Struck by Lightning?

On Tue, 31 May 2005 14:15:23 +0800, Marty
wrote:

Fritz M wrote:
John Thompson wrote:


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

Dear Fritz and Marty,

While carbon fiber is a good conductor, a "diamond" frame
should be a good insulator:

http://www.allaboutcircuits.com/vol_...st2/t2q63.html

Carl Fogel

On Sun, 29 May 2005 17:41:15 -0400, Sheldon Brown
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.

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

Since no one here wrote about their experience of being killed by lightning:
http://list.massbike.org/archive/200107/0211.html

and here is some general information.

http://www.lightningsafety.com

"Ben Kaufman" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 29 May 2005 17:41:15 -0400, Sheldon Brown

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.

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

Since no one here wrote about their experience of being killed by
lightning:
http://list.massbike.org/archive/200107/0211.html


And how WOULD someone write about being killed by lightning??

Ken

and here is some general information.

http://www.lightningsafety.com

wrote:
On Tue, 31 May 2005 14:15:23 +0800, Marty
wrote:


Fritz M wrote:

John Thompson wrote:



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


Dear Fritz and Marty,

While carbon fiber is a good conductor, a "diamond" frame
should be a good insulator:

http://www.allaboutcircuits.com/vol_...st2/t2q63.html

Carl Fogel

Don't listen to the experts, measure it yourself. I measured the
resistance of some carbon fibre strands and was suprised at how good a
conductor it was.

Hows this,
Diamond conducts heat better than anything - five times better than the
second best element, Silver!

And!

They make good heatsinks for electronic devices!

http://www.margaretmorrisbooks.com/d...circuitry.html


Marty

Tue, 31 May 2005 09:41:13 -0400, ,
"Ken" wrote:

And how WOULD someone write about being killed by lightning??

You've never heard of ghost writers? (in the sky)
--
zk

"Ken" wrote: And how WOULD someone write about being killed by lightning??
^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I also want to hear from the people who never read the question. (It's a
joke, Ken.)

"Leo Lichtman" wrote in message
...

"Ken" wrote: And how WOULD someone write about being killed by
lightning??
^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I also want to hear from the people who never read the question. (It's a
joke, Ken.)


Yeah I kind of figured it was a joke.
Ken

"Robin Hubert" wrote in message
link.net...
Fritz M wrote:
John Thompson wrote:


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.


I was riding in western Kentucky, on the bank of Rough River Lake
about to descend into the campground, when lightning landed about
ten feet away -- hitting a Cadillac and blowing apart the
concentrator on its CB antenna. What I remember the most was the
giant ka-boom. It was like having a cannon go off in my ear. We
talked to the occupants of the car a little later while huddled
under a covered picnic area (during the usual mid-afternoon
torrential downpour), and one claimed that the lightening struck
just after he made a statement to the effect of "if I am lying,
may God strike me down." That seemed a little too fortuitous,
but it made for a good story. -- Jay Beattie.

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In article ,
Jan Lindstrom wrote:
Werehatrack wrote:


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.


_ It's shape not material that's important, pointy things
concentrate the static charge. If lightning can jump an
air gap of kilometers, it's not going to be much
bothered by a meter or two of anything but vaccum.

_ Booker C. Bense



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Sheldon Brown asked:

how much risk is there of being struck by lightning
while cycling?

From Book_of_Risks by Susan Skolnick [National Press, 1985]:

"Thunderstorms can be dangerous to anyone, but are particularly
threatening to golfers and bicyclists."
...
"Lightning storms cause about 100 deaths and 245 injuries each year."

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 didn't know him personally, but around the time I moved to Sacramento
in 1985, a cyclist on the American River Bicycle Trail (later morphed
into the Jedediah Smith MURP) was struck by lightning. The lightning
strike put a fist-sized hole in his helmet, and rendered him unconscious.

--
"Bicycling is a healthy and manly pursuit with much
to recommend it, and, unlike other foolish crazes,
it has not died out." -- The Daily Telegraph (1877)