Ugarte
Turbocharged
I usually ride with gloves and jacket, mesh jacket in summer, but yesterday did not wear gloves. Of course if the bike went down my hands would get scraped up good but I was willing to take the risk. What I was not thinking about though was how the open sleeve of the mesh Jacket, usually covered up by the gloves, would act as a catcher for any insect in my way.
Its hard to keep your wits about you when you are being repeatedly stung going down the road at 70mph with no place to pull off, all you can do is pound the area that is being stung hoping you will crush the bug, all the while controlling the bike. When I finally got to pull off I removed the mesh Jacket to find a yellow jacket crushed in the inside of the right sleeve.
Fortunately I don't react much to insect bites or stings and there was just a couple of small welts on the arm. I can't imagine anyone riding a motorcycle that is susceptible to anapylactic shock from insect stings.
Gotta wonder how many have crashed due to the distraction of an insect. We all hear about crashes due to deer and other large animals, but I will bet a large number of crashes are indirectly caused by insects. With my right hand on the throttle and my left handi pounding my right arm, that made an interesting swerving motion.
What an embarrasing way to die.
Its hard to keep your wits about you when you are being repeatedly stung going down the road at 70mph with no place to pull off, all you can do is pound the area that is being stung hoping you will crush the bug, all the while controlling the bike. When I finally got to pull off I removed the mesh Jacket to find a yellow jacket crushed in the inside of the right sleeve.
Fortunately I don't react much to insect bites or stings and there was just a couple of small welts on the arm. I can't imagine anyone riding a motorcycle that is susceptible to anapylactic shock from insect stings.
Gotta wonder how many have crashed due to the distraction of an insect. We all hear about crashes due to deer and other large animals, but I will bet a large number of crashes are indirectly caused by insects. With my right hand on the throttle and my left handi pounding my right arm, that made an interesting swerving motion.
What an embarrasing way to die.
. The sting is a modified ovipositor. The males, very few to a colony, serve only to impregnate the queen(s) and thereafter die or are killed by the worker females. All bees, ants, wasps, hornets, yellowjackets and bumlebees are similarly female dominated societies with males playing only very limited and brief roles.
