Rstyle

I was towards the end of my ride and going over a slight hill.
I was tired and breathing through my nose and partially open mouth.
Suddenly I see a blur and this flying thing flies straight into my mouth and starts fluttering like crazy.
I start spitting out like madman and finally got rid of it but it stings me on the outside edge of the lips just outside the mouth on its way out. Painful sting!
A wasp!!!
All I kept thinking was what if she would have stung me several times inside the mouth before I was able to spit it out or if she would have gone down my airway!!!!

Reflector Guy

I feel your pain. I got stung on my face once and it made my face swell up like I was the Elephant Man.

Litespud

one time I was riding while chewing gum. Something flew into my mouth and I got a couple of “chews” in before I realized that the gum had taken on a new consistency. 😟🤢
apart from the occasional wasp or other buzzer in my helmet, the only other memorable insect encounter was a cicada in the face - that hurts!

freeranger

Nothing more than riding thru a horde of gnats on a bicycle. But I did have a bee fly into my motorcycle helmet once--heard it buzzing, but luckily I had a full head of thick hair back then! Also rode thru a horde of cicadas on the motorcycle-while wearing a t-shirt--ouch! All over 30 yrs.ago.

noimagination

Lots of encounters.
- Stung in front of ear, bee got caught between helmet strap and my head. Fortunately bee stings don't hurt all that much (hence "sting"), and I'm not allergic. I'm not sure, I think that was the only time I've been stung.
- Bee (?? it was buzzing, anyway) in my helmet vents, I had a skull cap on so I didn't get stung before I whipped off my glasses and helmet, bee(?) presumably went on its way.
- Earwigs dripping down my head - I had left my helmet outside over night. Earwigs like moisture and, evidently, sweat. Had to stop, take off helmet, and brush earwigs off my head and out of my helmet. Yuck. Psychosomatic head itches for a couple of miles, every drip of sweat made me wonder if I'd missed one.
- Saw a big bug approaching head on, Jerked my head right, it swerved the same way. Repeat, jerking my head to the left. I'm not sure how many times we samba'ed in the second or two before it whizzed by my head.
- Bee flies down the open neck of my cycling jersey, fortunately it was a full zip jersey so I could quickly sit up, unzip, and let my jersey flap in my slipstream as the bee undoubtedly went on its way, didn't see it but I didn't get stung.
- No counting the small bugs I've ingested on rides.
- Gnats can't fly very fast, if you're climbing they can be annoying but once you get over 10 mph or so, they're gone. Other than the ones that get stuck to your sweaty/sun-screened arms and legs and drown, that you have to brush off when you get home, of course. Poor things.

cxwrench

Doing a loop up and down Mt Tam (road bike...) and on the way down Panoramic Hwy I thought a bee or something hit my collarbone and flew off. Nothing buzzed or moved in my jersey so I continued down to Mill Valley. Stopped in a shop there to say hi to some friends and after about 5 mins something started buzzing under my jersey. Immediately unzipped it all the way and a bumblebee flew out! I had been stuck between base layer and jersey for at least 10 mins. Guess it was stunned and then woke up. Definitely had them fly in helmet vents too. No bites/stings though.

Unca_Sam

Lacewing larvae in the corner of my eye. It's a different kind of sting!

GlennR

I've swallowed my share of bugs, but the one up the nose was the worst.

Also had one get stuck under my jersey... it stung me before I crushed it.

ClydeClydeson

THe shop where I used to work would send me to local bike races to provide neutral tech support. As I stood watching the riders go by I took a sip of my Gatorade just as a wasp was enjoying a sip from the mouth of the bottle. I got stung on my lip and half my face was swollen up like a grapefruit for the rest f the event.

Another time I was riding down a big hill on my road bike and a bee flew inside my half-zipped jersey and stung me right on my sternum.

KCT1986

Gnats, clouds of them when it's humid. Nothing like having them crawling around in your scalp and walking around the inside of your glasses.

Bees, been stung a few times. Once had one bounce off my glasses, scratch my nose and sting me in upper arm. My riding partners and I watched as the ring around the sting get larger and larger. Not allergic so just entertaining.

Coming home after sundown in a dark tree lined area and see something flash in front and feel a medium weight hit. Looked back thinking it was a branch or fruit but saw nothing. Since it felt like a soft object, assume that it was a bird taking flight.

pdlamb

Been lucky so far w.r.t. bees and wasps. Closest call was one that flew into a helmet vent. I'd been touring for maybe 6 weeks, so I had lots of hair between the bee and my scalp, but I screeched to a stop anyway and frantically "combed" my hair with the helmet visor.

Nastiest I've run into have been several ant swarms. They fly down my jersey and start crawling around, biting every few inches until I can find a crush them.

grayEZrider

I once pulled a glass out, dumped ice and then tea into it. First swig and felt something "fuzzy" in my mouth. Leaned over the sink and spit out a big, black spider. Flushed it down. It wasn't moving so I figured it was dead in the glass before I filled it. New glass, fresh tea. Walked by the sink and guess what was now crawling out of the drain.
I never told the wife about that of course.

Ed Wiser

It’s a bike riders hazard. I still remember going 35 miles and hours and getting a dragonfly in my mouth.

aero540t

yikes! I’m traumatized just reading that!
I just got back into riding this year during the pandemic and had a large flying insect hit my forehead under the brim of my helmet. Startled me and I veered halfway into the (dirt) road. Fortunately that road wasn’t heavily trafficked but that was a wake up call on safety.
definitely more scary on a motorcycle though under a full face helmet and you can’t get the bug out quickly!

grayEZrider

Quit motorcycles five years ago (after 50 years of riding) and can vouch for the full helmet problem. Many bugs over the years and I once was hit in the chest by an owl. I wound up in a ditch and the owl was dead.
I always wear eye protection when riding anything.

bOsscO

Riding home from a pic-nic in the park on a sunny afternoon, baggy shorts and Hawaiian shirt, I watched as a tiny object ahead of me on the right increases in size before nailing me in the chest. Although I felt the impact, it didn't hurt so I just kept going. About a half block later I feel this sharp stinging pain in my chest. I smacked the area with one hand while braking/stopping wiht the other hand. Just as I come to a stop a near-dead wasp falls out from the bottom of my shirt. I figured when he hit me he must of bounced between the buttons of my shirt and get caught inside long enough to recover and sting me.

Wileyrat

I've had a bee fly into a vent in my helmet, and it stung my scalp before I could get pulled over and get my helmet off.

I have a story about a tarantula on my shoulder that I'll save for another time.

Aroyobob

I aspirated a gnat once, could feel it in my trachea. Took most of the ride before I was able to cough it out.

Unca_Sam

'Cause a tarantula isn't an insect?

rsbob 

One bee string to lower lip which tripled in size. One down the jersey and a sting on the sternum. More flying critters in my helmet than I can count.

10 Wheels

My First Flat on a road.
I set down to fix it.
Not for Long.

Was sitting on a Fire Ant Mound

Noahma

I get stung by bees a few times per year while out riding, inside of my thigh was one, another the top of my head, I had one fly into my jersey, and sting my chest lol I flew through some Nats early this year as the lockdowns were getting started here. This poor couple was walking the other direction as I start hacking and coughing because of the nats invading my lungs. Pretty sure I scared them grey with that one.

Pop N Wood

Had one section of road that went through a swampy area full of skeeters and biting flies. fortunately they were pretty slow and maintaining speed prevented bites. But it was also on a bit of a grade, so proved to be a really good motivator to stay above a certain speed to keep the little bastards from catching up.

I used to ride a MUP just before sun rise. Many mornings I was the lucky one who got to blaze the trail through all the spider webs that criss-cross the trail at night.

abshipp 

I had a bee get caught between my (very worn out and stretched) fingerless gloves and my finger, thankfully it didn't get a good sting in.

The worst was on a hot day I had taken my glasses off since I was sweating all over them and couldn't see very well. A gnat flew into my eye and became stuck between my eyelid and eye. That burned a lot.

Most interesting experience was riding a tree-lined MUP after dark in the summer where a bunch of bats were enjoying the bounty of insects that come out after dark. One of them flew a bit too low an brushed against my cheek.

And for those of you who accuse me of thread drift since this is about insects - hush up, I'm a Calvinist

leob1

The usual bees bouncing off helmet, going in vents and walking around, no stings from that. Bees flying down shirt, can't get out fast enough then stinging. Bees bouncing off glasses. And the one I had walking around on the inside of the lens. Mouth full of knats, and other bugs being ingested. Knats sticking to sweaty arm, lots of little wings flapping in the breeze, not very areo.
My top was when I was riding at dusk, and a lightning bug(fire fly) hit my glasses. This caused it to light up right in front of my eyeball, blinding me in one eye, in traffic.