Yellowjacket down shirt

sprorchid said:
OP - I am pretty much deathly allergic to everything yellow with venom that flies.
I can't help but click on these threads. I wonder when my number will be up but it's never happened to me riding. Although, due to the number of these threads, I now carry epipens with me when I ride. I know I should have all along but I did shot therapy for a long time, like 7 yrs, so I knew I had at least a 2 sting immunity going or enough time to ride to an ER before my throat swelled shut.
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Damn that sucks. I wasn't sure if I was allergic because I'd only been stung once before as a wee child (on the eyelid so lots of swell). Fortunately no major reaction after swearing shirtless into the trees at the turnout on redwood for a few minutes (some interesting looks from passersby though) so I geared back up and continued on to Castro Valley for a large cold brew coffee.
 
A year ago I got one in the helmet jammed between the liner and my head. It stung two or three times before I either managed to kill it or it fell out. Sting was uncomfortable for about 30 minutes before fading away.
I've started keeping my shield down a lot more immediately after that but lately I seem to have drifted back to my old ways of riding with the shield up.
I'm surprised it doesn't happen more often.

Not every stinging flying insect will cause the same reaction. A dude at work seems allergic to just one particular type of wasp/hornet/bee and found out the hard way when it took an epipen from the on site safety kit to save him.
 
When I was riding the TAT in Mississippi a something flew into the sleeve of my jacket and proceeded to sting me. I pulled off the road, dumped the DR650 and stripped my jacket off. I never found out what stung me but that sucked =(
 
I had a yellow jacket ride in the visor of my helmet for probably 20 minutes. Thought I saw something moving around when I first started rolling, but ignore it.. Had no idea.

Opened the visor when we stopped at a corner (group ride), and it flew out. No stings, nothing...

Lucky!
 
I have had it happen twice. I don't wear any sort of neck covering at least not to specifically guard against insects.
 
Fourth wasp sting this year (and my entire life) happened today inside the San Gregorio general store today. Inside the store and suddenly felt that familiar pain on my left elbow:rolleyes. Do the panic dance trying to get my jacket off which wouldn't budge so i started to smash the jacket with my other hand. Ran outside, shrugged the jack off and shook it. Nothing fell out. Stuck my hand down the sleeve and the intruder started to crawl on my hand which I quickly withdrew only to watch that bastard fly away :wtf On a positive note I now know my armor and padding have proven impact protection :laughing.
 
That one got away?
Damn. :(

I know we need bumblers to make honey and pollinate.. but when you get stung and one wasnt even harassing them.
To me i just wanna smash.:teeth
 
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I have had yellow jackets fly in under my visor, buzz around in the padding, but not sting me.
I still tend to crack my visor a bit, no matter what, though. I get claustrophobic when it's slammed shut. I wear a buff neck thing under my 'stich or jacket, regardless, so that keeps bugs out of the suit/jacket.

I did get attacked by a large swarm of YJ's in the Trinity Alps while cleaning a string of trout back in the early 70s. No fun, especially since we had consumed a number of peyote buttons earlier.
Can you say "Fuck, man! Bummer!"

I detest the little fuckers intensely. Believe me.
S

By the way, this guy has some steel balls...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJ8ls5oN3ps

Honey bees are also targets for these vicious pests, imported from Germany.
 
sprorchid said:
OP - I am pretty much deathly allergic to everything yellow with venom that flies.
I can't help but click on these threads. I wonder when my number will be up but it's never happened to me riding. Although, due to the number of these threads, I now carry epipens with me when I ride. I know I should have all along but I did shot therapy for a long time, like 7 yrs, so I knew I had at least a 2 sting immunity going or enough time to ride to an ER before my throat swelled shut.
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Always carry an epi - pen. You could die from anaphalactic (sp?) shock.
 
Just to be helpful, here are some of the symptoms if you have an allergy to them stingin' venomous beasts. Oh, of all the folks that are allergic, only 5% will be so allergic they will die, like me.

I got stung by a honey bee for the first time, when I was 28, big toe, outdoor, 2 man VB tourney. in about 3 minutes I had 2 lumps in my throat, then 2 minutes later I had hives bigger than a silver dollar (so itchy I had to sit on my hands so I wouldn't scratch them) radiating from my spine and neck (on my back and shoulders and moving outward). Almost didn't make it to the ER conscious, traffic and about 10 minutes in the car. It was like suffocating, I imagine (no one has choked me out yet). Slowly I started to fade away and fall asleep.

Apparently honey bee venom is different than wasps and yellow jackets. The white faced hornet and bald faced hornet also have different venom (even between the hornets). The fire ant is similar to the honey bee venom. Wasp and a yellow jacket also differ from each other. How do I know? cuz I to take a shot (fake sting) from each of them, every 4 weeks. One idiot in the lab decided to put 3 venoms in one shot. This is why I stopped going. after 7 yrs, it would still sting going in, and I'd get a 2 inch diameter hive at the injection site. And it was hecka itchy.

end of PSA/ .

Oh, to answer your question, I would die because I would lose my airway, can't breathe anymore. I know cuz it happened to me. and the ER doc was really mean when he told me, after he saved my life. He said, next time you get stung your reaction will be worse, and faster, and you probably will die without any medical intervention. But he said it almost yelling at me, super stern, like I didn't speak English (I'm an ABC).
But yes, your body goes into shock, if you are of the lucky 5%, and your vital organs start to shut down. You don't know what your missing if you haven't had a near death experience.
 
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^^Yikes... Ive seen this reaction before.
Only good thing is we had a helicopter to get the afflicted out if the area and to a level one trauma center fast.
 
I wear a collar cloth now.

Had something hit my throat and I thought that was the end of it. Like so many others before me have said, that was just the beginning.

Fugger started to bite/sting stomach and chest area. I was slamming myself over and over to kill the SOB, but it just kept up the assault.

Frantic pull over to the side of the road, opened up my jacket, lifted my shirt and that little bastard slowly flew away like a boss.

I have to hand it to him/her, impressive.
 
I am more worried about encountering yellow venomous bugs while riding, than low or hi siding, as I already know dem bugs are a certain death sentence for me.
 
As someone mentioned, I sure hope you carry an epi-pen or two. The odds of someone else having one when you need it is extremely slim to none.

And wear a bracelet that states you have the allergy and where your epi-pen is located.
 
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^ If you need read a bracelet on my wrist, because I am not conscious, I'm likely too far gone (brain damage). And 2 epi pens might not be enough. I am dead if I get swarmed. or +4 stings most likely.
 
Been stung a lot,one time got stung by honey bee in helmet,on the side of my nose.The worse was being hit at the base of my throat by bumble bee that flew into me at about 40+ back in the day when wearing helmets was optional.It was like being shot,which at first I thought it was.Nearly ripped me off the seat.
 
LakeMerrit said:
So

Yesterday I was riding redwood road on my wife's bike after slapping in some new throttle and clutch cables to make sure those extra bolts and bits leftover after reassembling it didn't matter too much, and I felt a bug hit my neck.

First thought was I hope it didn't get down my shirt, and if it did I hope it wasn't a bee.

3 turns later and it stung me right on the sternum, followed shortly by a sting on the belly.

Realizing I had a wasp in my shirt, I pulled into the next turnout and stripped my gear and shirt off in record speed.

My question to y'all fine folks is do you wear a buff, scarf, bandanna, or other bee keeper-outer; or is the occasional bee in your bonnet just part of the fun? My jacket is a bit loose at the moment due to recent success with losing weight. Eventually I'll replace it with a better fitting one, which will alleviate the wasp-down-shirt eventuality.

My riding career thus far is markedly shorter than many of yours, and this was my first wasp in the shirt experience.

Cheers,
LM
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I don't take those special precautions, but I carry a stingy thingy in my jacket pocket.

The now world famous bee swarm in T-11 at Laguna taught me to be prepared.

Shit happens.
 
One flew inside my helmet on the GG bridge fucker stung me on the eye brow..nowhere to pull over on the bridge
 
Kestrel said:
I had a yellow jacket ride in the visor of my helmet for probably 20 minutes. Thought I saw something moving around when I first started rolling, but ignore it.. Had no idea.

Opened the visor when we stopped at a corner (group ride), and it flew out. No stings, nothing...

Lucky!
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Had the same thing happen at Berryessa last week. It blew in under my chin and sat inside my visor enjoying the view for a few minutes while I slowed down, stopped and opened the visor to let it out. I didn't want to open the visor and risk blowing it into my face while moving.
 
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