Would you ride in a storm

jeremyrundle

Once it was thought that being in a car or on a bike in a thunder storm was ok, but as we all know wheels and tyres get wet and water conducts so technically the frame is in contact with the road via wet wheels.

So would you ride in a thunder storm.

shouldbeinbed

I reckon I've got more chance of going under the 184 from Uppermill.

Berk Bonebonce

I believe if lightening strikes you it often hits something metallic that you'e wearing, and that is often a zip. This can mean your balls get blown off (if you are a man) as lightening often strikes at the 'flies', as it were.

El Gordo

I don't think riding a bike is any worse than walking. It's more to do with your surroundings - if you're on a hill with no trees then you are more at risk.

A car is different since you're in a metallic box which protects you in a Faraday cage sort of way.

My father-in-law was struck on a hill last year. He was fine apart from a burn on top of his head, a molten hole on his sock and a marked improvment in his hearing. See - there's nothing to worry about.

jeremyrundle

El Gordo wrote:

A car is different since you're in a metallic box which protects you in a Faraday cage .

That is what people thought years ago then advice was given that (a) being in contact with any conductive part, including the gear stick, seat frame, carbon fibre headrest etc and (b) wet carpets on the frame with wet shoes would prove fatal, I suppose it is just down to luck.

gbsahne001

ridden in quite a few storms and no biggy, might have been different though if I was riding across some moors but in the built up areas I commute through the buildings and trees would get hit before me.

as an aside though, can lightning strike a moving object at ground level?

jeremyrundle

Lightning goes FROM the ground to the SKY not as once thought sky to ground

kelsen

You'll be fine if you haven't taken Zeus' name in vain

gbsahne001

jeremyrundle wrote:

Lightning goes FROM the ground to the SKY not as once thought sky to ground

There is still cloud to ground lightning though.....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lightning

mudcow007

i remember riding home from my girlfriends years ago, it started raining, then it was hailstones then it was thundering and lightning, really really really frightening.......i think that was the fastest i had ever pedalled

jeremyrundle

http://library.thinkquest.org/16132/htm ... types.html

Valy

There is only some lightning that goes from the ground up, the err, majorit is good ol' up down?

tailwindhome

mudcow007 wrote:

i remember riding home from my girlfriends years ago, it started raining, then it was hailstones then it was thundering and lightning, really really really frightening.......

Galileo!

The Rookie

jeremyrundle wrote:

El Gordo wrote:

A car is different since you're in a metallic box which protects you in a Faraday cage .

That is what people thought years ago then advice was given that (a) being in contact with any conductive part, including the gear stick, seat frame, carbon fibre headrest etc and (b) wet carpets on the frame with wet shoes would prove fatal, I suppose it is just down to luck.

Not at all, for it to kill (or for you even to notice) you it has to enter and exit you (no curent optherwise) and round the bodyshell will always be a significantly lower resistance to through your body, so even if you have a finfer on a screw in the door handle and wet feet two parts of nothing will pass through you as the resistance of the car body is effectively zero compared to the very high resistance of the human body.

Simon

jeremyrundle

Not actually 100% true, remember most cars these days are not all metal as they used to be, mine is part carbon fibre, fitted with c/f mats, a lot of internals are no longer plastic so it can not be guaranteed that you are any longer "safe" in a car, safer yes but not "safe".

Mikelyons

I voted yes, as there wasn't a 'it depends' option.

For a commuting ride, I think you'd be reasonably safe from risk of lightening as most commutes would take you through built-up areas where the buildings are a 'better' target than a cyclist.

However, I might wait out the storm if the rain was especially heavy and visibility was poor.
Mike

Kieran_Burns

I've cycled over Cannock Chase when we (me and a mate) heard thunder runbling away in the distance.

We got off the top of the Chase as fast as our legs could carry us, and while sheltering managed to be 100' from a tree strike (which DOES explode) and watched a barn roof get blown off 1/4 mile away.

The road was flooded in two places (crank deep) which was fun but the memory of the tree going BANG is one I'll never forget.

I've also watched lightening hit the fields around me when cycling the last stretch to home in Hatton and really wondering if I was going to get hit

Then there was the time an Oak tree got blown down 20 seconds after I passed under it.

Storms are fun

bails87

So the lightning has 'arced' from somewhere in the clouds to the top of your head, but it couldn't jump the final 6 inches from the soles off your feet to the ground beside of your rubber tyres?

bails87

So the lightning has 'arced' from somewhere in the clouds to the top of your head, but it couldn't jump the final 6 inches from the soles of your feet to the ground because of your rubber tyres?

walkingbootweather

Would it make a difference if your bike frame was steel, aluminium, ti or carbon?

jeremyrundle

walkingbootweather wrote:

Would it make a difference if your bike frame was steel, aluminium, ti or carbon?

NO