On a recent ride I got something in a helmet vent that was either stinging or biting me.

I was on a 20% decline moving pretty fast on what we will call a double track. Kinda of a cross between a fire road and a single track. Had full gloves on fat fingers so getting into the vent to remove the critter was out of the question.

While trying to slow down and not kill myself I used one hand to remove the helmet. Flung the helmet away so I could get the critter off with my only free hand, as I was still trying to slow down and not kill myself especially now that I had no helmet protecting my brain from all those pesky limbs and tree trunks.

My son who was behind me witnessing this scenario without the benefit of knowing why I was acting more like an idiot than I usually do (he said it appeared as though I was slapping myself on the head for no apparent reason) laughed so hard that he just kinda slowed down and fell over with his bike.

Never did find out what kind of a critter it was but I had a pretty sizeable lump from the stings/bites. Fortunately the lump went down overnight.

We all had a laugh from it; well at least everyone else had a laugh. Actually I thought it was kind of funny after the swelling went down.

Now we will have to get helmet vent protectors to go with out helmets, gloves, and other safety equipment. Strange but true. :-)