imi

The local bars right?

GravelMN

I'll ride in wind and rain up to the point that visibility, road conditions, or wind velocity make it excessively dangerous. I'm usually more concerned with how the rain and wind affects other drivers on the road with decreased visibility, braking, and general control of their vehicles.

Lightning is another story. I love to watch and photograph lightning but I don't want to be caught out on the road on a bike in a lightning storm. I know the chances of being struck are very slim, but why push your luck?

Other tall conductors in close proximity aren't really much protection as lightning follows stepped leaders ("threads" of ionized air that can project from any conductor). True, tall metal structures make the best targets, but lightning is very unpredictable and can "ignore" obvious conductors and strike anywhere. There are also numerous instances where lightning jumps from conductor to conductor before finally hitting the ground. The majority people who survive "being struck by lightning" are actually survivors of near misses and arc splash. Still very dangerous and one hell of a whollap but nowhere near the energy of a direct strike. Even once it reaches the ground, the energy from a lightning strike can travel quite some distance and still be dangerous.

The insulation from the 1" or so of rubber on your bike tires won't mean squat to an arc of 200,000+ volts at 10,000+ amps. I've seen the aftermath of a backhoe being struck by lightning while traveling on a paved road. One of the tires was blown where the arc jumped from the rim to the road, a distance of 15-18" insulated by very heavy rubber.

Here is some good information on lightning that avoids the mythology and old wive's tales: Facts & Figures all about Lightning.

Wheever

Cue the "Wicked Witch of the West" theme from "Wizard of Oz!"

mightymax

This last few months were I live it seems to rain everyday. I am out in it sometimes. I don't worry about a rain shower, but a bad storm is another story. I have been out in a few of those. I have mapped out along my path where I will go to duck out of the rain. A baseball field dugout or a bench under a canopy in a park etc. Once the storm lessens I procede... The only thing I worry about is having a heavy tree limb fall on me. That happened to a woman on a trail in my area and killed her... Now once I was riding in ominous weather and the Tornado siren went off. Talk about a "what do I do now" scare.. The only thing I came up with if there was a Tornado was to lie down in a ditch along the trail...
Max Bryant

Needles

Once, when I was in college, I was pounding it on my bike to get home before a Tennessee thunderstorm hit. Maybe a half a block down the street, a tall white oak suddenly glowed glow-stick green a split second before exploding as the bolt hit it. I stopped at a friend's house that was close by. My ears rang for hours. Now I live in the lightning strike capital of the country, if not the world. Since I work closely with the ER, I've seen lightning strike victims. They rarely do well, though occasionally one will get lucky. Most victims are not hit directly by the bolt itself--- they'd probably end up like that tree. There is a (usually) 20-30 ft roughly circular zone around the zero point that is usually completely incinerated as the ground charge pops to the middle, usually at a tree, golfer, or other low resistance point. Thing is, you don't have to get hit by the arc itself. All you have to be is close. enough. You really don't want to be a taller-than-the-terrain skin bag of conductive electrolytes, especially mounted on metal. And before anyone asks, the bolt is already arcing a distance of miles, so no, an inch or so of rubber tire is not enough to insulate you. Get inside.

TinyL

If you see lightning find the closest cover possible. If you hear lightning find it quicker.

When I was 12 and camping with a church group we had 2 of my friends killed by a lightning strike. The lightning hit a tree 10 yards from there tent was, but it was the surge through the soil that killed them. After they were discovered the next morning and the body's were removed you could see the paths that electricity traveled burned into the tent floor...

Many years later here in Kansas I lived 35 miles from work and decided to catch a nap in the parking lot in my truck since I was in the area early. I parked right next to a steel light pole in the parking lot. A storm moved in and the pole was hit by lightning and jumped to my truck at the base...then to ground. Witnesses on a porch facing the parking lots said it was huge! I don't remember a flash, but I remember the BOOM! Truck electrical was fried and insurance totaled the truck because it was pretty old.

Long story short...don't take any chances with lightning!

Aznman

I just want to know. Has anybody ever designed a Faraday Cage raincoat and connected rain helmet for cycling?

Redhatter

Worst storm I've ridden in was a heavy rain event that hit Brisbane/Caboolture area. Numerous roads were closed due to flooding.

I rode through it without any problems, a little damp, but all in one piece and not much more delayed than normal.

Basically if it's just wet weather and a bit of "fireworks", depending on the environment I'm in I'd probably just continue on. If I'm going to get struck, I'm going to get struck, so be it.

Hail is more of a concern to me, there are more hailstones thrown down during a storm than lightning bolts so your chances of getting hit are many orders of magnitude greater. The other big concern is high wind, which can either push you over (if its a cross wind) or pick up debris and hurl it in your general direction.

ColaJacket

Would this work?



GH

Aznman

That is not suitable for cycling

Redhatter

Indeed, a bit heavy and possibly too poor in the freedom of movement department.

You could knit copper into some sort of fabric then impregnate it with plastic, but it'd be dear as poison, possibly quite heavy and you'd sweat to blazes.

Even then, the resistance offered by the copper wire would vaporise it in an instant, so you'd immediately find yourself covered in melted plastic and 3rd degree burns. A car works because the chassis isn't in contact with your body, and is solid metal panelling, although how long that remains the case with the advances in plastics is anyone's guess.

Aznman

Highly flexible Faraday suits for physical activities already exist


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIjC7DjoVe8

Redhatter

Yep, seen that video years ago at uni… and I found the ending as amusing now as I did then.

Two points: one, those workers didn't look like they were doing highly strenuous work in comparison to cycling, and two, 500MV is bugger all compared to the energy in a thunderbolt.

b_twill

Was that yesterday? You folks had some good storms roll through!

Aznman

The workers were working under the sun. And no matter how long you have worked at that job, messing around with high electricity, high above ground should make you sweat with nervousness

And cycling rain coats are similar to the electric suit above; you would still sweat anyway with proper rain coat.

I agree with you about the electric voltage difference though. But since a suit of plate armor can protect you from lightning, maybe someone can make the suit waterproof and a little bit lighter.
It doesn't even have to be a suit, just a Faraday cape.

Murray Missile 

About 25 years ago a young boy was struck and killed by lightning here while playing catch with his sister under a blue sky, the nearest clouds were 15 miles away.

KZBrian

That was 2011 on the Pedal Across Lower Michigan tour. Several good storms here in the past week!

diphthong

just. keep. moving.

indyfabz

You'd be the envy of any Iron Man tri.

youngbull

i rode in a thunderstorm the other day it was fun.

bikesd

This discussion is making me never want to move away from So. Cal.

wphamilton

Just a couple of things I disagree about. I don't believe that the crouch is of any use at all, and I don't believe that holding or sitting on metal makes you more likely to be struck by lighting. Also, I don't believe that there is any credible evidence that someone moving is a more likely target than someone standing still.

Nearby strikes that flow along the ground are among the most common strikes. The danger is current flowing through your body, up one leg and down the other for example. From that perspective it looks like sitting on the bike, with a more conductive alternative path, would be safer than standing or crouching in a ditch.

janet0

Most likely the very best technique should be to say goodbye to the bike (because there is certainly steel around it) and obscure in the shrubbery before the tornado goes by. In case your bike wasn't minted, after that keep on.

VegasTriker

There is an award for people who purposely ride in thunderstorms. It is called the Darwin Award.

LoriRose

So I was sitting on my balcony tonight watching the thunderstorm (and watching all the cyclists riding along the bike path in front of my building in said storm) and thought of this thread. Then this popped up on my FB...

Man, 32, in critical condition after being struck by lightning - Montreal - CBC News