Why can't they all go splat?

Message

dieziege · #1 Post by **dieziege** » Tue Jul 11, 2006 5:32 am

OK, so I take my normal morning ride into work... sun is shining, temps are in the 70s, life is grand... and I'm rolling along the interstate, doing about the speed limit (70), mingling with the trucks that are forced to merge left because the right lane is ending... when suddenly there's a sharp pain in my right side... a sharp stinging pain that builds and does not want to go away.... next exit is a mile away.... I decide to stop.

So I get off, pull my jacket off, shake it out, look at my side where there's a nice red lump forming on my ribs... find no source.... put my clothes back on and ride the other 25 miles to work...when I get to the office and take off my jacket I start feeling a "crawling around" type feel.... I rip off my shirt and a wasp flies away. It is bouncing around in the office now.

I'm seriously rethinking my choice of yellow riding gear. Last time it was bees trying to suck my nectar... this time a wasp managed to... I'm not sure what... I'm thinking it got in through the neck of my jacket though I'm not sure what it's nervous system was telling it to do.

Sculelos · #2 Post by **Sculelos** » Tue Jul 11, 2006 6:22 am

Ouch, fortinitly I have never had that happen to me, but maby thats cause my riding gear is black and white.

OoJRod06oO · #3 Post by **OoJRod06oO** » Tue Jul 11, 2006 6:37 am

Man, good thing you weren't allergic or anything.

Sounds like he was in your jacket from when you first put it on though. I doubt he could get inside while you were going 70

#4 Post by **bok** » Tue Jul 11, 2006 6:59 am

if you don't wear gauntlet style gloves and have your sleeve cuffs done up those little buggers can zoom right up there

dieziege · #5 Post by **dieziege** » Tue Jul 11, 2006 7:09 am

OoJRod06oO... Dunno where it came from really. Hard to imagine it was in my house all night though and I dressed before I went outside. I'd gone 34 miles or so when it got pissy. Even without any allergic reactions it's really hard to keep yourself from reacting when a wasp starts stinging your torso. With an allergic reaction...

Sculelos... Black and White is good... just watch our for... umm... zebras? Old movie fanatics?

Sleeves were done up tight so I doubt it got in that way. The jacket is a size too large though (it fits fine with a normal jacket under it... what can I say... I believed the 'net advice people gave) and there's room both at the bottom (in front of the zipper that attaches it to the pants) and neck.

#6 Post by **bok** » Tue Jul 11, 2006 7:14 am

yeah if the jacket is a bit big it would be pretty easy to get in down the neck or even for one of those critters to get up under the waist...either way, glad you weren't allergic, that'd suck worse but wasps just keep stinging so i think it would be tough to keep riding anyway you look at it heh

jonnythan · #7 Post by **jonnythan** » Tue Jul 11, 2006 7:19 am

bok wrote:yeah if the jacket is a bit big it would be pretty easy to get in down the neck or even for one of those critters to get up under the waist...either way, glad you weren't allergic, that'd suck worse but wasps just keep stinging so i think it would be tough to keep riding anyway you look at it heh

Probably landed on you or the bike right before you took off. Insects seldom "let go" of whatever they're hanging onto when the wind picks up. It probably crawled right up your back from the seat or your butt to get out of the wind.

roscowgo · #8 Post by **roscowgo** » Tue Jul 11, 2006 7:37 am

I have a bee phobia.

The other creepy crawlies i can stand long enough to act calmly about. Bees make me run/hide/jump on chairs/swing large cumbersome objetcs at high rates of speed...

its a no good proposition.

Mustang · #9 Post by **Mustang** » Tue Jul 11, 2006 7:48 am

I was cringing reading the story....it seems you were lucky it only stung you once!

I had a bee sting my lip as it hit my face one day...had the gf on the back and hed to keep on riding until I got home....could feel the stinger still in there as I rode.....

Doesn't do much for the focus does it

dieziege · #10 Post by **dieziege** » Tue Jul 11, 2006 8:36 am

It doesn't help you stay focused on the road at all

I'm very lucky it only zapped me once... especially since there was basically nothing I could do to get at it... I unzipped the front of the jacket while on the freeway and then told myself "this ain't something you can deal with while riding"... I think the wind from opening the jacket probably helped keep it away from me or at least changed it's priorities from stinging an enemy to avoiding the wind.

I normally don't mind bees or wasps... I'm pretty used to dealing with each and have rarely been stung... but you never know what your reaction is going to be. What really scares me is thinking about a reaction I got to a bite (I think spider but have no real idea) years ago... I was walking out of a wooded park towards my car which was parked across the street when something bit me... I didn't think much of it and kept walking... and about the time I reached the street I was in full blown shock and still walking... I just walked across the street in a ringing daze never turning my head or looking for cars (and this was a busy street w/ 40+MPH traffic)... came out of it standing in front of my car with a big red spot on one arm. No stinger or anything though so I don't think it was a bee. Something like that happening on a bike would NOT be good.