Bikes, Killer Bees and the Rush Hour Jam
So I’m riding home the other night from El Segundo, California and I hit a bee while doing about 65 mph on the freeway. I had my orange Shoei helmet and sunglasses on, but my shield was up. It’s an old helmet, the visor is scratched and I need an upgrade.
The killer Honeybee hit me near my right temple and I tried to remove the buzzing bugger with my left hand (no gloves) while merging onto the 110 Freeway north at the 105 exchange during rush hour. The giant, twisting ramps there look like an enormous Hot Wheels set that was assembled by a kid hopped up on Ritalin.
A typical killer bee-free morning commute in Los Angeles
I was in the diamond lane and there’s nowhere to pull over unless you cut across five lanes of traffic. Not really an option so I kept riding and felt a little sting in my face.
Anyway, I finally was able to pull over a couple of miles later near downtown Los Angeles. I got my helmet off and the bee was still alive and wedged in the corner fabric of my lid.
I shook her out and was able to split lanes comfortably for the rest of the way home. Three days later the sting continued to swell up until I started to look like Mike from Monster’s Inc. Too bad it’s not Halloween yet.
Has this ever happened to you? I’ve hit plenty of bugs over the miles but never got stung in the face. How about the folks who live in states or countries where helmets are still optional?
Do you at least wear protective eye gear or goggles? I hope so. A good helmet comes in handy on the highway too, I ride much slower without one. When I rode home the next day I made sure my visor was down and the bees left me alone.
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File photos from my ride home on a 2015 Harley-Davidson Road Glide from Sturgis.