A bee in your bonnet...



::dom::

New Member
Feb 28, 2004
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...or more accurately a hornet in my helmet.

Around an hour ago I was cycling along with a mate on a fixie and I saw a big yellow hornet on a beeline for my face. I ducked and it flew into a helmet vent. Quick as a flash I took my hand of the bars to undo the clip of my helmet to set the little bugger free before it started to try and sting its way out.

For nano second I forgot I was riding fixed... as that's all it takes

No serious injuries. Road rash from my left shoulder and my left buttock. Grazed right elbow and knee and a REAL chainring tattoo behind my left knee. My mate, who was right behind me, said I went right over the bars and the first thing to hit the tarmac was the back of my head. My Giro Atmos probably save my life as I smacked my head hard enough to split the helmet right up the back.

Like all good cyclists I jumped back on and continued the ride. It was only back at the coffee shop that I realised the helmet was a right-off...

Now lying in bed everything is starting to ache...
 
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Good to hear that:


1. You are ok.
2. You continued the ride.
3. Your helmet willingly sacrificed itself for you.
4. There appear to be reasonable chances that the bee/wasp/flying object lived to sting another day.

:D
 
sgtpepper64 said:
That b*****d! :D

Couldn't agree more. Pic attached.. not a pretty sight (its wasn't that pretty before the crash). BTW that's a bruise not road rash.

WARNING: Patital nudity and hairy legs :eek: :eek: :eek:
 
Crankyfeet said:
That qualifies as a bruise. Ouch!!!

It's now three times the size it was in the pic. I went to the Dr "Jesus H Christ" was his reaction... "How the F**k did you do that?" nothing like a calm, comforting Doctor..... he said is was scary looking but safe.
 
Very sneaky hornet. Significantly traumatized the victim both physically and financially, yet without any personal sacrifices. Impressive!

Glad that you are able to tell the tale though. :)
 
::dom:: said:
...or more accurately a hornet in my helmet.

Around an hour ago I was cycling along with a mate on a fixie and I saw a big yellow hornet on a beeline for my face. I ducked and it flew into a helmet vent.
This is a real question:

Were you wearing a lot of YELLOW or is your bike's frame YELLOW?
 
alfeng said:
This is a real question:

Were you wearing a lot of YELLOW or is your bike's frame YELLOW?

BLACK... all black... arguably not the safest colour... and now my skin is black..

...and red and yellow and blue and green,
Purple and orange and pink,
I can see a rainbow,
See a rainbow,


You can see a rainbow too! :p
vvv
 
::dom:: said:
BLACK... all black... arguably not the safest colour... and now my skin is black..

...and red and yellow and blue and green,
Purple and orange and pink,
I can see a rainbow,
See a rainbow,


You can see a rainbow too! :p
vvv
Okay, thanks ...

The last person I know who was similarly attacked was wearing a YELLLOW vest & riding a YELLOW bike (Master X-Lite) ... and, I wanted to know if it was just bad luck for you OR if you were possibly presenting yourself as the mother-of-all-wildflowers, too!

Glad you're well enough to make light of the incident.
 
alfeng said:
Okay, thanks ...

The last person I know who was similarly attacked was wearing a YELLLOW vest & riding a YELLOW bike (Master X-Lite) ... and, I wanted to know if it was just bad luck for you OR if you were possibly presenting yourself as the mother-of-all-wildflowers, too!

Glad you're well enough to make light of the incident.
Attacked? Are you sure this person did not accidentally disturb a nest when riding? There are quite a few stories of especially mountain bikers getting attacked that way...
 
I wasn't so much an attack as me cycling along, hornet flying towards me and it flys into my helmet vent and started, madly trying to get out.

As for the injuries: They look MUCH worse than they are. I'm still pretty sore but no broken bones (that I know of), torn muscles, ligaments or tendons. I have a fair amount of natural padding. After the crash I continued the ride... about 50 mins... and had short slow rides for two days after. Haven't cycled since Sunday, but I'll do a gentle coffee ride Saturday morning.

The worst thing is the weather here has been fan-bloody-tastic... sunny all day, every day (30ºC) since the crash... bet it pours on saturday morning.
 
::dom:: said:
I wasn't so much an attack as me cycling along, hornet flying towards me and it flys into my helmet vent and started, madly trying to get out.

As for the injuries: They look MUCH worse than they are. I'm still pretty sore but no broken bones (that I know of), torn muscles, ligaments or tendons. I have a fair amount of natural padding. After the crash I continued the ride... about 50 mins... and had short slow rides for two days after. Haven't cycled since Sunday, but I'll do a gentle coffee ride Saturday morning.

The worst thing is the weather here has been fan-bloody-tastic... sunny all day, every day (30ºC) since the crash... bet it pours on saturday morning.
Your case was clear that it was an accidental hit. I was referring to alfeng's post where he mentioned an attack. An attack by a group of hornets/bees due to disturbing their nest somehow can be really nasty - especially if one has allergies. I know of riders who had to jump into a stream and lie below the water level to escape from such an attack (and this is after they got stung several times).

BTW, that bruise looks really nasty! Is it a problem while sleeping?
 
TheDarkLord said:
Attacked? Are you sure this person did not accidentally disturb a nest when riding? There are quite a few stories of especially mountain bikers getting attacked that way...
I've been attacked by hornets while walking through the bush. They tend to swarm at your head and will leave you alone as soon as you get out of their territory... at least that my experience.

This was just a lone hornet... completely random. The problem was the idiot cyclist trying to take off his helmet while riding and loosing control.

I wonder if I could sue myself for negligence??? Now there's a good TV lawyer show script... I'll call Boston Legal :)
 
TheDarkLord said:
snip....BTW, that bruise looks really nasty! Is it a problem while sleeping?

Last night was the first good sleep I had since the crash. I've been taking parecetamol. The aches are getting less everyday. Sitting is painful as is standing up after sitting for a while. Walking, I have a slight limp, and cycling is painless :D. My god daughter (8) ran out of the room screaming when she saw it ... cracked me up.
 
::dom:: said:
...or more accurately a hornet in my helmet.
Product plug--Some of the new Uvex helmets have bee screens over the front vents.

I'm glad you're recovering.
 

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