calyth

Swarms of tiny bugs when you don't have the proper glasses (I got brown lense when it was getting too dark to use them). So rode through a couple. They hit me, and died, in my hair, eyes, chest.

WC89

I posted the below about a year ago. It's a short account of a bug ingestion while riding in summer of 2011:

This summer while flying down a fast hill, mouth open, I ingested a bug that felt like the size of a bee. It was pretty far partially down my throat so I involuntarily gagged trying to force it out; I was close to losing my breakfast but it still didn't work. It went down so far that I conceded the ingestion so I figured it's better to just wash it down all the way. As I'm taking one gulp of water, the bug actually came all the way back up and flew out and away.

mvnsnd

I got three bee stings on three different rides last year. On on the lower knee, one on the forearm and one on the neck. Never saw any of them, except I did see the remnants of the one on my fore arm. Thankfully they were a few weeks apart.

RPK79

This worries me when it comes to my wife. She's alergic. We really need to get an epipen for her saddlebag!

banerjek

Correct, though there are a lot of fields that have beehives right by the road. I've taken multiple bees in the vents and up my jersey on the same ride.

My favorite place is an abandoned house that has 40 hives surrounding it. I guess the property owners don't want squatters...

tagaproject6

Love bug season in the Gulf side of Florida. Riding into multiple swarms is something of an adventure. They get into everything!

banerjek

For a number of years, my commute took me past a dairy with 1500 cattle. The manure was sprayed on the fields (as well as the roads and anyone riding on them) as fertilization.

The number of flies I'd inhale, get caught in my jersey/helmet/etc on a single trip was insane at certain times. And no, I never got sick. I suspect that experience innoculated me for life

FLvector

Considering the abundance of flying insects in FL, I"m surprised I don't encounter more than I do. Yes, the lovebugs peak in May and October, but are a minor annoyance. I sometimes get an unidentified bug in the helmet vent, but I hate stopping to help it go free. They usually find their own way out with no bad results. It seems the most frequent encounter is when someone has their jersey zipper more than half-way down and a wasp or yellow jacket gets trapped resulting in a sting or two. That usually results in everyone zipping back up for the remainder of the ride

Long Tom

25 miles into a 30, I caught a bee in me bonnet while ripping down a hill at about 30 mph. It stung me, and stung me, and stung me some more until I could get stopped and rip my helmet off. I may have squealed like a little girl.

At least it finally happened. I KNEW it would.... now it did. Got a nice lump on my head, but I didn't lose control of the bike and resisted the urge to tear my own fool head off at speed.

bengreen79

My commute is along Lake Michigan and I regularly run into swarms of lake flies and gnats. I'm sure I've ate more than I can count and I've cleared them from the corners of my eyes (despite wearing glasses). I've also regularly been "thwacked" by bumblebees and dragonflies.

pdxtex

we dont have bitey bugs like horseflies but as far as i am concerned, oregon is the bumblebee capital of the us. i ride with the biggest, buggiest bono glasses i can find as i get nailed by those suckers all the time.

Long Tom

We have deer flies! Got a chunk removed from my bare back by one yesterday, out by the goat barn.

The coastal creeks can be brutal with 'em.

pdxtex

^^^i can see that. well in the big bad city, im more likely to be bitten by a hungry bottle cart bum then deer fly.

KevinSCo

My bug story: I wasn on a motorcycle expedition with a friend - our plan was to make it to the Panama Canal. One day in Northern Guatemala the bugs were especially fierce, so we put our helmets on despite the heat and humidity. Long story short, I didn't make it through a turn, landed on my head, and woke up some time later in the back of a pickup heading North. But for the bugs, I'd be toast. Note, I would have also been SOL if I hadn't been wearing a full face helmet - impact point was at about my brow line with heavy scrapes down the face shield and chin guard. I cringe when I see bikers wearing brain buckets!

pdxtex

i have two bug stories that stand out. first, have told this before but its still funny to me. me-crossing a bridge in downtown portland, bee lands on lip and stings me. them-scout troop crossing bridge in opposite direction. me-bleep, bleep, bleep god bleeeeep. sorry kids second bug story, passing large 1/2 mile long swamp during some kind of mass may fly birth. whatever insect it was, it was so thick i had to cover my nose and mouth with a bandana. splat, splat and more splat.......

Long Tom

Man, I seemed to have pissed off the bug kingdom with this thread!

Saturday I'm about 12 miles into a 41-mile ride and I get to my first big downhill, after a fairly epic climb. The thing about this downhill was, that I'd pumped my tires up to 100 psi for the first time- up from about 65 that I had been running, lacking a floor pump or gauge.

So the bike felt faster and twitchier, and I'd been telling myself I needed to be a little careful on the first big descent until I got a feel for it. So with that in mind, I crest this be-atch of a hill and start to fly down the other side... wind through my helmet... breeze cooling my wet shirt... the karmically pure bliss of a well-earned downhill.. ahhh... wait, GAAAA! A bug goes down the front of my shirt via the neck opening and gets tangled up in my chest hair! Easy now.... remember the 100 psi... don't do anything spastic... might not be a stinging bug anyway.... GAAAAA! It starts stinging my chest. Mustn't... ****... out... aww, to hell with it, I take a hand off the bar at what must be 30 mph and start beating my chest, fluffing out my shirt, anything to make it stop!

Lol.... well, as stings go it wasn't bad initially but MAN has it been itchy! Driving me crazy.

I'm riding another 30-40 today; we'll see if my luck holds.

dangerd

I got a login id just to post for you! hahaha. Im cheap too.
Try this: https://www.harborfreight.com/catalog...safety+glasses

kenji666

You need to ride faster.

lucille

She absolutely has to have an epipen with her at all times, but even more so on a bike ride. If you're somewhere rural, the ambulance may get to her too late.

My most painful case was when some kind of hard-shelled beetle smacked into my nostril and broke the skin. It was such a hard hit, that I wobbled on the bike and almost lost control.

I always have bugs bouncing off my face and glasses, and I did swallow my share of them. yuck! I do have things fly into the the vents sometimes and always worry I'll get stung. What brand of helmets have the netting on the inside? I've never seen one.

hyegeek

Around here, the last few days have been thick with ladybugs. At 30+MPH, those buggers hurt.

Long Tom

I've been lucky the last few rides- lots of hits but no stings.

Now that I typed that, I'm ****ed.

Nachoman

I like bugs.