plumberroy

Rode the 8 mile loop at the local park last night. The bugs were so thick it felt like it was sprinkling rain. Definitely had to ride with your mouth closed

Chuck M 

There is a section of MUP near hear that goes behind a sewage treatment plant and it attracts a lot of bugs. I'm extra diligent to keep my mouth closed going through there.

Speedskater

Don't wear a fluorescence yellow jersey. I went to an evening parking lot custom car show. One bright yellow car attracted every bug in the parking lot.

MikeWMass

If you keep your mouth open you don't have to carry snacks.

50PlusCycling

Saw this spider today, it was bigger than my hand. The web blocked the entire path, and the guy I was riding with refused to continue riding along this path afterward..



We are on Miyako Island, a hotter-than-hell tropical island west of Okinawa. If you like big bugs and sweating your body weight every day, it’s a great place.

WT21

It has rained so much here, I've been on Zwift many days. Went out after a solid weak of rain and went back indoors because the bugs replaced where the rain was. It's been a very strange summer where I live.

yannisg

Occasionally, I encounter bugs/flies on my mtn bike routes. They seem to be near certain type of trees.
On the uphill, since I am going slow they are all around my face and in my glasses; its very annoying especially if you have a flat or have to stop for some reason.They seem to be attracted by the salty sweat.
On the downhill they can't keep up so its ok.
My solution is to carry a net which fits over my helmet, and closes around my neck. Whenever the problem starts I stop and put the net on. It makes a huge difference.

Calsun

I switched to safety glasses that keep dirt and bugs out of my eyes better than standard sunglasses. Bugs can hit my cheek bones and then go up into my eyes.

A riding buddy on a trip from Oregon to San Diego got a bug stuck in his eye near the town of Point Arena on the California coast and we had to make a stop to get it removed by a local doctor. The doctor remarked that it was evidently the beginning of the tourist season which for us was more than a little deprecating. He still insisted on wearing his Ray Ban sunglasses as he thought they looked cool.

bikeleo

That was one good thing about the times of covid, riding with a mask on. It cut down on the number of bugs ingested.

Polaris OBark

What is the story with the little orange one?

50PlusCycling

The orange one is the male, these two were getting-it-on.

rumrunn6

head net, seriously

plumberroy

I have rode that trail more than 100 times only time I have seen them bad all the way around the trail

Hondo Gravel

Stung by wasps a few times while riding. More concerned with rattlesnakes and skunks.

canklecat

Clouds of airborne bugs are pretty seasonal and predictable here. I always carry one or two bandanas on rides and runs, so if it's buggy outside I'll wear an bandana around my neck, cowboy style, and pull it up over my nose and mouth when necessary. I almost always wear eye protection anyway, including clear safety glasses at night -- mostly because vehicles on the rural routes I ride kick up gravel and debris.

Usually the clouds of bugs lurk around lower elevations near water. That includes the trails running adjacent to the local river/creek system. I'm not sure I've ever encountered a cloud of no-see-ums elsewhere in my area.

Polaris OBark

I've got clouds of mosquitos in my garage, which adds extra fun to mounting tubeless tires with flimsy sidewalls.

gthomson

Yup, I agree with the other guy. That might have me switch to Zwift full time if that was anywhere near my bike paths. Thankfully I live in a place where nothing is poisonous enough to do much harm.

Jughed

I shave my santa clause beard during spring gnat season... I come home caked in gnats.

thehammerdog

omg..I ate several large bugs this summer awful almost ckoked...so nasty when out of nowhere bam in mouth goes bug.

downtube42

Much much less buggage here in Oregon than when I lived in the midwest. On a hot summer day riding around Indiana cornfields I would run into a cloud of gnats a mile long. That was just normal life in the midwest.

t2p

but is it possible the beard could function as a filter ?

t2p

ran into a few areas with a lot of small bugs / ‘gnats’ on a ride last Friday

the ride was on a path next to a lake and we finished the ride around sunset - so not a surprise - but this was prob the most bugs we’ve encountered on a recent bike ride

plumberroy

As I'm not a fast rider only averaging 10-11 mph. If I headed west at the last road crossing on that bike path It would take about 45 minutes to be in Indiana.corn fields were close 😁

t2p

are you near Dayton ?

my youngest kid graduated from UD - now lives and works near Evendale (above Cincinnati)

we made a few stops at bike shops near Dayton ... Kettering ? ... K & G I believe - great shop - got some stuff for one of my Cannondale’s ...

DirePenguin

A couple of years back, I had a hornet fly into my mouth and sting my tongue before I could spit it out! That really hurt, and it stayed swollen for a couple days! I’ve tried to ride with my mouth closed as much as possible, since!

I also got stung on the leg earlier this year; I thought it just bounced off, but it stung me in that instant of contact!

I hate hornets with every fiber of my being! 😁