My Morning Commute

[TwoWheelsDC]

@Emm 119668 wrote:

This morning a wasp flew into my sports bra. In case you were wondering…HOLY F*$K that hurts. And of course it had to happen in a crowded part of Del Ray with people ahead and behind me on the sidewalks and in cars, so pulling my shirt up to free the wasp wasn’t a good option. By the time I pulled over and got the wasp out it stung me 3-4 times. The next mile on my bike was miserable.

Luckily, outside of a brief period of intense pain and some swelling and redness which is already mostly gone, I don’t react too strongly to bee or wasp stings. Which is good, since I seem to get stung weekly…

Just think of it as “building immunity.”

[lordofthemark]

Wonderful commute this AM – Steve, Kathy, Dave and Dave rode with me, slowly enough for me to keep up, fast enough to get me going faster than usual. Average moving speed Shirlington to Navy Yard was 12.8 MPH, moving time under 40 minutes, my best so far (though because of stop light timing it did not show up as a PR on Strava) Thanks to all.

[AFHokie]

@Emm 119668 wrote:

This morning a wasp flew into my sports bra. In case you were wondering…HOLY F*$K that hurts. And of course it had to happen in a crowded part of Del Ray with people ahead and behind me on the sidewalks and in cars, so pulling my shirt up to free the wasp wasn’t a good option. By the time I pulled over and got the wasp out it stung me 3-4 times. The next mile on my bike was miserable.

Luckily, outside of a brief period of intense pain and some swelling and redness which is already mostly gone, I don’t react too strongly to bee or wasp stings. Which is good, since I seem to get stung weekly…

Last Friday I managed to get stung on the back by a bee while riding on Hwy 15 to White’s Ferry. It flew into my helmet, then fell down into the back of my jersey. Luckily the impact with my helmet stunned it enough that it didn’t get in a full sting and embed the stinger in my back.

Unluckily it managed to get me four times before I could stop and rip off my jersey.

Since it stung multiple times, I thought it was a wasp until I found it wiggling on the ground.

[Boomer Cycles]

@GB 119579 wrote:

Gator skins FTW. I’m not sure what you consider premature, but have 3k miles on my gator skins and I’m very happy with their overall performance.

I just retired a set of Forte Strada K (700 x 25) tires with Kevlar belts by Performance Bike after 3400+ miles on my Trek Madone. I original brought them last Christmas for $14 a piece to just get me through Freezing Saddles and to spare my more expensive tires, but then the darn Stradas refused to die! I did rotate them every 1000 miles so that they would wear more evenly, and kept the tire pressure constant at 90 psi, but I’ve now gotten 3 flats on both tires on my last 4 rides, so it’s time to retire them (no pun intended). They are heavy, and not very supple when changing flats. But I have lots of earned respect for these $14 tires.

I recently bought a pair of the next grade up, the Forte Pro+ Road Tires (700 x 25), for $15 each (@ 20% for the 4th of July Sale), which are lighter(360 grams), run at a higher PSI (110-130), and have a more supple casing (60 TPI) as my new daily commuter tires. I’ll report back on how they hold up.

I also ride Contis 4000s on my Ridley Domacles with great results, but that is my fair weather project bike (and I also rotate them as well to keep the wear even). I have maybe 1500 miles on them, with no flats or issues yet.

[Tim Kelley]

@AFHokie 119682 wrote:

Last Friday I managed to get stung on the back by a bee while riding on Hwy 15 to White’s Ferry. It flew into my helmet, then fell down into the back of my jersey. Luckily the impact with my helmet stunned it enough that it didn’t get in a full sting and embed the stinger in my back.

Unluckily it managed to get me four times before I could stop and rip off my jersey.

Since it stung multiple times, I thought it was a wasp until I found it wiggling on the ground.

Seems like many of us have been through this and feel the pain: http://bikearlingtonforum.com/showthread.php?5331-Wasp-stings

[dplasters]

I’m like 3,500 hundred miles in and still haven’t had a flat….

You’re all clearly doing it wrong.

[GovernorSilver]

Didn’t realize insect stings were so common on rides. I’ve been using citronella patches and mosquito repellent spray because of the neigborhood skeeters at home, but now I’m wondering if there’s other insect repellents I should be getting for my rides.

[Crickey7]

@dplasters 119696 wrote:

I’m like 3,500 hundred miles in . . ..

That’s a lot of hundreds.

[Anonymous]

I don’t think insect repellant will help. The problem is you ride into them as they fly across your path (and/or they fly into you as you ride across their path). All those bugs that splat on your car windshield? On a bike, you are the windshield, so they just splat on you. And then the ones with stingers sting you.

[dplasters]

@Crickey7 119707 wrote:

That’s a lot of hundreds.

It is.. I typed it.. posted it.. read it… and said “I think it makes me sound more grandiose.. its staying.”

[mstone]

@GovernorSilver 119704 wrote:

Didn’t realize insect stings were so common on rides. I’ve been using citronella patches and mosquito repellent spray because of the neigborhood skeeters at home, but now I’m wondering if there’s other insect repellents I should be getting for my rides.

I don’t think insect repellent helps if you literally run into the bug.

[dkel]

@dplasters 119696 wrote:

I’m like 3,500 hundred miles in and still haven’t had a flat….

You’re all clearly doing it wrong.

In my experience, remarks like this guarantee you will flat.

Soon.

Very soon.

[GovernorSilver]

@Amalitza 119709 wrote:

I don’t think insect repellant will help. The problem is you ride into them as they fly across your path (and/or they fly into you as you ride across their path). All those bugs that splat on your car windshield? On a bike, you are the windshield, so they just splat on you. And then the ones with stingers sting you.

Oh well, I guess I’ll have to just HTFU for when (what sounds like) the inevitable happens to me too.

My helmet does have a flip visor, at least

[jabberwocky]

I’ve been stung a few times after running into insects, and I had a spider drop on my leg and bite me years ago while mountainbiking. My fear has always been swallowing a bee/wasp. 😮

[lordofthemark]

@dkel 119713 wrote:

In my experience, remarks like this guarantee you will flat.

Soon.

Very soon.

You are supposed to say “I have not yet had a flat, keneina hara” (keep away, evil eye)

[Author]

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