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Message started by wheelsoffreedom76 on 06/14/13 at 12:58:28

Title: Taking bees for a ride & Kansas wind
Post by wheelsoffreedom76 on 06/14/13 at 12:58:28

I just got back from a short road trip to a nearby town and experienced something new on the trip. I'm bopping along about 60 mph, with a 35 mph crosswind and something bounces off my glasses (while wearing a full face helmet). I see it down in the corner of my view where the visor meets the seal, a bee. I slow down and pull over, and when I lift the visor it flies away. I take off again anda few miles down the road....a bee lands on my nose so again I stop and lift the visor and off it goes. It's over a 100 degrees and the wind is 30-40mph usually crosswind to the road direction and it was whipping them up under the front of my full face helmet. Anybody else have this happen very often?
On another note I was riding along and thinking we dont have a lot of twisties around here, but with the Kansas wind you can dang near get your knee down on the straight sections.

Title: Re: Taking bees for a ride & Kansas wind
Post by arteacher on 06/14/13 at 13:15:15

I had a wasp get up my sleeve on a hot day and sting me 5 times before I could get off the road and get rid of it.

Title: Re: Taking bees for a ride & Kansas wind
Post by justin_o_guy2 on 06/14/13 at 14:15:31

I was runnin hot down the road & suddenly I felt like Id ridden thru a handfull of BB's. I turned around & went back, lookin for a kid who tossed them over the fence,,then I started diggin in my clothes & dug our several dead & a coupla live bees.

Title: Re: Taking bees for a ride & Kansas wind
Post by ToesNose on 06/15/13 at 04:05:38

Are you sure that the two bee's weren't getting busy in your bucket before the ride ;D

Title: Re: Taking bees for a ride & Kansas wind
Post by Charon on 06/15/13 at 05:01:57

No bees yet, but I have had several varieties of flying insects get up inside the full-face helmet. And I got "lucky" enough to get a wasp inside my shirt - I guess it blew in between the buttons on the front.

Decades ago I was riding an Allstate Super Cruisaire (rebadged Vespa) from Biloxi to Tampa. I turned my head to look over my shoulder (no mirrors on the Vespa) and when I turned back something blew into my eye behind my glasses. It was all I could do to keep the other eye open while I got stopped. After the worst of the pain went away I found a wounded bee wandering around on the floorboard of the scooter, so I presume the bee was what hit me. Fortunately it didn't sting, probably because it didn't have time. Those who ride without eye protection - be warned.

Title: Re: Taking bees for a ride & Kansas wind
Post by old_rider on 06/16/13 at 05:07:31

Had a bumble bee get between my right glove and jacket sleeve on the way back home yesterday. When I stopped for gas, I undid my sleeve to my jacket and a he rolled out into my palm and down to the ground. Was still alive but barely, I'm just glad I didn't get stung, I swell up bad with insect bites and stings.

Title: Re: Taking bees for a ride & Kansas wind
Post by shovelbum87 on 06/18/13 at 16:53:20

I have had a hornet in my helmet going down the road... not a good time. Worst two experiences for me though were
1) hit a flock of June Bugs (for those of you that dont have them they are beetles that are roughtly the size of a quarter... ouch
2) I took a bird to the chest at 30mph darn near killed me! or I thought so Took my breath away and almost knocked me off the bike

Title: Re: Taking bees for a ride & Kansas wind
Post by justin_o_guy2 on 06/18/13 at 18:21:42

About 30 minutes ago I had some excitement.. standing in the shop, shooting an innocent & unsuspecting bull with a guy, something flew between my left eye & glasses,, feeling it wasnt exactly a small critter I hastily ( REad : with some degree of panic) reached up & removed my glasses, releasing from captivity a Red Wasp,,, HO Lee COW!,, I cant believe that thing didnt go into "Self Defense Mode" in there,, but I escaped without a scratch.. My friend removed his hat to slap it down, but I told him to let it live,, If ever there was a wasp I want to see live & reproduce, its one that wouldnt sting in that situation..

Title: Re: Taking bees for a ride & Kansas wind
Post by shovelbum87 on 07/09/13 at 15:10:01

Update.... Worst one Ive had, I was out for a nice ride on the 3rd and it was getting late so the moths were coming out, visor was covered, so I opened it so that I could see... Not a minute later in the middle of quite a nice corner I have a bat fly into my face and get stuck between my face and the edge of the visor...I may have needed new pants after that. :o :o :o :-/ :'( Convinced Mother nature is out to get me!

Title: Re: Taking bees for a ride & Kansas wind
Post by justin_o_guy2 on 07/09/13 at 16:42:38

glad you handled that & didnt wig out & crash..
ya know, not everybody has a story like that..

Title: Re: Taking bees for a ride & Kansas wind
Post by WD on 07/09/13 at 16:46:07

Did you keep it, they make interesting/entertaining yard guests. I need to get of my overheated butt and build a couple more bat houses...

Title: Re: Taking bees for a ride & Kansas wind
Post by stinger on 07/10/13 at 01:25:45

One time I was robbed and sort of beat up (black eye and knocked a tooth out) in Illinois and a long way from home. Portland Oregon. They stole my helmet, coat, money and credit cards, and camera. While I was sittin on this bench giving a report to the police, a bee stung me in the adams apple. I also went swimming in the Missouri and got like 5 big mosquito bites on my butt. Try riding with a half closed eye, a swollen mouth because of the tooth which caused me to drool inside my helmet and constantly scratching my butt while riding 65mph. My throat swelled because of the bee sting and I could hardly swollow. My coat rubbing on the bee sting drove me nuts.

Title: Re: Taking bees for a ride & Kansas wind
Post by justin_o_guy2 on 07/10/13 at 01:27:24

Dude! Thats a horrible trip,,

Title: Re: Taking bees for a ride & Kansas wind
Post by shovelbum87 on 07/10/13 at 03:12:57

6F6875727B796E1C0 wrote:

Holy cow! That beats mine all day long, Glad that you made it, Always gotta be careful when your so far from home.
My dad once was taking his bike cross country back in the 80s and he stopped for gas and a truck driver came up to him handed him a handful of ball bearings and said your gonna want these, four miles up the road a pack of guys in a pickup tried to run him off the road so he threw the bearings and took off, sometimes people just suck

Title: Re: Taking bees for a ride & Kansas wind
Post by RatdogWillie on 07/10/13 at 06:22:32

26213C3B323027550 wrote:

Wow! I got stung in the adams-apple by a bumblebee once while riding, and that's something I'll never forget. But adding all the other things......that's horrible!

Title: Re: Taking bees for a ride & Kansas wind
Post by Pine on 07/10/13 at 06:24:28

Yeah what is it with birds and death wishes??? I had one .. I swear.. dive bomb my helmet. He banked off at the last instant.. but not before I was ducking and swerving. This was on an interstate in a hard curve ( I-20 waterworks).

Riding at "dark-thirty" is a great time temp wise and watching the sun set and all. Bugs seem to know this and have that hour reserved to them. Dabnabit...

Crossing the "spillway" (smallish dam), there is band of gnats that stay there all the time. In a car its not noticeable... on the bike... be glad your wearing gloves so you can wipe down the face shield as you pass through.

Title: Re: Taking bees for a ride & Kansas wind
Post by arteacher on 07/10/13 at 07:09:49

Every once in a while there is an explosion in the June bug population around here. It becomes a real hazard as they collect under the street lights (sometimes in a layer of 2-3 thick on the road in 6-10' diameter patches). I have seen cars do 360s or slide off the road. I would hate to be on a bike and hit a patch of them.

Title: Re: Taking bees for a ride & Kansas wind
Post by Dave on 07/10/13 at 07:23:42

737878717D727369681C0 wrote:

Not bike related....but June Bug! When I was in high school I worked at a place where we loaded boxes of frozen food onto trucks each morning for delivery. The freezer doors were left open as we wheeled the boxes out to the trucks, and it was 4 - 6 AM each morning when we did this. It was dark and the June bugs would fly toward the light that was inside the door of the freezer. As soon as the bugs hit the 5 degee freezer air they would start their decent.....and about 8 feet inside the door there was always a pile of frozen June Bugs! Evidently June Bugs aren't well insulated.

Title: Re: Taking bees for a ride & Kansas wind
Post by WD on 07/10/13 at 07:37:48

http://www.dotheton.com/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=48088.0;attach=89946;image

I'm sure you could substitute June Bugs for Cicadas... bleah... where is the animated vomiting smiley when you need him... oh yeah, on a different forum...

Title: Re: Taking bees for a ride & Kansas wind
Post by keith on 07/10/13 at 22:55:24

I realized how happy I was that I bought a full face helmet over the weekend. Coming out of a canyon and hit a dragonfly. Had it not been for the visor on the helmet I would have taken it right in my eye. Lesson learned always have my visor down.

Title: Re: Taking bees for a ride & Kansas wind
Post by Doody814 on 07/12/13 at 11:12:45

So far, I,ve been more fortunate than some of you guys. The worst one I had was when I took a horse fly to the chest, back in my motocross days.

However, the most memorable "incodent" (and with out a doubt, the most humorous), was about a month ago. I was cruising some nice twisty back roads and I came to a real tight 90 deg right hander, when all of a sudden a peacock came rocketing out of the ditch next to the road. I had just down shifted, and a nice back fire came popping out of my exhaust, and the thing launched outta there like a SCUD missle! I caugth it out of the corner of my eye & ducked just in time to only get brushed by the tail feathers, but I was a fraction of a second away from catching it flush!

Title: Re: Taking bees for a ride & Kansas wind
Post by WD on 07/12/13 at 12:25:38

Been there with an ostrich. Used to be an ostrich farm on my route to work. They'll get your attention really quick fast and in a hurry. Riding along, dodging the bugs, and a feathered dinosaur jumps out of the ditch...

Riding under a flock of starlings isn't much fun either, watch out for the "chunky rain"...