Thunderstorms

It's been doing nothing but raining/storming and I mean HARDCORE for the past week. I'm getting a bit pissed.

A few years ago, when I started adding biking to my running routine, I made a HUGE mistake. I was so excited about having a new bike that I took off into the country without paying attention to the weather. I found myself 8 miles from home in the middle of nowhere with some of the blackest clouds that I've ever seen on the horizon. I immediately turned for home. That is probably the hardest that I've ever ridden in my life (races included!) because the wind started blowing so hard, and I could see streaks of lightning in the sky---and there I was on a hunk of metal---the highest point around---in the middle of a bunch of soybean feilds! About a half mile from home, I started getting pelted by rain, but made it into the garage before the real storm hit!

Since that time, before I ride my bike, I always check www.weather.com to check the wind speed and direction (always ride into the wind on the way out) and also check for the possibilities of storms. That was a genuinely scary experience!

If there is a possiblity of one, I'll most likely do the trainer thing or take a nap on the couch, watch a movie, eat some ice cream.
Better off bored in the basement than fried.

If I get caught while on the road (happened twice), and I know it would be passing, I stand the bike by itself and I keep at least 20 feet away. Preferably under a bridge.
Better off looking silly than fried.

I actually ran my PB this year during a thunderstorm that emerged half way through my run. I think that (the PB) was due to the lightning streaks in the sky freaking me out!

I also biked through a rain storm on Saturday (preceeded by a swim). While in the water, there was no rain, and the lake was still open (they charge admission). On the bike, it poured! No lightning, though...just LOTS of water...but if I just got out of a lake, did the water matter that much?

Believe me; I will most definitely be checking the weather before I head out on a ride. That was truly a scary/stupid experience that I don’t want to repeat.

I didn’t even think about putting my bike away from me. If there is next time, I will do that. Happy riding!

Regarding trees and lightning. Learned while being a 6 day per week golfer.....

Packs of trees are (relatively) good place to be when a thunderstorm hits. The bigger the pack of trees the better.

Single, lone trees are bad. They are lightning rods.

So basically, if you can't get under cover, the head for the forest.

You should probably get off your bike and look for a dry spot to take shelter.  The rubber tires will do a little to ground you, but if the lighting is that close to you, you don't have to worry about whether you are on the bike or not.  Your @$$ is gone.   Hiding under a tree is a really bad idea as well.

Tampa is famous for afternoon thunderstorms and I got caught in one at the beginning of the month. At first the rain was kinda fun but when the wind kicked up and the lightning started I got a bit worried. I stopped at a shelter with 2 other bikers who proceeded to complain that my new bike had better tires than their old bikes, and they were both seasoned riders. Along comes the ranger (who I was hoping was going to give us a ride to our cars) and he tells us he has to go because there is forest fire (thanks to the lightning). For a minute there I was afraid I was in fact going to burn to death in the middle of a storm with my bike frame and no tires!!! Luckily the storm passed and one of the cyclists rode with me back to my car (kinda freaky since I don't normally ride with people).
Anyway, these days I try to get my rides in earlier in the day to avoid the thunderstorms.

Graphite (carbon) is one of the best conductor. 

 

Edited by Celeb_ithil 2006-06-28 6:54 AM

There goes my reasoning for getting a new bike.