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Am I just really unlucky or are there more pissed-off stinging things in the air than ever before? On my last 4 road rides I’ve had things fly in through the vents in my lid - a fly (assume so as no sting), a bloody butterfly and bees/wasps which in the last 2 weeks have stung me on the bonce! The vents aren’t unusually big (Specialized something or other). I’m seriously contemplating taping an old onion bag in the front to stop this happening…does this happen to anyone else? 🤷♂️
Kask used to do a bug mesh liner that went into their Mojito helmets - I bought one after a wasp sting.
Bug mesh is fairly common on cheap/kids helmets, not sure why it isn’t more common for grown ups.
I always wear a skull cap - more for sweat absorbtion, but it stops anything getting stuck in my hair.
Had a bee get stuck in my arm pit while riding last week and sting me!🐝😢
Had one in my helmet twice before, both times on fast descents where stopping while battering my head was quite hard 🤣
Current road helmet has vents that slide shut for aero-nesss, but my main use is to stop rain or hail 🤣
Friend (with a shaved head) bought a endura pro SL helmet as he was sick of it, as it stops them but keeps him cooled
Got a wasp sting last Monday. Got an anti histamine tab inside me withing a minute. Still had a swollen eye on Thursday. Bit paranoid now. Midge net over the helmet like those goretex covers maybe?
How topical - I had a bumblebee hit me in the face this morning at 50kph on a road ride - hit the gap between helmet and glasses perfectly and stung me, bloody heck that hurt! Still hurts now, nice big swelling between my eyebrows! Never happened to me before. I blame the bee, should’ve seen me coming… 😁
Thread title had me winceing at the thought of an altogether more painful prospect than a sting on the bonce!
I have an endura helmet with the koroyrd straws.... I think that will keep our supermodel waisted friends and their fat cousins at bay.
For what it's worth I like wasps
Yes, had a bee in my bonnet before now.
Young children wafting some wasps away and more and more wasps arrived at the scene, as I rode past the flapping youngsters, one got caught in my cheek strap and stung me on the cheek. Luckily I was on the way home.
Had 3 wasps get in my helmet once, multiple stings on the bonce and I crashed on the road as I tried to remove the helmet pedal and steer all at the same time. The motorist behind me who stopped to help wondered why I was flapping my arms around and why had I crashed on a straight slow piece of road. Always wear a buff twisted into a pirate style covering under my helmet now, never had a sting or bite since.
I believe that wasps release a pheromone when they sting and this attracts other wasps.
Being anaphylactic to bee sting, this is a particular problem!!
Bug net under helmet is a must as well as having to carry an epi-pen everywhere the during summer months.
Fortunately not had a sting while riding in ten years but the risk is always there.
When I first found out, the doctor told me that the vents in my helmet create a vortex which sucks insects into the helmet and multiple stings to the scalp is very common in cyclists.
I’ve had a sting on the head from a wasp in the same circumstances last year, I also had a wasp get between my face and my glasses at 20mph+ and I’m hugely thankful it found its way out fast. Also had a wasp fly done the collar of my body armour whilst descending at speed in the Alps off-road, that was horrible too, stung on the nip before I could stop.
I would without fail always get two wasp stings at different occasions under the, erm, helmet every late summer / autumn when living in the UK and out on the road bike. It was always two stings for some reason, never more, never less.
With me, I found the process was always to frantically slow down and stop the bike, carefully remove Oakleys (which were over the helmet straps, naturally), take off helmet and frantically extract said wasp, squashing it between gloved fingers.
These annual stings didn't bother me too much in the end. I find with wasp stings, they hurt a great deal for a few minutes, but ignore it for a bit, and the pain goes away. This sensation is eventually replaced by puffy plasticene-like skin, which becomes somewhat pleasingly itchy after 12 hours or so.
Not much wild fruit and (drunk) late-summer wasps here in NZ, so don't have this problem anymore.
I had one sting me under the eye a couple of weeks back. Wedged between glasses and face. Eye ballooned and totally shut. Looked like I had gone 12 rounds with Fury. Was still bad a week later. Had to seek medical help it was so bad. Antehist. and cold packs didn't touch the sides.
Probably much more frightening for the wasps themselves.
Happily buzzing along, then sudden terrifying dark sweaty horror.
Baby wasplings will never see mummy again.
(stung a few weeks ago).
Not had the bad fortune to experience this yet like you lot have you poor buggers, I do notice though on my POC tectal it seems bugs come in through the front, get dragged over my baldy bonce and then sucked out of one of the vents on the rear, uncomfortable tickling and buzzing for a second or so then gone.
I wonder if a cheap disposable hair net stretched over the helmet would work?
On a road ride recently I was approaching a corner and noticed a cloud of yellow, buzzy things right on the apex. I figured braking wouldn't help so took a slightly wider line and ploughed through them expecting to get attacked, but somehow got away with it. As I exited the cloud I was pretty much on the centerline of the road and there was a car approaching who gave me a blast of the horn - hope they had their windows open...
Had one scooped into the cuff of my sleeve at speed the other week. Got stuck between it an my glove and promptly stung me, the damn thing.