# Lightning on a Bike **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 25, 2016, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightning-on-a-bike/763912 "2016-08-25T15:13:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2016, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightning-on-a-bike/763912/21 "2016-08-26T12:54:11Z")
> [@Hocus\_Pocus](#): > > I’ve been told that there’s a cave somewhere on Half Dome in Yosemite National Park. One day some climbers were going up when a storm came along (which they can do quickly in the Sierra Nevada Mountains). So they thought they’d seek shelter in the cave. Climbers carry a fair amount of metal on them (pitons, carabiners, hammers). Sure enough, a bolt of lightening came down & found them in the cave & killed them. > > So don’t assume simply being under a bridge will necessarily protect you if you’re near metal. There is particular risk at cave entrances, because lightning (or perhaps more accurately vertical ground current) can arc across the gap, and a person standing in the entrance provides a prominent shortest route to ground across the gap. There’s no evidence (or plausible physical reason) that carrying or holing small metal objects makes any difference - that is to say, provided we’re not talking about a long metal pole. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2016, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightning-on-a-bike/763912/22 "2016-08-26T15:17:47Z")
While we’re at it, no quantity of rubber or other insulating material you can wear or carry will make any difference, either. A lightning bolt has already made it through a mile of air, which is an even better insulator. It’s not going to give a damn about an inch or two of rubber. ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2016, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightning-on-a-bike/763912/23 "2016-08-28T04:45:04Z")
As posted before, I have been hit twice. [Late 50’s near Sallisaw OK in an hay field. 1977 on a sail boat in Savanna Bay.]([Running Down the Road: Lightning you say?](http://dragon43rdr.blogspot.com/2014/07/lightning-you-say.html)) ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2016, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightning-on-a-bike/763912/24 "2016-08-28T05:23:09Z")
Or, you could just [ride a Lightning bike](http://www.lightningbikes.com/recumbents.html). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightning-on-a-bike/763912.md?page=1)