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 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
http://captainbike.com http://sheldonbrown.com

Dear Mrs. McWilliams,

Of the ten uniformed Pueblo City police officers listed as
giving their lives in the line of duty from the first 1879
to the last (so far) in 1973 . . .

One was shot accidentally by a fellow officer.

Two shot themselves accidentally.

And one poor devil was struck by lightning in 1906 while on
horseback patrol and died a few days later.

I conclude that equestrians are more at risk than
bicyclists.

Google for "lightning deaths" and 2004 and you'll quickly
learn that about 50-75 people are killed every year in the
U.S. by lightning, typically in the open or under trees (I
try not to ponder that), with about half the victims being
struck after the storm has apparently passed.

Florida (followed by Texas) is the most dangerous state.
(Has anyone seen Phil Lee lately? Or a charred hatrack?)

Bicyclists are rarely found toasted, but here's a site that
mentions bicyclists struck in New Zealand, Nebraska,
Louisiana, Colorado, and Wisconsin:

http://www.struckbylightning.org/news/dispIncidentdb.cfm

Here's Mark Twain's take on the matter:

http://www.underthesun.cc/Classics/Twain/merrytales/merrytales6.html

Possibly if you remove that plastic lightning-rod from your
helmet, you'll feel somewhat safer?

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/eagle.html

C. Steinmetz

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.

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
http://captainbike.com http://sheldonbrown.com

Dear Mrs. McWilliams,

Of the ten uniformed Pueblo City police officers listed as
giving their lives in the line of duty from the first 1879
to the last (so far) in 1973 . . .

One was shot accidentally by a fellow officer.

Two shot themselves accidentally.

And one poor devil was struck by lightning in 1906 while on
horseback patrol and died a few days later.

I conclude that equestrians are more at risk than
bicyclists.

Google for "lightning deaths" and 2004 and you'll quickly
learn that about 50-75 people are killed every year in the
U.S. by lightning, typically in the open or under trees (I
try not to ponder that), with about half the victims being
struck after the storm has apparently passed.

Florida (followed by Texas) is the most dangerous state.
(Has anyone seen Phil Lee lately? Or a charred hatrack?)

Bicyclists are rarely found toasted, but here's a site that
mentions bicyclists struck in New Zealand, Nebraska,
Louisiana, Colorado, and Wisconsin:

http://www.struckbylightning.org/news/dispIncidentdb.cfm

Here's Mark Twain's take on the matter:

http://www.underthesun.cc/Classics/Twain/merrytales/merrytales6.html

Possibly if you remove that plastic lightning-rod from your
helmet, you'll feel somewhat safer?

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/eagle.html

C. Steinmetz

Lightning of course likes pointy vertical things, but usually there's
that much power there it will take any path it damn well likes. I
wouldn't go tempting the gods.

Marty

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

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.

Quoted message said:

Bicyclists are rarely found toasted, but here's a site that
mentions bicyclists struck in New Zealand, Nebraska,
Louisiana, Colorado, and Wisconsin:

http://www.struckbylightning.org/news/dispIncidentdb.cfm

Quoted message said:

From that site:

"A woman was struck on a mountain ridge while riding a mountain bike
with 3 friends. The friends were uninjured. The victim was in between 2
other cyclists, seperated about 15 yard apart from each other. The 4th
cyclist was 75 yards further up the ridge when the lightning struck."

That took place on the "Telegraph" trail on this trail system (which
now also includes "Stacy's Loop," named after the victim)
http://www.trails2000.org/telegraph.html

- just a short distance up the trail from this spot:
http://www.trailcentral.com/gallery/albums/2004_june_telegraph/DSCN0454.thumb.jpg

The description suggests the rider was on top of a ridge when she was,
in fact, on a trail traversing a steep hillside well below the top of
the ridge. The spot is marked with a cross at the side of the trail.

DR

I said:

- just a short distance up the trail from this spot:
http://www.trailcentral.com/gallery/albums/2004_june_telegraph/DSCN0454.thumb.jpg

Here's a larger image:
http://www.trailcentral.com/gallery/albums/2004_june_telegraph/DSCN0454.jpg

DR

Quoted message said:

Google for "lightning deaths" and 2004 and you'll quickly
learn that about 50-75 people are killed every year in the
U.S. by lightning, typically in the open or under trees (I
try not to ponder that), with about half the victims being
struck after the storm has apparently passed.

Florida (followed by Texas) is the most dangerous state.
(Has anyone seen Phil Lee lately? Or a charred hatrack?)

I wisely did not venture forth last evening during the thunderstorms,
and our afternoon ride concluded about half an hour before the storms
reached our area. Ergo, no smoking remains. (I will note that I have
been the subject of two near-miss events over the years, however, but
neither involved a bike.)

A quick perusal of the lists of incidents will show that farming is
the most common thread.

Quoted message said:

Bicyclists are rarely found toasted, but here's a site that
mentions bicyclists struck in New Zealand, Nebraska,
Louisiana, Colorado, and Wisconsin:

And Florida.

Quoted message said:

http://www.struckbylightning.org/news/dispIncidentdb.cfm

Possibly if you remove that plastic lightning-rod from your
helmet, you'll feel somewhat safer?

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/eagle.html

Why do I get the inescapable feeling that this is about to devolve
into a discussion of how carbon-framed bikes with carbon rims and
spokes are inherently safer than metal bikes because they don't
conduct electricity?
--
Typoes are a feature, not a bug.
Some gardening required to reply via email.
Words processed in a facility that contains nuts.

Werehatrack said:

Why do I get the inescapable feeling that this is about to devolve
into a discussion of how carbon-framed bikes with carbon rims and
spokes are inherently safer than metal bikes because they don't
conduct electricity?

But does it make a difference what material you're on? All the carbon
fibre fishing rods have a warning not to use them in lightning. And the
hikers I know (inclusing me) always put them some ways apart from the
tents when hiking in treeless northern Finland.

Jan

"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

Werehatrack said:

Why do I get the inescapable feeling that this is about to devolve
into a discussion of how carbon-framed bikes with carbon rims and
spokes are inherently safer than metal bikes because they don't
conduct electricity?

But carbon fiber *DOES* conduct electricty!

--

John ([email hidden])

John Thompson said:

But carbon fiber *DOES* conduct electricty!

And at voltages that lightning occurs at, so does air and rubber tires.

RFM

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

Fritz M said:

John Thompson said:

But carbon fiber *DOES* conduct electricty!

And at voltages that lightning occurs at, so does air and rubber tires.

RFM

Yes and it's been shown that lightening will come right through your
car, too. Not alot of places to really hide from lightening, really.

When we were kids we'd play through thunderstorms all the time. I guess
that, when you really figure your chances, it's probably not going to
get you anyway and, if it is, it will probably get you anyway.

Like the Mark Twain bit ... thanks to CF.

Robin Hubert

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!"

Robin Hubert said:

Fritz M said:

John Thompson said:

But carbon fiber *DOES* conduct electricty!

And at voltages that lightning occurs at, so does air and rubber tires.

RFM

Yes and it's been shown that lightening will come right through your
car, too. Not alot of places to really hide from lightening, really.

When we were kids we'd play through thunderstorms all the time. I guess
that, when you really figure your chances, it's probably not going to
get you anyway and, if it is, it will probably get you anyway.

Like the Mark Twain bit ... thanks to CF.

Robin Hubert

Dear Robin,

Twain was fascinated by lightning.

Both "Tom Sawyer" and "Huckleberry Finn" have a number of
lightning passages, and "Connecticut Yankee" involves
blowing up Merlin's tower with barrels of gunpowder ignited
by lightning rods.

It is a great pity that Mr. McWilliams did not favor Twain
with an account of a local bike shop adjusting a suitable
road machine, but we do have a report concerning burglar
alarms that suggests how things might have gone:

http://www.mtwain.com/The_McWilliamses_And_The_Burglar_Alarm/0.html

The detailed bill for materials and labor may be
particularly instructive for local bike shops of limited
imagination.

There is, of course, the famous detailed commentary by Twain
himself concerning lightning rods and political economy:

http://www.infomotions.com/alex2/etexts/literature/american/1900-/twain-political-695/

It is unclear whether spiral-twist rod is indeed more
efficacious, or is merely myth and lore.

Carl Fogel

Fritz M said:

John Thompson said:

But carbon fiber *DOES* conduct electricty!

And at voltages that lightning occurs at, so does air and rubber tires.

RFM

Carbon fibre conducts at low voltages and is good at it. People working
with it prefer pneumatic drills and saws because the fibres get into
electric motors and give shocks.

Marty