Cycling in a Lightning Storm

Marc Schneider has a very worrying question about cycling in Thunder storms. Will he be electrocuted? What should he do? This isn’t a subject we think about until it happens to us and hopefully that isn’t very often. We give him our advice and some extra advice from reader, Mike King

Question: On my last bike ride, a thunderstorm arose from nowhere. Question-with lightening strikes around me, are we safe while riding a bike being rubber tires are our contact point with the ground?

Hi Marc,
My advice to you would be to stay home, but that’s never the problem with thunder storms, they happen when you are already out there, so here is what we think.

Can you get struck by lightning when cycling? Yes, I think you have as much change of hit by lightning as anyone else, except maybe golfers, who are always getting struck as they are taking a shot and the lightning hits the golf club. Now, Marc, as you say you have the rubber tires to protect you, so if you take a direct hit you will probably be OK, but maybe a bit singed or burnt around the edges.

The same goes if the lightning is hitting the ground round about you, the rubber tires should save you, the problem with both these ideas is that if it is raining and you are in a deep puddle then the water will conduct the electricity to the ground and that is dangerous.

So what to do? Well your first reaction is to get under a tree for protection from the rain, of course the tree is more likely to be hit, and so do you stand out in the road? Well if you are the only thing there then there is a good chance you’ll get struck. The best thing to do is find a building that has a lightning conductor on the roof, churches are the best, and any tall building should also have one. Wooden barns are not a good idea to shelter in as if it gets hit it’ll burn down with you in it, so pick your shelter carefully.

So to answer your question, yes your tires should save you from any lightning that strikes around you as long as you stay away from deep puddles. The fatter the tires are the better isolated you should be, lets hope that you don’t have to put it to the test! Best stay in!

And extra expert advice from Mike King.

Hello: I just wanted to offer a few unsolicited yet critical comments on your article about riding in lighting.

1) Lightning is electricity at an extremely high voltage, so high that it is essentially jumping through the air.

2) Electricity always takes the path of least resistance. This may not be the shortest path.

3) Air is a better insulator than your bike frame, your body, and even your rubber bike tires (that are probably covered in water as you are riding and this water is a much better conductor than the tires).

4) When you put points 1-3 together it should be easy to see that being on a bike in the lighting is NOT safe at all.

5) Point 2 is good to remember because if you are riding amongst sky scrapers in the city the risk from the lightning is much lower for the cyclist. But if you are riding in the flat lands or the desert, the risk is much higher. Houses and other buildings do not afford much protection for a cyclist riding nearby them. They do provide good protection if you are inside them.

6) Electricity on the surface of it’s conductor. So when a car gets struck by lighting and you are completely inside this car you are safe. But if your arm is hanging out the open window when the car is struck, then you get zapped too. On a bicycle or motorcycle, the only surface of the conductor is your body – ouch. By the way, automobiles do get struck by lightning – more frequently in the flatlands and desert.

7) Your advise to avoid trees is wise – for two reasons. First is trees are tall & lightning strikes them all the time, yet your body is a better conductor than the tree so when it gets down to the 6 foot level it could easily jump from the tree to your body. Second, lightning strikes on trees often cause falling limbs or trees that you do not want to be under.

If I were riding in the country when a lightning storm began and a barn was the only building to get into, I’d gladly do so. It provides much better protection from the lightning than riding in it, and if it gets struck the risk of fire is not 100%, and if it does start fire then it does not get consumed immediately but take time which means you can run away (or ride away) before the fire does you any harm.

So in conclusion, there is no one answer though when you are in doubt you should seek some kind of shelter to keep from being the highest point around. As you state, being around trees is bad. The other bad place is being near large bodies of water as they seem to attract lightning.

Best Regards…
–Mike.