Struck by Lightning?

Sheldon Brown <[email hidden]> wrote:
:> While out for a ride today, I got caught in a brief thundershower
:> (sure am glad my Rambouillet has fenders!)
:>
:> It got me wondering, though--how much risk is there of being struck
:> by lightning while cycling? I wasn't too worried, being in rolling
:> terrain with trees and power lines all around, but maybe it's a
:> greater risk in treeless flatland?
:>
:> Does anybody have any PERSONAL experience, either having been struck
:> by lighning or actually knowing someone who was struck by lightning
:> while riding a bike?
:>
:> I don't want to hear about perceived "close calls", only cases where
:> a cyclist was actually struck.

If you hear of a cyclist being struck, will that tell you the risk?

🙂

I would have to think that the risk of being struck is greater IF you're the
tallest object around, for sure, as the moving charge will want to take the
path of least resistance - and open air ain't it. However, on a bike,
perhaps the path to ground is less attractive compared to if you're touching
the ground or standing on it. But perhaps riding on a metal bike would make
it more likely, as lightning will find it a more attractive path. Perhaps
moving through the air so quickly lets you accumulate a net charge - which
wouldn't be good if an oppositely charged cloud is about.

Bottom line: It ain't good to be riding your bike in a thunderstorm.
Lightning is way too unpredictable for anyone to tell you anything other
than don't be out there.

Sheldon Brown said:

While out for a ride today, I got caught in a brief thundershower
(sure am glad my Rambouillet has fenders!)

It got me wondering, though--how much risk is there of being struck by
lightning while cycling? I wasn't too worried, being in rolling
terrain with trees and power lines all around, but maybe it's a
greater risk in treeless flatland?

Does anybody have any PERSONAL experience, either having been struck
by lighning or actually knowing someone who was struck by lightning
while riding a bike?

I don't want to hear about perceived "close calls", only cases where a
cyclist was actually struck.

I was riding home from high school one day, trying to beat a horrendous
thunderstorm. About two blocks from my house, while going very slowly up a
steep hill, I felt my hair stand on end. Suddenly, lightning struck a very
large tree in a front yard right across the street, splitting it as if by a
giant axe, setting the whole thing on fire. The noise and flash were amazing.
I can't believe I didn't get hit. I've been in close proximity to other strikes
too, but nothing like this one!

You're protected in a car because the metal forms a protective cage around you.
But anywhere else near a lightning strike the chances of being hit are pretty
good. There are plenty of side currents besides the main path. In fact most
people hurt or killed by lightning are not hit directly.

Matt O.

"Sheldon Brown" wrote

Quoted message said:

While out for a ride today, I got caught in a brief thundershower (sure
am glad my Rambouillet has fenders!)

It got me wondering, though--how much risk is there of being struck by
lightning while cycling? I wasn't too worried, being in rolling terrain
with trees and power lines all around, but maybe it's a greater risk in
treeless flatland?

Does anybody have any PERSONAL experience, either having been struck by
lighning or actually knowing someone who was struck by lightning while
riding a bike?

I don't want to hear about perceived "close calls", only cases where a
cyclist was actually struck.

Sheldon "ZAP!" Brown

Helmets may be more important as lightening protection than as crash
protection. Unless, of course, you wear a metal eagle lightening rod up top.
See bottom of http://www.sheldonbrown.com/harris/index.html

On Sun, 29 May 2005 18:30:49 -0400, "Matt O'Toole" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Sheldon Brown said:

While out for a ride today, I got caught in a brief thundershower
(sure am glad my Rambouillet has fenders!)

It got me wondering, though--how much risk is there of being struck by
lightning while cycling? I wasn't too worried, being in rolling
terrain with trees and power lines all around, but maybe it's a
greater risk in treeless flatland?

Does anybody have any PERSONAL experience, either having been struck
by lighning or actually knowing someone who was struck by lightning
while riding a bike?

I don't want to hear about perceived "close calls", only cases where a
cyclist was actually struck.

I was riding home from high school one day, trying to beat a horrendous
thunderstorm. About two blocks from my house, while going very slowly up a
steep hill, I felt my hair stand on end. Suddenly, lightning struck a very
large tree in a front yard right across the street, splitting it as if by a
giant axe, setting the whole thing on fire. The noise and flash were amazing.
I can't believe I didn't get hit. I've been in close proximity to other strikes
too, but nothing like this one!

You're protected in a car because the metal forms a protective cage around you.
But anywhere else near a lightning strike the chances of being hit are pretty
good. There are plenty of side currents besides the main path. In fact most
people hurt or killed by lightning are not hit directly.

Matt

I wonder about tornadoes! They can practically come out of nowhere.
What about places like Texas- anyone ever been caught out on the road
when that happens?

This weekend after pissing nearly all week and just [censored] weather,it
finally got nice and sunny. But the air is kind of unstable and
sometimes dark clouds will start looming and then they just pass over.
Howeer, you just don't know. Today I was out on a nice ride and
heading west and saw dark gloomy clouds and big thunderheads banking
in the distance, and I decided not to go as far as I'd planned. The
same thing happened yesterday when I was out and it never rained.Just
as I was nearing home it started to sprinkle a bit and the winds
picked up but nothing! I know if I'd gone the whole way on my ride it
would probably have hailed... sigh.

Sun, 29 May 2005 17:41:15 -0400, <[email hidden]>,

Sheldon Brown said:

I don't want to hear about perceived "close calls", only cases where a
cyclist was actually struck.

Guy in Florida riding with his kids. (survived with minor injuries)
http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/081601/met_6962184.html

Teen on a motorbike struck in Australia. (survived with major
injuries)
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/11/03/1099362189095.html?from=storylhs&oneclick=true

Man in KwaZulu-Natal South Africa struck while he was riding from work
(did not survive)
http://www.anc.org.za/ancdocs/pr/2001/pr1221b.html

Man in South Carolina hit by a tree that was struck (did not survive)
is one of several bicycle related lightning fatalities reported here:
http://www.struckbylightning.org/news/dispIncidentdb.cfm
--
zk

Quoted message said:

I wonder about tornadoes! They can practically come out of nowhere.
What about places like Texas- anyone ever been caught out on the road
when that happens?

A girl named Dorothy (Kansas, I believe) and a boy named Iron Bill (parts
unknown).

One is better documented than the other...

BS

Matt O'Toole said:

Sheldon Brown said:

While out for a ride today, I got caught in a brief thundershower
(sure am glad my Rambouillet has fenders!)

It got me wondering, though--how much risk is there of being struck by
lightning while cycling? I wasn't too worried, being in rolling
terrain with trees and power lines all around, but maybe it's a
greater risk in treeless flatland?

Does anybody have any PERSONAL experience, either having been struck
by lighning or actually knowing someone who was struck by lightning
while riding a bike?

I don't want to hear about perceived "close calls", only cases where a
cyclist was actually struck.

I was riding home from high school one day, trying to beat a horrendous
thunderstorm. About two blocks from my house, while going very slowly up a
steep hill, I felt my hair stand on end. Suddenly, lightning struck a very
large tree in a front yard right across the street, splitting it as if by a
giant axe, setting the whole thing on fire. The noise and flash were amazing.
I can't believe I didn't get hit. I've been in close proximity to other strikes
too, but nothing like this one!

You're protected in a car because the metal forms a protective cage around you.
But anywhere else near a lightning strike the chances of being hit are pretty
good. There are plenty of side currents besides the main path. In fact most
people hurt or killed by lightning are not hit directly.

Matt O.

Mine was a similar experience, caught out in a fast-moving storm and
several kms from town I tried to make it to the first piece of dry
ground I could find, even if it was only a concrete bus shelter. Got to
nearly 100m away when there was a bolt of lightning across the sky above
me and a strike into the industrial lot next to me. A very sudden
tightening of the chest and a greater appreciation of bus shelters
suddenly came to me. I don't want to feel that ever again.

I think that beats the time that kangaroo decided to escape by jump over
me as I cycled past.

Bill Sornson said:

Quoted message said:

I wonder about tornadoes! They can practically come out of
nowhere. What about places like Texas- anyone ever been caught
out on the road when that happens?

A girl named Dorothy (Kansas, I believe) and a boy named Iron Bill
(parts unknown).

One is better documented than the other...

Elvira Gulch rode her bike *inside* a twister -- not many can make that
claim.

--
Ray Heindl
(remove the Xs to reply)

"Sheldon Brown" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

While out for a ride today, I got caught in a brief thundershower (sure
am glad my Rambouillet has fenders!)

It got me wondering, though--how much risk is there of being struck by
lightning while cycling? I wasn't too worried, being in rolling terrain
with trees and power lines all around, but maybe it's a greater risk in
treeless flatland?

Does anybody have any PERSONAL experience, either having been struck by
lighning or actually knowing someone who was struck by lightning while
riding a bike?

I don't want to hear about perceived "close calls", only cases where a
cyclist was actually struck.

Sheldon "ZAP!" Brown

Last summer a man was killed in the UK (Lincolnshire or Norfolk? I forget).
Was reported in the national press.

He was a friend of a chap I work with.
They were flying model aircraft and he had cycled off across the airfield to
collect his model when he was struck and killed.

Paul.

When I first got involved in amateur radio, I attended a lecture on
lightning safety given by a commercial tower technician. As others noted,
most deaths are due to ground current, not direct strikes. When lightning
strikes the ground, current flows out in all directions like ripples on a
pond. If your feet are perpendicular to the current flow, there's no
voltage potential between them and no current flows through your body. If
your feet are parallel to the current flow, a voltage is present and current
WILL flow through your body. This explains why people in an open field will
seemingly die at random from a lightning strike.

In a car, current flows over the outside of the body due to 'skin effect'.
Electrons are all negatively charged, so they repel each other. To a
lightning bolt that's traveled thousands of feet through the air, car tires
don't present much insulation, bicycle tires even less.

One of my co-workers got his forearm across the high voltage power supply
for an aircraft weather radar. If I recall right, that's something like
12,000 volts. It drilled a quarter inch hole from his elbow up to his
wrist. And that's a puny discharge when compared to lightning.

After that safety lecture, I was tempted to take up something a little less
dangerous, like knitting.

--

Alan "smack in the middle of Tornado Alley" Smithee

Anyone who believes in a liberal media has never read the "Daily Oklahoman."

"Sheldon Brown" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

While out for a ride today, I got caught in a brief thundershower (sure
am glad my Rambouillet has fenders!)

It got me wondering, though--how much risk is there of being struck by
lightning while cycling? I wasn't too worried, being in rolling terrain
with trees and power lines all around, but maybe it's a greater risk in
treeless flatland?

Does anybody have any PERSONAL experience, either having been struck by
lighning or actually knowing someone who was struck by lightning while
riding a bike?

I don't want to hear about perceived "close calls", only cases where a
cyclist was actually struck.

Sheldon "ZAP!" Brown

alan said:

When I first got involved in amateur radio, I attended a lecture on
lightning safety given by a commercial tower technician. As others noted,
most deaths are due to ground current, not direct strikes. When lightning
strikes the ground, current flows out in all directions like ripples on a
pond. If your feet are perpendicular to the current flow, there's no
voltage potential between them and no current flows through your body. If
your feet are parallel to the current flow, a voltage is present and current
WILL flow through your body. This explains why people in an open field will
seemingly die at random from a lightning strike.

In a car, current flows over the outside of the body due to 'skin effect'.
Electrons are all negatively charged, so they repel each other. To a
lightning bolt that's traveled thousands of feet through the air, car tires
don't present much insulation, bicycle tires even less.

One of my co-workers got his forearm across the high voltage power supply
for an aircraft weather radar. If I recall right, that's something like
12,000 volts. It drilled a quarter inch hole from his elbow up to his
wrist. And that's a puny discharge when compared to lightning.

After that safety lecture, I was tempted to take up something a little less
dangerous, like knitting.

Try this Alan.
During heavy rain disconnect the coax plug from your 80 metre band
dipole antenna from the back of your radio and leave it hanging free. A
continuous spark will arc from the inner pin to the shell of the plug.
Each raindrop carrys a static charge which acculmulates on your antenna.
My cat was curious about the spark and got zapped on the nose for it's
troubles.

Marty

Have you ever heard the expression "he doesn't have sense enough to
come in out of the rain"?
There's a reason why it doesn't go "thunderstorm's coming! Let's get
out on our bikes!"

On Sun, 29 May 2005 17:41:15 -0400, Sheldon Brown <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

While out for a ride today, I got caught in a brief thundershower (sure
am glad my Rambouillet has fenders!)

It got me wondering, though--how much risk is there of being struck by
lightning while cycling? I wasn't too worried, being in rolling terrain
with trees and power lines all around, but maybe it's a greater risk in
treeless flatland?

Does anybody have any PERSONAL experience, either having been struck by
lighning or actually knowing someone who was struck by lightning while
riding a bike?

I don't want to hear about perceived "close calls", only cases where a
cyclist was actually struck.

Sheldon "ZAP!" Brown
+---------------------------------------------------+
| Men rarely (if ever) manage to dream up a god |
| superior to themselves. Most gods have the |
| manners and morals of a spoiled child. |
| --Robert A. Heinlein |
+---------------------------------------------------+
Harris Cyclery, West Newton, Massachusetts
Phone 617-244-9772 FAX 617-244-1041
http://harriscyclery.com
Hard-to-find parts shipped Worldwide

Since no one here wrote about their experience of being killed by lightning:
http://list.massbike.org/archive/200107/0211.html

and here is some general information.

http://www.lightningsafety.com

"Ben Kaufman" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

On Sun, 29 May 2005 17:41:15 -0400, Sheldon Brown
<[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

While out for a ride today, I got caught in a brief thundershower (sure
am glad my Rambouillet has fenders!)

It got me wondering, though--how much risk is there of being struck by
lightning while cycling? I wasn't too worried, being in rolling terrain
with trees and power lines all around, but maybe it's a greater risk in
treeless flatland?

Does anybody have any PERSONAL experience, either having been struck by
lighning or actually knowing someone who was struck by lightning while
riding a bike?

I don't want to hear about perceived "close calls", only cases where a
cyclist was actually struck.

Sheldon "ZAP!" Brown
+---------------------------------------------------+
| Men rarely (if ever) manage to dream up a god |
| superior to themselves. Most gods have the |
| manners and morals of a spoiled child. |
| --Robert A. Heinlein |
+---------------------------------------------------+
Harris Cyclery, West Newton, Massachusetts
Phone 617-244-9772 FAX 617-244-1041
http://harriscyclery.com
Hard-to-find parts shipped Worldwide

Since no one here wrote about their experience of being killed by
lightning:
http://list.massbike.org/archive/200107/0211.html

And how WOULD someone write about being killed by lightning??

Ken

Quoted message said:

and here is some general information.

http://www.lightningsafety.com

Tue, 31 May 2005 09:41:13 -0400, <[email hidden]>,

Ken said:

And how WOULD someone write about being killed by lightning??

You've never heard of ghost writers? (in the sky)
--
zk

"Ken" wrote: And how WOULD someone write about being killed by lightning??
^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I also want to hear from the people who never read the question. (It's a
joke, Ken.)

"Leo Lichtman" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"Ken" wrote: And how WOULD someone write about being killed by
lightning??
^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I also want to hear from the people who never read the question. (It's a
joke, Ken.)

Yeah I kind of figured it was a joke.
Ken

Sheldon Brown asked:

Quoted message said:

how much risk is there of being struck by lightning
while cycling?

From Book_of_Risks by Susan Skolnick [National Press, 1985]:

"Thunderstorms can be dangerous to anyone, but are particularly
threatening to golfers and bicyclists."
...
"Lightning storms cause about 100 deaths and 245 injuries each year."

Quoted message said:

Does anybody have any PERSONAL experience, either having
been struck by lighning or actually knowing someone who
was struck by lightning while riding a bike?

I didn't know him personally, but around the time I moved to Sacramento
in 1985, a cyclist on the American River Bicycle Trail (later morphed
into the Jedediah Smith MURP) was struck by lightning. The lightning
strike put a fist-sized hole in his helmet, and rendered him unconscious.

--
"Bicycling is a healthy and manly pursuit with much
to recommend it, and, unlike other foolish crazes,
it has not died out." -- The Daily Telegraph (1877)

alan said:

When I first got involved in amateur radio, I attended a
lecture on lightning safety given by a commercial tower
technician. As others noted, most deaths are due to ground
current, not direct strikes.

Likewise, I once attended a lecture on lightning safety. Ground
current was identified as a major problem. I should think that
risk from ground current would be small while riding a bike
(you've got a conductive frame between the wheels), but a
direct strike would be another matter.

The advice I got about what to do when caught outside was clear
and sensible. Don't seek shelter under a tree. Stand (or
better still, crouch) in the open. Especially when you feel
your hair standing on end, put your feet together (minimize the
ground current flowing from one leg to the other) and crouch as
low as possible. Also avoid a different risk from ground
current by avoiding the shelter of small caves or overhangs.

John