Bikes and Lightning?

werd · « **on:** 4 Jul 2011, 06:48 pm »

Just curious if the same type of protection is offered riding a bike that you get from being in your car ? Is there enough rubber on the bike tires? Will a lightning hit kill you on a bike?

I was out last nite riding around in the lightning and was thinking about this.

JoshK · « **Reply #1 on:** 4 Jul 2011, 06:52 pm »

I doubt it. The key is having enough rubber between you and the ground to avoid corona effect. Voltage above a certain voltage can jump. Tube amp builder who work with higher voltage designs, such as 845 amps with 1000V B+ need to be aware of the fact that the voltage can jump up to a 1/2" or so, above many thousands of volts it can jump more.

S Clark · « **Reply #2 on:** 4 Jul 2011, 07:04 pm »

The wet tire rubber in a car has no effect if protecting you from million volt lightning, but the metal can that you are setting in does. You have no such shielding on a bike. Think about it, air is a better insulator than rubber, and the lightning just ionized the air to create a conduit to earth. Even a class room Van der Graff generator can spark the distance from the tire rim to the earth, and we are talking about voltages 100-1000 times less than a lightning bolt. Wrap your mind around figures like 30 000 amps and 1 trillion watts.
If you are riding a bike and get hit...

JerryM · « **Reply #3 on:** 4 Jul 2011, 07:16 pm »

Quote from: werd on 4 Jul 2011, 06:48 pm

Will a lightning hit kill you on a bike?

It most likely depends on how lucky one is.

Lightning is something like one trillion watts. That's one hell of a hot light bulb.

It's unlikely that bicycle tires could overcome lightning making it to ground. However, the bike frame *might* disperse the electricity away from one's body so much that they aren't actually the primary contact to ground.

All that means is that a lightning strike while biking may not kill someone.

One still got hit by a trillion watts. Then crashed their bike. Unlucky day, for sure.

Be careful,

Jerry

S Clark · « **Reply #4 on:** 4 Jul 2011, 08:14 pm »

If the current goes from the air to the bike to the ground, you might get lucky. I wouldn't count on it. My advice (probably mirroring your mother's from years ago) is head for shelter in a lightning storm.