Disturbed a nest while cutting firewood at the cabin as a teen. Thick underbrush prevented a quick getaway. Other than feeling like a flank steak (meat tenderizer paste from head to toe - old school treatment I was told) I guess I got off lucky. No reactions.

Same here. But mine happened a couple years ago. Must be attracted to the body heat off the back I guess? Anyway, if you leave them alone, they'll leave you alone. It ticked my neck so I went to scratch it which is when I got popped. I guess it took my scratching as an attack.

Just resist the urge to swat at them which is what people instinctively do when they're buzzing in and around your face.Happened to me but from a wasp nest when I was mowing the lawn. I was bumping the tree to get the grass around it and there was a wasp nest in the tree. One popped me on the neck and when I looked up the swarm was floating around above me. I ran for a block before I stopped to look back.

The worst garden event insect attack I ever got was from fire ants. They don't bit individually. Instead, they wait until they've covered you then send a signal to bite all at once. It buns for days then itches for days after that. Cortizone helps some.

Years ago sometimes in the 1990s I was riding my road bike in the Texas hill country and a wasp flew off the ground and stung me right between the eyes. Gave me two black eyes and didn’t feel very good. Finished the ride look in the mirror when I was changing and like dang you look like you were in a bar fight. Luckily I didn’t get sick.

Oh, I see...a long time ago I remember it was common to see those type bee hives from the road in Mexico. Of course, ya' know what beekeepers use to calm bees down, heh. ;)

Smoke. But what's so special about that?

IDK. Could have been a BMC.

Got a glancing sting in my chest scar from heart surgery.

Also, one just missed my man parts while I was descending into Watkins Glenn. Again, the stinger didn't stay in.

Italian bees would never ride Swiss bikes.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_bee

Insult to injury for sure!

I'll admit that I've never been stung while riding, but I've I've inhaled a lot of bugs.

Yeah, what the heck happens there, anyways? 🤔 If we were just swallowing them, it'd be like, oh well, extra vitamins. But breathing them in, is just weird as heck. 😳😁

Makes me gag and cough when it happens.

Yellowjacket nests can be small & hard to spot. Sometimes they do a light sting & other times full suicidal force, quite unpredictable. South is seeing more Super Nests which scare even the pro exterminators.

From a previous stardognine thread mentioning quality legal cannabis in Nevada. If that doesn't calm the bees down, what will? ;)

I guess I'm pretty lucky that bee stings affect me minimally. The most recent sting was several years ago while backpacking, on my shin just below my knee. It hurt a bit for several minutes, but by the end of the day it was barely noticeable and the next morning any indication was almost gone. If I were acutely allergic to bee stings I'd probably focus more on indoor exercise.

Yes that's good...not to scare-monger but I never had a significant reaction to yellowjacket stings until the one time (~age 45) when my arm swelled up for 3 days. It wasn't bad enough to go to the doctor but still kinda weird. Maybe the antibodies or whatever they're called didn't build up until after getting the previous stings, I dunno. I don't think I'm at risk for anaphylactic shock but it would be nice if the epi-pens were OTC & fairly priced.

I know we're getting way off the topic of cycling, but WTF... When I was 14 a yellow jacket flew down the back side of my shirt unnoticed. My dad noticed and in his infinite wisdom somehow thought it prudent to whack my back with a rolled-up newspaper or something similar. It sting me multiple times. It hurt like a mother, but I don't remember having any long-term complications.

Kind of funny in hindsight at least--but yeah, that's another thing about yellowjackets: they're attracted to people (sweat smell?). Quite frequently they'll alight on arm, hand etc & crawl around for 5 minutes. In re cycling, one year in Tour de France a rider got stung good by a yellowjacket on his forehead...medical car treated him on the roll & no complications. IIRC he was a domestique so losing a few minutes wasn't a major problem.

I Win
 

Years ago I was descending fast on the Coast Hiway into Stinson Beach. A wasp hit me in the eyeball proper, felt like a BB gun put my eye out and nearly caused me to crash while exceeding the Fred wahoo speed. My eyelid closed around the wasp and of course it stung my eyelid. I had no idea if it actually had stung my eyeball because of the impact. When I got into Sinson Beach I stopped at the Fire Station for some quick and free assessment of the situation, it was painful and very confusing (scary) for a bit, not knowing what heck would happen if the eyeball was stung.

The hard part is rolling doobies that small. Bees can be kinda fussy about that.

Doo-bees.

I just did the Seattle to Portland ride and about 70 miles in I saw something flying towards me - too late, it flew right into my mouth and stung my inner lip. I spit whatever it was out very quickly and kept pedaling.

Years ago I was riding a motorcycle and got stung in the neck and started feeling funny. I'd been stung before, no reaction - I wasn't too worried. I got off the bike, could barely get my helmet off because my ears had swollen up and my arms looked like the Incredible Hulk. I got back on the motorcycle, went to the emergency room and they rushed me past a big line of people to shoot me up with bug drugs, my blood pressure was something like 80/30. I had to carry an Epipen for many years but never had to use it. Years later I was stung, no reaction.

So, on the STP ride I was bit worried. My lip started to swell a bit but my arms looked fine. At the next rest stop with medical support I stopped and they looked at it and said it didn't look that bad. By the end of the first day (122 miles) the swelling had come down.

Made me think I should either carry an epipen just in case (though I think they are really expensive now) or look for a really dorky bike helmet that has some kind of mouthguard...

Screw that. You need a gen-yoo-wine football helmet, with a mouthguard. It was good enough for Jack, in "Easyrider". 😁

Haven't been stung by a bee or wasp yet but I did inadvertently eat one. Kind of like inhaling one

Speaking of which, I got some nice Lemon Thai today. 😎 The lemon isn't overly strong, you mostly taste the Thai.

Earlier this week, 3 miles into a 10 mile ride, something, flew across two lanes of traffic and the MUP to hit me in the chest while I'm doing about 25 mph! I've taken enough hits by small objects, so just went to brush off the area... wrong move!!! Wasp, hornet or govt drone, it fired me up under the right nipple. I didn't feel the other three hits as I grabbed my jersey and coasted/single braked to a stop. Whatever it was, fell to the ground and was forgotten as I was concerned with the possible effects. I keep a small med kit with powdered normal saline for washing wounds. Since it also has baking soda in it, I used a little water to make a poltice and packed it under the shirt. Finished 17 more miles and no reaction. Marks still there, but at least I don't hurt.

Now what darned insect decides to commit suicide/attempted murder against a random cyclist?! :fight: