Sunday, August 12, 2012

Bee stings while cycling

It happened again this morning.  I was out early, getting started a half hour before sunrise (with appropriate lighting and reflective gear) and was approaching Carlisle, MA on East Street.  I felt something crawling on my head and reached into my helmet through one of the vent holes and touched something fuzzy.  At that instant that fuzzy being stung me in my head.  I stopped to clear the bee out and the pain came on - it really hurt.  I still had a significant discolored bump on my head by the time I made it back to Arlington.

Bee stings are relatively rare, at least in my case.  I was stung three times on my head a couple of years ago, all within the town of Concord, MA and two times with the same stretch of Lowell Street, within a mile of each other.  I was also stung while on a tour in downeast Maine some years back.  I recall wearing a short sleeve rugby-ish shirt and the buttons where open and  a bee flew in.  I was easy pickings for that bee.   Each time was painful but fortunately I don't have an allergic reaction to bee stings.

My ride this morning.  I rode nearly the same route yesterday on my Surly.  Today was my first day on 700x25 tires.  I had them inflated more than necessary for my weight and the road feel was similar to the 700x23 version of this same tire.

My total mileage for the year is starting to inch up - it stands at 1367 right now.  Much of that total is road miles.  I have commuted only 6 times so far this year and rode with the boys only 8 or so times.  That's a total of less than 200 miles - not that getting home quickly or cycling with the boys (the equivalent of loaded touring) is not exercise, it's just not going fast.

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