A Bug almost killed me this weekend...
 

Hi ... thought I would relay my experience from the weekend.

My fiance and I are trying to get the mileage/saddle time in for our first century next month. We did a metric last year but this year we are going to do "The Flattest Century in the East"... so we're at the point where we're progressively upping the mileage each weekend.

This Saturday gone we decided to ride from Hartford Conn ( where we live ), up to Granville Mass and back, to complete what looked like 60 miles on the map ( turned out to be 5 miles shy so we will have to add something on next weekend ) ...

We were cruising along at a good clip through some rolling farmland, and had seen plenty of bugs flying out of the scrub on the side of the road ... so when one hit me at 20ish mph I was not too surprised, even when it hit me hard enough, right on my right brow that it managed to get behind my glasses ... I'm still not entirely sure how it managed that! But as I was reaching up to take off my glasses to let it out (It was buzzing around against my shut eye) it stung me right on my eye lid. I have envisioned this scenario ( well not on the eye exactly ) quite a few times and convinced myself that I would remain calm and slowly come to a precisely controlled stop on the side of the road... in reality I freaked out, lost all rational thought and with only my left hand on the handlebar I swerved into the center of the road. My fiance behind me was screaming at me and a horn blaring at me made me quickly realise my predicament and I swerved back onto the side of the road as a lady in a Honda Element swerved out onto the other side of the road to miss me.

I am pretty lucky that there was no traffic coming the other way, that the bug didn't sting me a fraction of a second later, and that the driver of the Honda was paying attention and had good reflexes ... just pretty lucky in general.

I must add that the Honda driver came back to see if we were alright and offered the use of her place in case I was allergic ( I'm not ) .. and gave directions on how to get there, letting us know that our mobile phones wouldn't work out there. I was well impressed with her, a lot of people would have cursed the idiot cyclist and kept going.

Anyone have advice for someone in this scenario?

Cheers
Damo

That's crazy! One time I came to an old wooden bridge and saw thousands of yellow jackets flying all over it. I had no choice but to make the crossing. And i did make it but got stung 11 times in the process. Most of them were on my legs but they nailed my arms too, and the one on the back of the neck really hurt.

Excellent thread title. Sorry about your eyelid.

I sincerely sympathize. I was coming down one of the fastest descents I know on a scorcher of a day and a bee or wasp hit me right at the bridge of my nose and was stuck under nosepiece of my glasses. Bugs that think they're stuck know no other tactic other than to sting, (as you learned) and sting it did. I felt like I'd been shot point blank in the nose with a pellet gun - the swelling started immediately. Surprised I made it home, but still I was luckier than you with the eyelid- and the traffic.

Here's to a brief convalescence!

Cheers, am right as rain today.

It hurt a bit but not as bad as I would have imagined. It puffed up a bit on the rest of the ride and throbbed a bit (we weren't even halfway in yet, the rest of the ride was much nicer).

Sunday morning it was most swollen but all gone by midday so not a big deal ... the adrenaline from the car was the worst, had to stop a couple times, shakey hands and such ... but after a few minutes it was fine. Mostly I guess I am upset that I wasn't the smooth operator I had imagined myself to be ;)

Stingchronicity! :p

I had a big bee slam into MY right eyebrow yesterday afternoon! Whap! Combined speed of 60 kmh+ I'd estimate, and it hurt. No sting for me though, and I think the bee got the worst of it.

A motorcycling friend and I were discussing the dangers of riding sans face protection just last week. He took a large bug of some type square in the faceshield at 100kmh and was momentarily blinded...had he been unprotected... :eek:

I was riding through some farm lands in Holland in 1989 and had a bee stung my right on the tip of my tongue...ouch. OK...so imagine that you're a dutch farmer and some yahoo in lycra rides up to you speaking something that sounds like it might be english while pointing to the tip of his tongue that he is sticking out at you.

I had a simlar incident about a month ago. I was riding along when a bee or wasp flew right into one of the air vents of my helmet. At first I wasn't sure if he just fell out, so I gave my helmet a shake to get him out if not, and rode on. About 30 seconds later I felt a sting on my head, just below the hairline. Somehow I quickly sat up, removed my helmet, and cleared the bug all while pedaling along at 20 mph :). Other than hurting like hell, there was no other damage done, and I was on a lightly traveled road with no cars around.

Maybe it was Karma. How many bugs have you swatted lately? ;)

Funny you mention a bee sting. I was riding sunday morning from Hartford, to Southampton, MA (first century / solo) and back, and on the way home i to was hit in the jaw by what i thought was just a bug. 1 second later, OUCH, it was stinging me and stuck in my chin strap. Luckily there were no cars as i swatted to get it out, which caused me to swerve a bit towards the center line. Must be something with the bee's in this neck of the woods.

Happy to hear you survived. My jaw itches today, but cant complain.

BTW, good luck to you and your soon to be wife on the upcoming century!

Cheers! and Congrats on yours!
You weren't worried doing your first one unsupported?
Do you have suggestions for a 60-65 miler? We live in the west end.

Not really. I had cash, atm, and cell (along with the normal tools). I knew where i could get more food/drinks along the way (Right around the MA/CT border are a handfull of gas station/convenience stores).

I live in the SW end of hartford, and usually ride out towards the west hartford Reservoir (rt. 4) and hit Rt 10/202. If you stay on that up to at least the MA border you will have at least 60 miles, roundtrip. Its a nice ride early weekend mornings. Once you cross over rt 44 it becomes more scenic.

Nice, we usually do a loop 4, to 10 then over to 187/189 back to hartford which can be 33-40 ... Might just stay on 10/202 this Saturday then.

Although after the horrific crash on 10 and 44 we will be real careful crossing there...

Sorry to threadjack, but what's the process of going to a doctor and getting tested for allergic reactions to bee / wasp stings?

On our group ride yesterday, one of the guys got hit in the mouth by a bug and started swelling up a bit. We ended up stopping at a house and calling an ambulance and they took him home. It wasn't serious, but it could have been and we were all thinking, "what if this guy was anaphylactic?" None of us had an EpiPen, none of us knew how to do a tracheotomy, and since we were some ways away from the city, the paramedics took a while to get there.

My opinion is if someone KNOWS they are allergic they should have the proper medicine with them and know what to do. However if they are not sure if they are allergic then not much else except exactly what you did. I know if someone is just Slightly allergic they can take benadryl immediatly. but if they have severe allergic reactions I don't know.

Shawn

yeah I'd agree with Shawn, surely it is up to the individual to know if they are allergic.

With regard to the process to test for reactions, I had that done once. I just went to my regular doctor and got referred. The process involved being stuck in the arm with all sorts of stuff and seeing what turned into a red welt and what didn't. Its not pleasant.

If your friend had had his throat swell up and it was a real emergency, do you think you could have been able to perform an emergency tracheotomy with your bike tool? I can picture a not-sure-what-to-do scene like John Travolta with the adrenaline shot in Pulp Fiction... could be pretty nasty ;)

Sounds scary. My sunglasses are pretty snug against my eyebrows --- you may want to get a pair like that.

God bless all those Honda drivers (especially me). They're a good bunch.


The only insects I kill are mosquitoes, wasps and hornets -- because all 3 of 'em are mean, nasty sumbiyatches.

Well, last weekend I killed a hornet in my house. I KNEW that the hornet empire would somehow get revenge and sure enough the next day (while riding) a hornet latched itself to my shin and got me real good.

Yikes! that really sucks. A patch of gravel almost got me, no less than 30 minutes ago, as I was making a fairly fast right turn off a 35mph road... my rear wheel slid around the turn but I somehow did not fall over. If I had, a car turning right after me would have probably been scraping me of their bumper. :( That will teach me to never ride without my glasses. (I couldnt find them this morning)

I don't want to think about what would have happened if he had gone anaphylactic. I carry a small Swiss Army knife on my keychain, but it's by no means sterile and probably not all that sharp anymore. And certainly, none of us was trained in emergency medical proceedures. Last thing we want is to cut into his throat and end up doing more damage than preventing it.

The paramedics probably didn't haul-ass to the scene because when the guy called, he told them that he was swelling a bit in the lip but wasn't having any difficulty breathing. The people at the house were nice and gave us ice and benadryl to help slow the swelling, but man, yesterday could have turned out ugly.

When I got a bee in my helmet in traffic, on a fast downhill, I too did not react the way I planned. I think I was saved by good drivers too. Glad to hear you are feeling better. In case you have not done it before, you will enjoy the century, it's very nice. Most of it is my favorite riding area.

I had a wasp get caught between the temple on my glasses and the one on my head. Immediate sting, but I did manage to stop OK.

However, I get many more in through the vents in my helmet, hence my search for (and successful, albeit complicated, purchase of) a helmet with bugproof netting in it. Works a treat!

My mate recommended this: http://flup.org/u/9f

I was riding to work this morning and suddenly something hit me on my left ear. It felt like a small rock. It hit the ear piece of my headphone, knocked it out of my ear, and then ITSELF became lodged in my ear. Keep in mind this all happened in a split second.

As I reach up to remove this object now lodged in my ear, I hear a buzzing sound and realize... IT WAS A HUGE BUMBLE BEE!

I just about jumped off of my bike at full speed. You're right. You lose all ability to think rationally and just flip your lid. Luckily I brushed it several times and it fell out. Funny how these ridiculously unthinkable things happen when you're riding at speed.

i wonder why the bugs keept flying on you.... Your name is poopy pants. What happened?

That's so awesome. That needs to be a Fear Factor stunt.