uber_Fred

There's a scene where Will Smith's character has an allergic reaction to food and his lip ends up the size of his fist. That happened to me on my ride yesterday. I was riding along when some insect smacked into my lip, stung me, then was gone. (I didn't get a look at what kind of insect it was exactly, but it sounded and felt like a small helicopter. With a sting.)

By the time I got home, my lip had swollen enough that I couldn't seal my lips together properly. Dinner was messy. It's still swollen today, but not so bad.

All in all, it could have been worse. If I had been breathing hard, my mouth would have been open enough that it would have stung me in the back of the throat. Still, of all the hazards I expect to face on my commute, I don't know how I overlooked ninja insect assassins.

ChrisIIDX

Interesting - I haven't had that happen to me! I occasionally hear flies smack into my sunglasses, but I haven't hit a stinger yet. I wonder if having an anti-histamine (a benadryl capsule) in the pack could be helpful for stings like that?

chefisaac

Wife and I used to run a bee farm and benadryl will work nicely. Liquid being the best really just in case you have a reaction and your throat starts to close up.

Either it was a bee, bumble bee, or wasp/hornet/yellow jacket.

enigmaT120

I've been stung lots of times while running races, and a few times while riding my motorcycle. I'm sure my time is coming on the bicycle. I do carry Benedryl; I'm not really allergic but I don't like to swell up.

erg79

The guy behind one of my favorite bike blogs had a scary encounter with a swarm of bees:
https://bikinginla.wordpress.com/2008...-on-the-swarm/

Darth_Firebolt

i had that happen on my hand once. it swelled up pretty big.