Bee in my helmet!!!! AAHHH!!!!!! [Archive] - Women's Cycling Discussion Forums

froglegs

11-10-2007, 07:43 AM

I always see bees when I ride, and for some reason they often like to dive-bomb me. Maybe it's my neon yellow jersey, or my flowery-smelling sunscreen, or the smell of fear, I don't know. Anyway, usually they bounce off harmlessly....... but yesterday I had my head down, speeding down a hill (OK, going 20mph down a hill and feathering my brakes) and I felt one land in my helmet. Fortunately it didn't sting me. I pulled over and ripped my helmet off, almost forgetting to unclip in the process.

I am not allergic to bees that I know of, but I've only been stung once, and that was when I was a child. Somehow over the years I've turned into one of those people who freaks out when there's a bee flying around.

Does this happen to other people? Has anyone ever been stung this way? How can I prevent bees from landing in my helmet??? :eek:

sandra

11-10-2007, 07:47 AM

OUCH! My husband did have this happen too! Once it was in his helmet. Another time on his neck. I don't know how to keep it from happening.

We were riding one day and saw a young boy about 12 riding with his father. A bee got inside his jersey some way (his jersey was big on him and could have flown up the sleeve). He was fighting try to get it out of the jersey.

Running Mommy

11-10-2007, 07:54 AM

It's the jersey and the yummy smelling sunscreen I'm sure.
But yes, I do seem to be a magnet for them as well. Of course I'm allergic, so it's kind of scary.
A year or two ago I was riding some fresh pavement in the middle of raw desert (a brand new road to future development) when all of the sudden I noticed there were things flying at my head. I looked up to see a SWARM of bee's coming my way!! :eek: I have never peddled so fast in my life. I count myself as very lucky as I somehow didn't get stung.
We have the africanized ones out here, so you really have to be careful.

As far as critters flying into my helemt vents- well I usually have the tarantula hawks do that! :eek: :eek: :eek:

OakLeaf

11-10-2007, 10:06 AM

Ouch.

I got stung on the thigh this summer, going uphill, so I wasn't even going very fast and not sure how we managed to collide. Must've been a honeybee because she left the stinger in my leg... and I had to stop in the middle of the freakin' hill to pull it out. I feel sorry for her actually. She died, I just got a sore leg.

Livin the Dream

11-10-2007, 10:17 AM

Your story reminds me of a bee incident many years ago that involved a helmet and a bike -- though the bike involved was a motorcycle. DH & I went on a motorcycle trip for our honeymoon. We were riding though the mountains in North Carolina when I say something come at me and then felt a sting -- a bee had flown up under my helmet and stung me on the forehead. I started yelling at DH to stop the bike, we took the helmet off and saw I had a wopper of a sting. Ouch!

OakLeaf

11-10-2007, 10:22 AM

Ha, Livin, I had one like that too on the m/c!

Shortly after DH and I got together, I was riding by myself one day. I flipped up my visor at a stoplight, and a bee promptly flew in and got right under my sunglasses. Stupidly I tried to get it out, and it stung me right in the corner of my eye.

For a week afterward, everywhere DH and I went together, people would look at my swollen eye and give him the dirtiest looks! :D

Aggie_Ama

11-10-2007, 10:46 AM

I think Rudy Project makes a helmet with mesh inserts to keep bees out, so you must not be alone.

Trekhawk

11-10-2007, 11:38 AM

Pedal Wench

11-10-2007, 12:07 PM

On a serious note, I did hear of a local guy who was critically injured when a bee got in his helmet and he veered off the trail and crashed head first into tree. Be careful!

li10up

11-10-2007, 01:24 PM

Be careful!

Hehehe....be (bee) careful.

I had this very same thing happen to me last month. I thought a bee had gotten into my helmet but wasn't sure so I just kept riding. Then I thought I felt it crawling around. I stopped and took off my helmet and tried to brush it off with my hand. It stung me on my pinkie finger. Ouch! :eek:

I don't think this can be prevent unless you ride so slowly that the bees can avoid you....but who wants to do that?!?

froglegs

11-11-2007, 08:03 AM

Fortunately the bee flew away quickly without stinging me. However, after I tried to get going again, it divebombed me again, and by this time I was super paranoid and pulled over again to make sure it wasn't in my hair. I think I need to change to a fragrance-free sunscreen.

Any jersey colors that don't attract bees? :)

That sting in the corner of the eye sounds really painful! :eek: :eek: :eek:

Nokomis

11-11-2007, 01:16 PM

Totally freaked me out when that happened - and I haven't ridden w/out a skullcap since. I have many in summer or winter weight. I refuse to allow bugs to get caught in my hair under the helmet.

nic840

11-11-2007, 02:07 PM

Ahh yes! I was riding along an area with fast traffic and very little shoulder. It flew into the vent of my helmet and i could feel it crawling around...creepy! Couldn't pull off for fear of falling in ditch or getting taken out by a car. Just cranked up the speed hoping to make it to the turn out before it got me. Kept thinking "happy bee" thoughts. Quickly unclipped, whipped the helmet off... out it flew to live another day. Ugh!

A riding partner of mine had one fly into his helmet, he got it out and then 5 minutes later had one fly into his jersey. This one got him on the chest. Ouch.

RoadRaven

11-12-2007, 08:25 AM

Had bees and wasps hit different bits of me - but never had a bee in my helmet (yet)

Have had a fly and that was quite freaky!

mimitabby

11-12-2007, 08:53 AM

nothing like getting a bee in your bonnet! walks off muttering

csr1210

11-13-2007, 07:42 AM

nothing like getting a bee in your bonnet! walks off muttering

:D :D :D

Haven't had a bug in the helment yet (so far they've bounced off), but I did have a large bug get stuck in my sunglasses!!! I was amazed how fast I whipped my glasses off, and more amazed that I did not crash or get stung in the process!

Brandi

11-13-2007, 07:56 AM

The road i ride always has bee box's on it during this time of year. It is farm country so they put them out there for certain plants that are blooming during the fall months.
I hate it! There are so many bee's around when i pass these certain spots. I keep my mouth closed and ride a bit slower. I have had them go between my face and my glasses, which i have whiped off so they land on the ground really hard. And i have had them in my hair, in my helmit etc...
I hate riding through when they are placing them too. There are hundreds flying all over. The guys in the bee suits wave you through saying "they won't hurt you, it's ok''.
Well if it's ok then why are they wearing the outfit? Huh? Answer that one for me!:p :p

coyote

11-13-2007, 02:07 PM

I once had a dragon fly collide with my arm at a really high rate of speed. We collided so hard that it went thru the mesh in my shirt. It was amazing how fast I ripped my shirt off to see the damage! It left a welt that kept getting bigger. I ended up icing it and running a credit card edge over the area. I think that one of its legs was imbedded in my skin.

Yeah so though I'm not afraid or allergic to bees, I'm terrified that one may get stuck in my helmet. :(

Maybe I will see about those mess helmets.

kelownagirl

11-13-2007, 02:36 PM

I'm terrified of being stung when riding now, especially in the fall when the wasps get "drunk" on the rotten fruit in the orchards and become aggressive. I become allergic this past spring and have to carry an epipen. I figure it's just a matter of time before I have to actually use the thing. DH got stung when we were riding this summer and then I was stung by a hornet (thankfully not a yellowjacket)...

Eden

11-13-2007, 04:04 PM

Something kind of freaky happens to my husband in the summer - we think it might be bees - or some other type of insect with a mild poison??? He doesn't really get stung, but he runs into something that leaves a welt with what I can only describe as a drip mark running down from it - as if you threw a water ballon at a wall - a splat, then the liquid runs down. He gets them on his front, usually on his chest or upper arms. Most of the time it takes a couple days for the red mark to go away. We've never seen the remains of what ever insect causes it, so we're not sure if its bees or something else though.