Electric storms

[buggi]

An actual example:
http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/cyclist-struck-by-lightning-in-boulder

" ... she blacked out and woke up to people standing over her, holding umbrellas to cover her from the rain."

CLEVER THAT!

 

[ufkacbln]

Another reason for riding a recumbent (especially a trike)


Being much lower - you can cycle close to an upright as they will then get hit.

 

[Born2die]

I'm wary in storms but that comes down to a close call a few years ago when walking to the shops in a storm the house opposite where I was had there tv antenna hit f*****g loud loud bang I jumped over the front garden wall of the house I was walking past in fright and the smell of ozone coupled with a smoking antenna and the loudest bang of my life well I'm wary these days

 

[ColinJ]

Lookee here at the Torro website...
http://www.torro.org.uk/site/lightning_info.php
Three peeople killed by lightning strikes in the UK. Winning the lottery is WAY more dangerous. Please, please don't buy a ticket.

But ... if a group of cyclists went out in a thunderstorm and rode over the top of a big hill, you could well get a year's worth of fatalities in one strike! I took shelter from a storm once and watched scores of lightning bolts hitting the hill that I had been about to ride over!

The reason that the number isn't much higher is because people in this country generally try to keep out of the way of thunderstorms, not because they are not dangerous. Read this.

 

[Gravity Aided]

The problem with the bicycle in the electrical storm is that it has many pointy parts, often of bare metal, which can create a place for the electrical charge to create a "upward streamer" which rises to meet the growing charge in the cloud, providing a path for the lightning bolt to travel down.
http://www.lightningsafety.noaa.gov/science_initiation_stepped_leader.htm
http://www.lightningsafety.noaa.gov/science_connection_ground.htm
@Born2die, that is what may have happened with the antenna for the telly.
Hair standing on end,other static electricity events tell you a upward streamer is already going up. I have some old pictures of lightning where there is a upward streamer you can see rising about 4 yards away from my position. But not all upward streamers connect

 

[Born2die]

@Born2die, that is what may have happened with the antenna for the telly.
Hair standing on end,other static electricity events tell you a upward streamer is already going up. I have some old pictures of lightning where there is a upward streamer you can see rising about 4 yards away from my position. But not all upward streamers connect

Tell me about it I certainly felt more than a little wired afterwards the smell of ozone was intense it scared the life out of me

 

[annedonnelly]

Cycling in an electric storm, silly right?
Been looking forward to a ride tonight but it looks bad, weather wise. I genuinely don't mind bad weather e.g. cold, rain& wind but am I being stupid getting kitted up with electric storms near by?

I didn't have much choice - I was cycling home just about then. I convinced myself the lightening was car headlights in the distance. And I was more worried about the horizontal hail coming at me sideways!