Guest Article An Electrifying Commute, by Jim Tolar | Bike ......i love the smell of apathy in the...
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3/25/10 11:02 AM Guest Article: An Electrifying Commute, by Jim Tolar | Bike Commuters Page 1 of 6 http://www.bikecommuters.com/2008/04/09/guest-article-an-electrifying-commute-by-jim-tolar/ HOME COMMUTER TOOLS ABOUT US FTC DISCLAIMER RSS FEEDS GO Navigation: Weblog / Blog article: Guest Article: An Electrifying Commute, by Jim Tolar Guest Article: An Electrifying Commute, by Jim Tolar POSTED BY RL POLICAR ON APRIL - 9 - 2008 Last week, I began riding my new commute bike, a GT Transeo, to work. My new bike allows me to get off the streets with their heavy traffic, and onto the local canal system, which is almost unused. My route to work is along the canal bank on the irrigation canal that runs E-W, between Elliot and Guadalupe, in Mesa, Arizona. I ride almost 4 miles on the canal before I cut South to Elliot for the final mile or so on the road. The canal portion is traffic-free, quiet, and quite pleasant except for one annoying phenomenon. As I ride to and from work I get occasional, fairly sharp electrical shocks, normally to one of my legs at the inside of the thigh, just below my shorts (sometimes the left leg, sometimes the right, sometimes one then soon after, the other). These shocks are sharp enough that the first few times it happened, I thought a bee had stung me, or that I had jabbed a bare bike cable end into my thigh. This happens at least once or twice on each ride, and has had me groping for some kind of explanation. No bees, no bare cable ends, no debris being kicked up by my tires and hitting me in the legs, no residual marks to indicate injury. A couple of times, I’ve reached down right after this has happened and felt an electrical shock to my finger or hand. This has happened frequently enough that I am certain it’s not my imagination. After a week of this, I finally figured out what was going on. It’s a practical demonstration of the physical laws that govern many of the machines we take for granted around us. My route on the canal banks runs parallel to, and about 50 feet directly under, the high-voltage transmission lines that share the right-of-way with the canal and distribute power throughout much of the East Valley in Phoenix. These lines produce a sizable electro-magnetic field (EMF), which is one of the reasons they’re in this right-of-way to begin with. It is well known that a conductor moving through an electric field will generate an induced electric current. This is one of the operating principles behind power transformers, motors, and generators. Sponsors BIKE YOUR DRIVE!
Transcript of Guest Article An Electrifying Commute, by Jim Tolar | Bike ......i love the smell of apathy in the...
3/25/10 11:02 AMGuest Article: An Electrifying Commute, by Jim Tolar | Bike Commuters
Page 1 of 6http://www.bikecommuters.com/2008/04/09/guest-article-an-electrifying-commute-by-jim-tolar/
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Navigation: Weblog / Blog article: Guest Article: An Electrifying Commute, by Jim Tolar
Guest Article: An Electrifying Commute, by Jim TolarPOSTED BY RL POLICAR ON APRIL - 9 - 2008
Last week, I began riding my new commute bike, a GT Transeo, to work. My new bike allows me to get
off the streets with their heavy traffic, and onto the local canal system, which is almost unused. My
route to work is along the canal bank on the irrigation canal that runs E-W, between Elliot and
Guadalupe, in Mesa, Arizona. I ride almost 4 miles on the canal before I cut South to Elliot for the final
mile or so on the road. The canal portion is traffic-free, quiet, and quite pleasant except for one
annoying phenomenon. As I ride to and from work I get occasional, fairly sharp electrical shocks,
normally to one of my legs at the inside of the thigh, just below my shorts (sometimes the left leg,
sometimes the right, sometimes one then soon after, the other). These shocks are sharp enough that
the first few times it happened, I thought a bee had stung me, or that I had jabbed a bare bike cable
end into my thigh. This happens at least once or twice on each ride, and has had me groping for some
kind of explanation. No bees, no bare cable ends, no debris being kicked up by my tires and hitting me
in the legs, no residual marks to indicate injury. A couple of times, I’ve reached down right after this has
happened and felt an electrical shock to my finger or hand.
This has happened frequently enough that I am certain it’s not my imagination. After a week of this, I
finally figured out what was going on. It’s a practical demonstration of the physical laws that govern
many of the machines we take for granted around us.
My route on the canal banks runs parallel to, and about 50 feet directly under, the high-voltage
transmission lines that share the right-of-way with the canal and distribute power throughout much of
the East Valley in Phoenix. These lines produce a sizable electro-magnetic field (EMF), which is one of
the reasons they’re in this right-of-way to begin with. It is well known that a conductor moving through
an electric field will generate an induced electric current. This is one of the operating principles behind
power transformers, motors, and generators.
!
Sponsors
BIKE YOUR DRIVE!
3/25/10 11:02 AMGuest Article: An Electrifying Commute, by Jim Tolar | Bike Commuters
Page 2 of 6http://www.bikecommuters.com/2008/04/09/guest-article-an-electrifying-commute-by-jim-tolar/
My bike frame, as it moves through the EMF generated by the power lines, has an induced electric
current (stored in the “loop” that the frame makes). The frame is isolated from earth ground by the
tires. It is also isolated from me by the rubber-covered pedals, my running shoe soles, the rubber
handlebar grips, and the insulated seat. As I move down the canal, a potential difference gradually
builds up between me and the frame. The magnitude of the potential diffeence is a function of speed
through the field, the strength of the EMF of the lines, and a secondary function of the humidity (high
humidity allows charge to leak away more easily). As the potential builds, eventually some body part
(usually the inside of one of my legs) gets close enough to some pointy part of the frame, like a nut or
something on the down-tube (static field energy dissipates over long, smooth surfaces, and can
concentrate at sharp points) , and ZAP! A shock jumps and equalizes the bike frame and me.
So, in order to prevent this phenomenon, I need to make sure that my body and my bike frame keep at
the same potential while riding through the EMF. If I do so, no shocks should occur. I can do that by
making sure some part of my body has direct contact with the frame always, or at least frequently
enough to keep the potential difference less than the “jump” energy. To test this, this morning on the
way in I rode with my thumb off the rubber handlebar grip and resting on the handlebar itself. Nary a
shock, for the first time in 5 days.
It also turns out that if I simply ride on the side of the canal opposite the power lines, that added
distance is enough to reduce the potential difference build-up to the point where the invisible bees that
have been plaguing my otherwise enjoyable commute have gone in search of other victims.
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3/25/10 11:02 AMGuest Article: An Electrifying Commute, by Jim Tolar | Bike Commuters
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Moe says:Dude, that’s crazy!!! I guess you have a good ‘reason’ to upgrade to a Carbon Fiber bike!
April 9, 2008 at 9:46 am
Apertome says:That’s disturbing. Even though you seem to have found a solution, somehow the idea of riding in a
big EMF for an extended time would bother me. Maybe that’s why nobody uses those canals …
So with your new method, when you get off the bike and touch something else do you get a shock?
April 9, 2008 at 9:51 am
RL Policar says:Or he can get a wooden bike…
April 9, 2008 at 9:52 am
Quinn says:No wonder the canal is hardly used! Although IM one of those people that would see the power
lines and figure “Discharge, Duh” and then if I didn’t know how to fix it, I would take time to figure
it out.
April 9, 2008 at 9:52 am
cafn8 says:Huh. So finally the the real reason for all those gripless fixies.
April 9, 2008 at 10:01 am
Ghost Rider says:What a weird phenonmenon!
You should try cycling with a 48! fluorescent tube sometime to see if it lights up — I’ve seen
someone walk into a power-generating station and the bulb just lit up due to all the “loose”
electricity in the air!
April 9, 2008 at 11:10 am
Ben C says:Just wire yourself to the bike just like computer repair guys. At least you didn’t get shock in your
crotch. That may do some damage! OUCH!!
April 9, 2008 at 11:37 am
Tim says:Amazing! Staying in contact with your bike is one solution, and grounding the bike frame is another,
maybe better, solution. You could drag a grounding strip of some sort to bleed the static charge
from the frame. Try an old piece of brake cable clamped in the rear quick-release skewer at one
end and dragging on the ground at the other end. Many heavy vehicles have this kind of
arrangement to avoid a charge buildup. Some of them, like fuel tankers, even drag a big chain to
absolutely minimize the risk of electrostatic discharge.
-Tim (aspiring Ph.D.)
April 9, 2008 at 12:49 pm
3/25/10 11:02 AMGuest Article: An Electrifying Commute, by Jim Tolar | Bike Commuters
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RocBike.com | The RocBike Review »Links of the Day: 9 April 2008 says:[...] Guest Article: An Electrifying Commute, by Jim Tolar (Bike Commuters) [...]
April 9, 2008 at 12:59 pm
Fort Orange Cycling » Links of the Day: 9April 2008 says:[...] Guest Article: An Electrifying Commute, by Jim Tolar (Bike Commuters) [...]
April 9, 2008 at 1:00 pm
miker says:I used to experience that along Virginia’s W&OD trail in Falls Church. The trail is also along a power
right-of-way & only in the Falls Church section was the power high enough or the lines close
enough to cause that effect.
I used to play with watching the sparks fly between my fingers hovering close to the brake levers
(with my hands on the rubber grips).
Interesting science experiment, but yes, what does that high voltage do to your body systems in
general?
April 9, 2008 at 2:07 pm
Bill says:Ben C has the right idea. If you get an anti-static wrist strap used for computer repair, that should
keep the potential energy balanced quite nicely.
Just watch that first step off of the bike.
April 9, 2008 at 4:54 pm
Rick says:I remember riding under those types of power lines. There was a constant crackling. I always
assumed that there was some sort of charge in the air.
April 9, 2008 at 5:36 pm
Dartanyon says:Have you given any thought to grounding the frame? Just drop a piece of conductive wire off the
bottom bracket to the ground, just barley long enough to make sure that it makes contact most of
the time?
April 11, 2008 at 10:47 am
Jot says:The solution to this is obvious. You have a metal bike, and you need something that can connect
you to that. Cut a hole in the front of your bike shorts, and voila, you’re set!
Probably solves the problem of the extra charge you generate between you and your chamois.
I’m just saying…
-Jot
April 28, 2008 at 8:41 pm
Margaret says:I have experienced something similar in SW Chicago suburbs, when I ride on a paved bike trail
through Cook County Forest Preserves. About a mile of the trail goes under and along high voltage
lines that constantly hum and crackle. I usually keep my fingers hovering over brake handles, and if
I touch the handles when crossing under the lines, I get shocks in my fingers. Otherwise, it is a
beautiful ride! (Just did a Google search to see for the phenomenon and found your article.)
July 6, 2008 at 7:26 am
3/25/10 11:02 AMGuest Article: An Electrifying Commute, by Jim Tolar | Bike Commuters
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beautiful ride! (Just did a Google search to see for the phenomenon and found your article.)
Margaret says:Correction – Did a Google search to “check” for the phenomenon and found your article. Maybe
those shocks hit my head….
July 6, 2008 at 7:28 am
rick says:wow, thanks for that thorough explanation. i had the same exact thing happen to me today for the
first time. i was driving along some powerlines when all of a sudden i felt like a hundred tiny
“stings” on the inside of my thighs. i immediately jumped off my bike and started to look for ants,
bees, etc. to no avail. when i realized that bugs weren’t the cause of my problem, i touched the
seatpost and seatpost clamp and immediately felt a tiny jolt, even seeing tiny sparks as i ran my
finger along the seatpost. even though i knew nothing of EMF or EMR, i knew that obviously it had
something to do with the powerlines and touching any metal parts on my bike. i simply lifted of my
seat and made sure to avoid touching any metal parts on my bike as i traveled half a mile or so.
July 6, 2008 at 10:12 pm
JB says:Interesting but I doubt the accuracy of your explanation. To induce a voltage, part of your bike
frame would have to be CROSSING the magnetic field lines. To do that, you would have to be
moving towards or away from the power lines; you were travelling parallel to them, which would
induce no voltage at all. I would suggest that it is more likely that static is being generated,
possibly due to the combination of clothing you are wearing.
You may protest that the phenomina only occurs as you cycle beneath the power lines, therefore it
must be caused by them. However, this is probably a coincidence and it is likely that the sparks only
occur there because it is a long, flat, obstacle-free part of your ride meaning that you don’t change
gear or brake during that part of the ride. Changing gear or braking would necessitate contact with
metal parts of the bike, neutralising any static that had built up.
If, whilst riding beside the canal you do not change gear or brake, sufficient charge could build up
to cause a spark to jump. On other parts of your commute, where you change gear and brake
frequently, only small amounts of charge will accumulate and no sparks will jump.
January 24, 2009 at 9:07 am
Belinda says:The same thing happened to me today when I was riding along the power line route from Higley to
Gilbert. The jolts were painful and unrelenting while I was under the lines. My family thought I was
crazy, as no one else experienced it. My daughter even teased me that I was probably going to look
it up on the internet when I got home. I’m glad I did! I think I’ll steer clear of the power lines,
though, as I hate electric shocks — even thinking about it makes my hair stand on end. PS – Why
did I experience it and no one else did?
June 7, 2009 at 10:25 pm
BlackBear says:Are you the only one on a steel bike?
June 8, 2009 at 8:37 am
3/25/10 11:02 AMGuest Article: An Electrifying Commute, by Jim Tolar | Bike Commuters
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