hen. and i'm trying hard to forget that other thing . . .

Jed19

That is an albino deer. Beautiful, isn't it? I saw one in Estes Park, Colorado about fifteen years ago.