From a story that ran in the Arizona Republic many years ago:
A man was hiking somwhere in a remote area (I don’t remember exactly where) and crossed paths with a rattlesnake. At some point he decided to attempt to kiss the rattler and got bit right on the tongue. He managed to get back to his truck but was still a long way from help. Remembering that electricity can draw out the venom, he proceeded to hook up his tongue to his vehicle’s battery via a set of jumper cables.
I believe the man lived (unfortunately), however, I don’t think he was ever able to talk or eat the same way again. True Story!
My big fear when riding is lightning! I was on the sourdough trail last year when a bolt struck VERY near to where I was. There was absolutely no delay between flash and BOOM and it was a bright flash! I made it back to the car in half the time it took me to get where I was when the lightning hit. The amazing part about this is I started out on a crystal clear morning on a day that was not supposed to see thunderstorms. I would love to do some rides above timberline but am somewhat fearful of getting caught up there during a surprise thunderstorm. Even if you start out early, by the time you get back below timberline, a thunderstorm could still blow up out of nowhere.
Any thoughts or advice on this?