I'm riding to deliver posters for our upcoming bike week when an insect collides with my bottom lip. Nothing really unusual... except this one left its calling card -- a sting.

I'm not sure if it was a bee or a wasp. In the midst of trying to scrape a bee sting out, I just about hit the kerb (I was in the lane, so it indicates how much it took me by surprise). I kept riding, and couldn't feel the sting, which leads me to believe it was a wasp. Bee stings usually subside pretty rapidly with me, but I don't ever recall being stung by a wasp before. I dribbled some Coke over the area, which seemed to help a little immediately afterwards.

But my lip is still hurting fours hours later, with just a little swelling, and a few little niggly aches and pains I don't normally have after a 70km ride. I wear glasses, but I thought afterwards what might have been if I didn't, and my eyeball had been stung.

Hard to imagine a chance encounter with such a tiny insect could cause as much discomfort as what I imagine an encounter with a club bouncer would.

I had a similar experience a few years ago. I was going down a hill at about 40 mph (about 65 kph) when a bee hit me just above the lip and stung me from the impact. My lip was a bit swollen, but I figured it was normal. The next day, I could tell something was wrong as soon as I woke up. The area above my lip was swollen, and it continued to do so through out that day. The swelling spread up as far as my eye, and started down towards my throat, so I went to the ER. This was almost 24 hours after the initial impact. Benadryl and steroids got it under control. Now I carry a bee sting kit in case I get stung again.

Jonathan Vaughters had to drop out of the Tour de France a few years ago because his face was stung by a bee and he swelled up so badly that he couldn't see out of one eye. The condition could have been easily remedied. However, he was afraid to do so because if he had been tested for drugs afterwards, he would have come back positive. It's quite a shame, because these drugs would have been obviously for medicinal purposes, rather than performance enhancing.

Yeah, wasps really stink. Here in Houston (and much of the deep South), during the summer wasps are out in full force. They nest in every structure you can think of, including brush/trees. Apparently we've even got killer bees here now.

Anyway, I've been riding along at a nice clip several times and felt something hit me in the torso, only to feel a sharp stinging sensation over and over. After freaking out and jumping off my bike, ripping off my jersey, and generally jumping around like an idiot, I see the wasp fall/fly out of the jersey. Not a pleasant experience by any means.

I'd much rather get stung by a bee (in the above situation) since they can only sting once. Wasps will sting you repeatedly until it either dies or flies away. Ouch.

I had a yellowjacket fly into my open shirt, crawl to the middle of my back and start stinging the hell out of me. I could'nt reach him and nearly crashed trying. i got stopped and had my wife pound my on the back until she killed it.

Got hit in the throat by a grasshopper while doing about 70 on my Kaw, ouch!

The wasps around here have such a tough exoskeleton that you would hurt them only with a direct hit with a hammer on a very hard surface. If your wife was hitting you that hard... well, maybe you two have an interesting relationship. I think the best idea is to remove jersey and jump about like Orikal. I ride in the mountains, it is more common for an angry wasp to attack me than for me to suck one into my jersey. They first usually buzz me and then start bouncing off my body angrily. Then they land and start to bite or sting. From what I understand they can bite and sting. Don't know which is worse. The Yellowjackets are usually the most aggressive. But I wouldn't want to mess with the Africanized bees. From what I hear, most Africans would rather be attacked by a lion than by a swarm of killer bees.

Good thing you didn't end up swallowing that wasp. My mom swallowed a yellowjacket once (it was in a drink she was drinking) and it stung her on the way down. She had to go to the ER right away because it's not much fun when your windpipe swells almost shut. When I ride I wear glasses and try to keep my mouth shut (unlike when I'm on the computer!)

On the good side you get that "bee stung" lip look for free. I got stung by something once when I was going to the public laundromat at an apartment complex. It startled me so much that my clothes shot out of the basket in a 10' geyser.