Muhammad Ali used to famously chant that when he was in the
ring he would “float like a butterfly and sting like a bee.”
Well, on a recent ride last week, a bee hit me like it was shot out of a peashooter, then stung me
right between the eyebrows. OK, it was a just a bee sting. But by the next day
my eyes were puffed up as if I’d been peppered with Ali jabs for 15 rounds. It
was more like, “forehead sting, puffy eyes will bring.”
When the bee hit, it felt like I'd been hit by by a
flying pebble. What? Aren’t bees’ bodies soft and subject to squashing upon
colliding at high speed with any hard surface?
That’s what I thought. Well, I can report without doubt, I
was incorrecto.
I swatted at my forehead, then saw the bee pass earthward in
front of my left eye. In the milliseconds between the collision and the swat,
the bee had embedded his trusty stinger into my forehead meat. It was milli-inches
from the outer frame of my sunglasses and an inch or so under my helmet. Bam!
Straight into exposed skin.
I’ve gotten stung on the bike before, but in less tender
areas. Once a bee stung me right in the chest after it hit and got entangled in
my jersey. I couldn’t believe his stinger went right through the material and
into my flesh. There was an initial sharp pain followed by a dull throb. It was red
and swelled up like a giant mosquito bite. But it was gone in a few days.
Another bee stung me on my bare quad – out of nowhere, never
saw him, but definitely felt his barb -- as I pedaled.
I’m just glad I’m not allergic to bee stings, what with the
going into shock and being unable to breathe, and possibly dying on the trail without
help nearby.
But even without a life-threatening bee sting allergy, the
toxin from their tail barbs is nasty. You’re supposed to pull out the stinger
and take an antihistamine. But that’s hard to do on a ride out in the middle of
nowhere. I don’t know how long this bee’s stinger was stuck into my head,
but it did its job.
I just kept on riding for another 30 miles or so, as the
stung area began to throb like the telltale heart – between my eyes.
All I did at the end of the ride was ice it down. I figured
that would do it. I should have taken allergy medicine, as my wife had advised at
the time. But of course, I didn’t.
So the next morning I awoke to feeling like the flesh around
my eyes had been injected with Novocaine: Numb and fat. When I looked into the
mirror, I saw my eyes were swollen into slits. Hey, I lost a 15-rounder!
At that point, I knew I should have taken my wife’s earlier advice,
so I downed some allergy medicine.
The eye area swelling gradually went down, and there wasn’t
any pain with the puffiness, so it just had to cycle out on its own. But wow,
those little critters pack a punch.
Once, when I rode behind my friend Brian, I saw him slow
down and shake his head violently side to side. He stopped his bike, jumped
off, and tore off his helmet, as I watched a bee fly away from his head. Somehow
he lucked out, didn’t get stung.
But getting a bee in the bonnet while riding? You hear and
feel it buzzing around angrily, looking for an exit. None fun! The helmet
tear-off has to happen, pronto. And hopefully, in doing the helmet toss, you
have the presence of mind, as Brian did, to first brake to a stop and get off the
bike, so no nasty crash results.
Still, it was entertaining to see how fast Brian got off his
bike and shed his helmet! Could be a Guinness record. It was like he was
suddenly in fast-forward like in some herky-jerky Keystone Kops scene.
The important thing is not to panic when you get a bee
sting. Especially if you’re allergic to them. If you are, and you who are I’m
sure already know this, it’s essential to carry a couple EpiPens, to use if you
get stung, then call 911 from your phone right away. Hopefully that never
happens, but being ready with an emergency plan is key to surviving a
threatening bee sting and living to ride again.
BTW, Here's some good advice on how to remove a honey bee stinger so you can minimize how much venom you get from it. Check it out...
Til next time, make sure to strap on a helmet every time you
get on the bike. Then, keep the rubber side down as you ride safely and have
fun.
-- Mark Eric Larson
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