xizangstan

Not that there's anything we can do about them, but are you guys noticing a lot of bugs out where you are? I mean, this is the later half of October already, and still there are all sorts of bugs out trying to eat me alive. Am I just getting old and sensitive to biting bugs, or is this a strange year?

lhbernhardt

Show me a cyclist with bugs in his teeth and I'll show you a happy biker.

But this is the one area where a cotton cycling cap is better than a helmet. I just hate it when bugs get into the helmet!

L.

doctor j

I've been encountering a lot of bugs of late. I count the ones that make it all the way in and down as free, extra protein.

seemunkee

It's a bit too cold right now but early in the month they were pretty bad. Some areas I quickly learned to not breathe through my mouth or I would end up swallowing a bunch of gnats.

mkane77g

Damn face flys are everywhere

jdon

I rode through a swarm of bees a couple of weeks ago. I stopped and took my helmet off and found about 8 of them. I wear a cap under my helmet at this time of year.

Only one sting on the lip when I was trying to spit one out!

The Weak Link

Yep. The mosquitoes are still hanging on in my backyard with a vengeance. It's been an odd year climate-wise.

JohnDThompson 

Not anymore. We had a good frost a week or so ago, and that took care of the bugs.

Rick@OCRR

I haven't noticed any more than usual, but those little black ones that fly around my face on long slow climbs are still there!

Of course I can drop them on the descents, but they stay right in front of my face on the climbs.

Rick / OCRR

jppe

All I know is everything tastes better with a little chocolate on it-even the green ones!

Daspydyr 

I was surprised with I moved to S. NV that we don't have many bugs. A few bees and wasps, but no mosquitos or flys! Its a treat.

xizangstan

I'm in eastern Nebraska right now. Out on a rails-to-trails ride Saturday, I stopped on an old railroad bridge over a forested brook. There was nobody within miles, and I had to take a leak. I can't resist peeing off a bridge into a creek, anyway. About halfway into it, I was suddenly swarmed by hundreds of ladybugs. But these little boogers bit like crazy (no, they were biting me above the waist - and I had my shirt off). And here in Nebraska they have little tree mites that fall down out of the trees and bite with a vengeance. This place is lousy with little bugs that are still active this time of year. Florida and Georgia weren't this bad.

NOS88

I'm so fast that I never see bugs. They just can't keep up. Well, ok... maybe DH Lawrence was correct when he said, "Always trust the story, but never trust the storyteller." The truth is that the bugs around here aren't nearly as bad as they were this spring. I've noted that the gnats that are the ones really annoying me tend to cluster in areas under trees, but in spaces there the sun is shining through. So. when I see such a spot coming up, I push a bit harder and try to fly through it as fast a possible.

sknhgy 

No. They are finally going away here in Illinois.

trackhub

Every season, about mid-summer, the warning go up around here for mosquitoes that are carrying such lovelies as Eastern Equine encephalitis, and west nile virus. These warning continue until the first hard frost of the season, which could happen anytime now. I find Cutters Backwoods repellent to be very effective in keeping them at bay. My favorite Cutter product was the Outdoorsman, in stick form. But, for some reason that mortals cannot know, they took it off the market. (yes, I wrote to them via email. No answer, other than that yes, it has been taken off the market. Those dummies.)

So, Cutters Backwoods comes in a pump bottle. Follow the directions. The stuff is 23% Deet, and works. Wash hands after applying. Do check with your primary doc if you have any type of allergic skin reaction. Extremely rare, but it does happen.

After that first hard frost, the little nasties are toast.

xizangstan

Until this year, the only little bugs that ever bothered me were mosquitoes and those little biting deer flies. But starting about a month and a half ago, I started getting bit by something I never did see. Whatever they were, I got lots of itchy little bumps all over my arms, legs and shoulders. Benadryl Gel helps greatly.

Yeah, those swarms of little gnats that are especially bad along creeks and rivers in late afternoon are nasty going down the windpipe, aren't they?