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Bee in My Bonnet

04.29.2010 by Ray Niekamp // 10 Comments

Or my helmet, actually. I took an after work ride this afternoon, and while I was on the road, something hit the big vent in the middle of my helmet. I could feel it jiggling around inside.

I put up with it a little while, but it drove me nuts. I felt around inside the vents with my fingers, but couldn’t find anything. Since I am allergic to bee stings, I decided to pull over and get the critter.

The incident reminded me of a ride with my friend David.  He was a few bike lengths behind me, when he called out that a bee had flown into his helmet. He kept feeling around in the vents, but couldn’t find anything. In a little bit, though, he had some discomfort, and asked me to stop. He pulled off his helmet and a bee flew out. He had been stung. Luckily, he didn’t swell up badly.

I know this has happened to others, as well.  Have you ever had a bee fly into your helmet?

In my case, it turned out not to be a bee at all. Instead, it was a small round black bug of some kind. No stinger, no venom. When I took off my helmet, it was crawling around along the inside styrofoam surface. I shooed him away and continued the ride, but now that the warmer weather is here, I think I can expect I’ll be tussling with bees and other bugs in the helmet more often. And I won’t be taking any chances. If one gets into my helmet again, I’ll stop immediately and get it out.

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Categories // Injury, Odds 'n ends Tags // bee

Comments

  1. ha1ku says

    April 29, 2010 at 10:52 pm

    In a single weekend of riding in the country, twice I nearly ate bug. I was wearing a face mask (to reduce pollen inhalation), and the critters bounced off it.

    Reply
  2. Matt says

    April 30, 2010 at 6:07 am

    I’ve had a bee get stuck in my helmet before… fortunately it didn’t sting. It hung in there for a few minutes before I realized it was still there though.

    Reply
  3. Black Pearl says

    April 30, 2010 at 7:22 am

    If you are truly allergic to Bee venom you should never ride with out an Epipen.

    I keep bees, and if you are allergic you do not have enough time to get any ware before your esophagus closes up. If by allergic you mean that the local area swells up gets red and hot, that is a normal reaction and not dangerous. Jonathan Voughners had to pull out of a race once, I think it was the Giro because he had a natural reaction to a bee sting and could not take a anti histamine to counter the effects.

    Since, I ride my bike to my bee yards I will sometimes get stung a lot.

    Reply
    • rainycamp says

      April 30, 2010 at 10:01 am

      Yes, I swell up like crazy. I was once stung in the face and I looked like a human balloon for a couple of days.

      Reply
  4. Life and Bikes says

    April 30, 2010 at 7:55 am

    This happens to me frequently. Thankfully my creature encounters have been limited to the non-venomous variety much like yours.

    There are some helmets out there with a thin net lining just inside the helmet close to the vents designed specifically to keep bees and other critters out. I believe LAS may be the company that makes them, but I’m not 100% sure on that.

    Reply
  5. tracywilkins says

    April 30, 2010 at 8:59 am

    Yeah, I’ve been stung. Actually, the bee got wedged between my ear and helmet strap. It zapped me before I could get it out, but I’m not too allergic to them if it’s just one sting.

    Reply
  6. Sine Botchen says

    April 30, 2010 at 9:29 am

    Lots of times.. well, more 3 or 4 times.

    I had a bee fly down my shirt while mountain biking on the greenbelt and it stung me right in the middle of my chest.

    I’ve gotten stung by yellow jackets on the Veloway twice now. Usually it’s the same way, one hits me in the chest and gets trapped inside of my jersey and I get stung before I realize what’s going on.

    I’ve seen several tarantula wasp on the Veloway.. I’d hate to get stung by one of those guys!

    Reply
  7. RamonH says

    April 30, 2010 at 11:31 am

    A lot of our rides go into rural areas and that means bug-eating time. We call it, “natural protein” 😀

    Reply
  8. T Foster says

    April 30, 2010 at 12:43 pm

    Had a bee fly down my jersey. Ouch! The other day I had a bug in my helmet, but I let it do it’s thing. My logic was stuffing my fingers into the vents may cause it to sting. I should have pulled over, will do next time.

    Reply
  9. NelosCycles says

    April 30, 2010 at 8:59 pm

    Our LAS Squalo and Victory helmets come with bug nets integrated into the padding! New colors in stock too! (via Twitter)

    Reply

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