Notso_fastLane

I had never been stung by anything in a couple decades of riding, but since moving to UT, I've had two, one wasp and two bees. Neither were bad. I expected the wasp sting to hurt a lot more than it did, but maybe it only bit and didn't sting.

Lots of bugs bouncing off my helmet, glasses, etc over the years. One minor bird strike on my motorcycle, didn't hurt me or the bird much (he tumbled in the air a bit, but recovered and flew before hitting the ground).

Worst bug encounter was when I was mtn biking in Tucson, near Catalina. It had rained the night before, and was one of the first big spring rains, which always brings out the bugs. I rode through two gnat swarms, about 30 ft apart. It was a little humid (for Tucson) so I was already sweaty enough that the front half of my body was literally blackened with so many gnats. It was disturbing. I rode the 1/2 mile back to the gas station I parked by vehicle, rinsed the bugs off at the water station before getting in, and drove home.

I waited a few days to go out mtn biking again....

5teve

I was trail riding a couple of seasons back and had a yellow jacket hit me in the forehead, in the inch-wide strip of exposed skin between the front rim of my helmet and the top of my cycling glasses. Then it fell in behind my glasses. I stopped as quick as I could and whipped my glassses off and it was trapped between my outer tinted lense and the prescription insert lense! (back when I wore that style of glasses) It was wriggling furiously, legs churning and stinger hitting my insert lense over and over again. There was an actual droplet of venom on the lense where it has tried to apply its stinger. I held my glasses at arms length and gingerly spread the lenses apart and it flew away. When I finished riding I had an irritated red spot on my cheek bone-I think the venom must've dripped down onto my skin. I shudder to think what it would've been like to have that thing in my eye!

Unca_Sam

I'm enjoying the many variations on the spelling of Gnat.

15 years ago while leading a group of campers on a ride, we were cycling through a climax forest somewhere on the Allegheny Plateau. I learned that day that deer flies: 1) can bite through cotton tees, and 2) fly fast enough to catch you on recreational speed rides (or are savvy enough to fly up a slipstream). You won't feel mosquitos biting, but these MF'ers feel like someone trying to push a pin into your skin.

Razorrock

I had the same thing happen while fishing. This big fly kept buzzing around me. Didn't think much about it until it bit me through my t-shirt!

I've been stung several times on bike rides. One flew in my mouth and stung my tongue before I could spit it out.

Unca_Sam

Horseflies spend their youth in damp, rotting vegetation. Swampy ponds and impoundments near large vertebrates are just where they live, and those bites hurt!

gene99

and then there was this critter

https://photos.app.goo.gl/Rquq5b9HKZCyonjp8

Bill in VA

Back in college I was riding along and a wasp flew up my polo shirt sleeve and began to sting me as I tried to stop, release the toe clip straps and remove my shirt all at the same time. After successfully removing the shirt, my girlfriend told me there was a 3 inch line of stings across my shoulder blade. There were 2 big red marks and about a 8-10 stings welts that decreased in size as the venom was being exhausted. It hurt for about 45 minutes, but later than night itched like fire. I never rode with a shirt sleeve that did not have a band on the bottom after that.

Worse was when I was not riding and I was mowing a golf green apron and went over a yellow jacket nest and a swarm flew up my pants leg.

79pmooney

The weekend Cycle Oregon in western Oregon farm country. Going out in the morning we passed orchards with rows of big wood boxes. Coming back? Those boxes were beehives. The worker bees, thousands of them, were returning home with full loads - little cargo planes loaded to take-off max, flying down the quiet road that formed a nice airway to their hives. A quiet road until all these bicycles showed up. Every one going the wrong way!

Those bees are master pilots but they had to do some real evasive action to miss the hundreds of us. All of us and most of them came home with stories of very close calls. To their credit, there were few collisions and I heard of no one getting stung.

I love bees. This was fascinating but more than a few others were terrified.

thumpism 

My most memorable bugfest occurred while attending a bike race at a local park and walking my bike across a grassy area. I noticed a bee in flight approaching from the left, heading for one of my legs. "Nah, it'll turn," I thought to myself, right before it hit just below the knee and stung me. Why?!?

curbtender

On my commute I had to cross an interstate. If I timed it right i could get out ahead of traffic on a good down hill and make a light before an uphill grade. I approached the overcrossing at about 30mph when a five foot ball of specks flew up over the guardrail. A hive on the move. It was like getting pelted with a handful of gravel.

rsbob 

^ Yikes!

Craptacular8

We totally need some kind of emoji icons for our "likes." That would maybe cause the cheese to slide off my cracker if that had been me.....holy chit.

Craptacular8

Deer flies and horse flies are about the absolute worst. I don't know the flying speed of a deer fly, but horse flies can go up to 35mph. Both really smart. I've heard that deer flies are attracted to the color blue...none the less, they are a real "delight" when they buzz your head while riding...or bite through your bike shorts....bastards. One guy said he put I believe some kind of sticky fly trap on his helmet when riding in some wooded area during deer fly season...said it worked, but the buzzing of trapped flies about drove him nuts.

cyclist2000

I've had the clouds of gnats for miles of riding, a few bee stings, but the strangest was some big bug hit my hand and when I look down my hand my fingers had a large blood smear. It was from the bug, I didn't have any cuts, I assume it was a horsefly that had just feasted.

Cyclcist11023131

A Bee flew into the space between my eye and eyeglasses. Was knocking around on my eyeball and glass. I slung those glasses off and they landed safe hanging on a stick in the brush. No sting!

bikecrate

Many clouds of gnats and lovebugs have gone up my nose or in my mouth. I did have a bee fly into the open top part of my jersey. I gently shook the bottom part of the jersey and the moving air whisked him out. Also had some really big bug hit my cycling glasses as I was moving along. Put a big crack in the corner of the glasses.

Unca_Sam

All of these encounters are because we're just moving too darn fast!

NoWhammies

I had a grasshopper, or maybe it was locus, fly/jump in to my rear cassette just as I was changing gears. Poor guy was mushed all to pieces. I had to find a twig on the side of the road and start picking piece of him out from between the cogs so I could continue to ride and change gears.

yukiinu

Was riding and a bee flew up my nose and stung me. It was like I had a shot of novacain.

rsbob 

^ Yikes!

Milton Keynes

I've eaten my fair share of bugs, and spit some out, too. Only sting I had was *something* flying out as I was riding a rail trail and hitting me on the forehead just under my helmet, and stinging me in the process. Must not have been very venomous or else didn't get me very good since it didn't sting for long or leave much of a welt, but the stinging sensation was definitely there for a few minutes.

Milton Keynes

Grasshoppers make good chain lube.

Unca_Sam

They tend to try to jump through the spokes for me.

John_V 

You were lucky! Me, not so much. Had the same thing happen a few months ago except I got stung just below my left eye. Swelled shut almost immediately. The bee (or wasp) hit me in the cheek as I was riding and somehow bounced inside my wrap-around cycling glasses.

mirfi

I was on a club ride that was a faster group than what I ride. So they were waiting for me as I busted ass up the last hill of the day. Great group of seniors. As I neared the top I sucked in a bug and started hacking and coughing. "Are you OK?, Are you OK?". I thought it was funny and tried to laugh, just made me cough more. So I grabbed my metal water bottle that had Juicy Red Hawaiian punch in it and tried to wash the bug out.

Picture it.

One lady screamed "OMG". I still I couldn't talk. To explain I poured my drink out and somehow managed to say it was a bug and it was punch and not me bleeding.