GOTWA
14th July 2005, 01:53
So, there are three primary routes of travel to my work (~15miles) and two of the three have major construction going on. Of course those two are heavily travelled roads so everyone is taking the third route to escape the BS.
I don't mind waiting on construction in the cage but this roadwork is down right dangerous on a bike so I'm taking the third option as well. This road is normally lightly travelled as it winds along the river and while it is roughly the same distance as the other two, it is mostly 30mph. No biggy. It is a pretty and a fun ride actually. But now it is clogged with traffic avoiding the construction.
There's only a few places of "real" concern along this route and one is a turn off into a parking area for river access.
So yesterday, cruising along in the long overdue sunshine (global warming?) I catch a frickin' bee smack dab between my shades and my helmet. Sumbitch knew he was gonna die too cuz he drilled me just as soon as he hit. I reckon he threw his ass out in that last fraction of a second in a final act of defiance. I couldn't be mad, hell I respected him. :) But he did get lodged in my helmet and in that split second of "ouch" I wasn't sure if I had a wasp, hornet, or a plain ole bee. I knew instantly it stung me, but the former will keep stinging and that ain't good.
I remember years ago when my bro in law got a wasp stuck in his helmet and we counted nine distinct sting points (and who knows how many bites) in his swollen head. He ended up ripping his helmet off. Coulda been ugly for sure.
So I grabbed the little tyrant and squished him in my fingers and saw it was "only" a bee. Little bastard. Tricky deal in tight traffic. Keep your spacing boys and girls and always know what is behind you.
As a side note, you can develop a bee allergy at any time in your life. Don't think just cuz you've been stung and been okay you'll be okay. Bee allergies can come out of nowhere.
So I was riding along, half laughing at the guts (figueratively) of that bee and then worrying about my sis who rides passenger (for years) and is DEATHLY allergic and I just settled back into the ride.
So back to that third route and the subsequent extra traffic...All of a sudden, and on a frickin blind curve, traffic is at a damn standstill. Could see the flashing lights so pretty much figured it was a wreck. Tricky deal getting stopped in time without getting run over not to mention getting around the wreck. I normally praise our county boys but two patrol cars, two bicycle cops, no ambulance and no signs of injury and not a one of them directing traffic! Did I mention it was a blind curve?
Anyway, classic case of dude stopped in the road to turn left (across traffic) into the parking lot to go and play in the river and he got rear ended. But there were four cars in the accident. So either a couple of them were stopped (too close to one another) waiting for him to turn and got drilled by the fourth car and caused a chain reaction. Or, the chain reaction started somewhere along the linbe because everyone was following too close. Either way, it made me forget all about that damn stinger that was still stuck in my head.
My guess is (based on the location and my accident investigatio history) that the guy was turning and one or more of the cars behind him were gocking at all the girls in swimsuits by the river. T&A taking precedence over safety they didn't see him stopped until it was too late.
Moral of the story is, there are a lot of unforeseen hazards out there. What you survive as a fender bender in a cage can cripple you on a bike. Always be prepared, even when things are just "normal" cuz you never know when something odd might happen.
I don't mind waiting on construction in the cage but this roadwork is down right dangerous on a bike so I'm taking the third option as well. This road is normally lightly travelled as it winds along the river and while it is roughly the same distance as the other two, it is mostly 30mph. No biggy. It is a pretty and a fun ride actually. But now it is clogged with traffic avoiding the construction.
There's only a few places of "real" concern along this route and one is a turn off into a parking area for river access.
So yesterday, cruising along in the long overdue sunshine (global warming?) I catch a frickin' bee smack dab between my shades and my helmet. Sumbitch knew he was gonna die too cuz he drilled me just as soon as he hit. I reckon he threw his ass out in that last fraction of a second in a final act of defiance. I couldn't be mad, hell I respected him. :) But he did get lodged in my helmet and in that split second of "ouch" I wasn't sure if I had a wasp, hornet, or a plain ole bee. I knew instantly it stung me, but the former will keep stinging and that ain't good.
I remember years ago when my bro in law got a wasp stuck in his helmet and we counted nine distinct sting points (and who knows how many bites) in his swollen head. He ended up ripping his helmet off. Coulda been ugly for sure.
So I grabbed the little tyrant and squished him in my fingers and saw it was "only" a bee. Little bastard. Tricky deal in tight traffic. Keep your spacing boys and girls and always know what is behind you.
As a side note, you can develop a bee allergy at any time in your life. Don't think just cuz you've been stung and been okay you'll be okay. Bee allergies can come out of nowhere.
So I was riding along, half laughing at the guts (figueratively) of that bee and then worrying about my sis who rides passenger (for years) and is DEATHLY allergic and I just settled back into the ride.
So back to that third route and the subsequent extra traffic...All of a sudden, and on a frickin blind curve, traffic is at a damn standstill. Could see the flashing lights so pretty much figured it was a wreck. Tricky deal getting stopped in time without getting run over not to mention getting around the wreck. I normally praise our county boys but two patrol cars, two bicycle cops, no ambulance and no signs of injury and not a one of them directing traffic! Did I mention it was a blind curve?
Anyway, classic case of dude stopped in the road to turn left (across traffic) into the parking lot to go and play in the river and he got rear ended. But there were four cars in the accident. So either a couple of them were stopped (too close to one another) waiting for him to turn and got drilled by the fourth car and caused a chain reaction. Or, the chain reaction started somewhere along the linbe because everyone was following too close. Either way, it made me forget all about that damn stinger that was still stuck in my head.
My guess is (based on the location and my accident investigatio history) that the guy was turning and one or more of the cars behind him were gocking at all the girls in swimsuits by the river. T&A taking precedence over safety they didn't see him stopped until it was too late.
Moral of the story is, there are a lot of unforeseen hazards out there. What you survive as a fender bender in a cage can cripple you on a bike. Always be prepared, even when things are just "normal" cuz you never know when something odd might happen.