Trees are trying to kill me.

lost_in_thought
lost_in_thought Posts: 10,563
edited May 2009 in Commuting chat
Seriously, people, they are. They're sending out little airborne seed minions to fly into my eyes and mouth when I'm cycling along.

They know, you see, that I'll inhale the little b*ggers and then start coughing as my lungs attempt in vain to expel them, then my eyes will start watering and I'll narrowly avoid crashing into a fence.

I escaped this time, but seriously, they've all got it in for me!

Riders in Kensington, Mayfair, St James' etc, beware...

I'm considering buying a pollution mask... :shock:
FCN 7/1
Viner Maxima, Tifosi CK7, Giant Bowery, Old commuter.
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Comments

  • gtvlusso
    gtvlusso Posts: 5,112
    Hmmm - My hayfever is bad at the moment, get breathless a bit too quick and streaming eyes is a bugger on downhils.....

    Hola, Thats life!
  • nation
    nation Posts: 609
    Get a Buff and wear it covering the lower half of your face, mugger-style.

    Doesn't do much to keep the crap out of your eyes, mind.
  • soy_sauce
    soy_sauce Posts: 987
    i wear glasses which help stopping them fly into my eyes. a buff maybe better for the summer?
    "It is not impossible, its just improbable"

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  • greg66_tri_v2.0
    greg66_tri_v2.0 Posts: 7,172
    Those RP glasses I have? They're the best I've found at combating plane trees. If that sh!t gets in my eyes I go bananas.

    As for breathing it in, the only solution I've come up with is breathing through your nose. Good SCR training.
    Swim. Bike. Run. Yeah. That's what I used to do.

    Bike 1
    Bike 2-A
  • tardington
    tardington Posts: 1,379
    Apparently the carbon filtering masks can help with hay fever.

    I was just told this though. No actual proof!
  • Stone Glider
    Stone Glider Posts: 1,227
    Plane trees are reputed to generate three times as much pollen as any other. I am allergic to them and Chestnut trees. There aren't so many Plane trees outside London, but Chestnut Oh My!

    I try to think of it as a precursor to a hot and sunny summer. :)
    The older I get the faster I was
  • lost_in_thought
    lost_in_thought Posts: 10,563
    Yep, tried the breathing through your nose thing, it transpires that the airflow achieveable is insufficient at anything more than a pootle.

    Thank god I don't get hayfever, it's bad enough trying to extract a seed pod with little helicopter attachment from your eye at speed without it making you sneezy as well.

    Oh and a buff will make my face hot. Hot = bad, mmmkay?

    RP glasses... richmond park glasses? Received pronunciation glasses?
    FCN 7/1
    Viner Maxima, Tifosi CK7, Giant Bowery, Old commuter.
  • Soul Boy
    Soul Boy Posts: 359
    Got behind a bus on friday, as it pulled away from a stop it tailed a cloud of that sawdusty stuff in its wake (take it thats whats coming off the plane trees). Coughing and spluttering for a mile after, not a pleasant experience. Still, it doesn't last long and a small price to pay for sunshine.

    Now if we could only do something about this pesky wind!
  • greg66_tri_v2.0
    greg66_tri_v2.0 Posts: 7,172
    RP = Rudy Project
    Swim. Bike. Run. Yeah. That's what I used to do.

    Bike 1
    Bike 2-A
  • Jamey
    Jamey Posts: 2,152
    Yeah the wind and airborne crud really annoyed me this morning. Arrived at work (White City, so pretty close to Kensington) coughing and with something lodged in my left eye that wouldn't budge.

    Not even gonna get a tailwind on the way home as it was a crosswind that was mainly headwindy on the way in and has now shifted to be exactly the same (crosswind that's mainly headwindy) on the way home too.

    Joy.
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  • gtvlusso
    gtvlusso Posts: 5,112
    Jamey wrote:
    with something lodged in my left eye that wouldn't budge.

    Was it your finger?
  • Jamey
    Jamey Posts: 2,152
    Might as well have been.
    My photography // My helmet cam videos // My bike
  • R_T_A
    R_T_A Posts: 488
    lost_in_thought wrote:

    RP glasses... richmond park glasses? Received pronunciation glasses?

    I haven't heard an RP accent for quite some time :lol:

    Glasses are a definite all the time for me, as insects are also trying to kill me on a regular basis.

    I'm also experimenting with a big breath in through the nose, with an OTT breath out the mouth to prevent anything entering.

    Unfortunately I look like I'm trying to do a train impression, but fortunately there aren't many around to see me :wink:
    Giant Escape R1
    FCN 8
    "Build a man a fire, and he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life."
    - Terry Pratchett.
  • Bassjunkieuk
    Bassjunkieuk Posts: 4,232
    Twas rather bad this morning for cr4p in the eyes, riding along with one hand on bars and other trying to remove rubbish from eyes ain't good, especially considering some of the roads through Brixton/Streatham/Kennington make the moon look smooth........
    Just seemed to be an abundance of small things that really irritated my eyes today, just hope the ride home is a bit better!
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  • always_tyred
    always_tyred Posts: 4,965
    Hayfever related issues not too bad up here.

    But you should try cycling through a cloud of midges. Wee beasties = (protein or choking fit) + temp blindness.

    Not cool. Chalk at least one off the "Scotland's great" score.
  • Greg T
    Greg T Posts: 3,266
    Trees are trying to kill you.

    It reminds me of a story from Northern Ireland.

    A car carrying a Provisional IRA Active Service Unit came across the Border from the Republic intent on evilness etc. ( Or the occupants were - I think the car was undecided )
    Their car ran off the road, hit a tree and were all killed in the resulting explosion.

    The UVF say they planted it.
    Fixed gear for wet weather / hairy roadie for posing in the sun.

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  • lost_in_thought
    lost_in_thought Posts: 10,563
    edited May 2009
    Greg, that's dreadful. Funny, but dreadful...

    Anyhow, I've got my sunglasses on my head for the ride home... hopefully the tailwind will below all the little seeds past me rather than at me...
    FCN 7/1
    Viner Maxima, Tifosi CK7, Giant Bowery, Old commuter.
  • moonio
    moonio Posts: 802
    That stuff isnt just pollen its tiny hairs on the leaves that are shed in late spring.
    London plane trees are notorious for this but its one of the reasons they can thrive in London. They also shed their bark, you will notice this as the tree trunks look patchy.
    The shedding allows the tree to rid itself of pollutants.
  • sarajoy
    sarajoy Posts: 1,675
    Yuh, was pretty gritty in the air here too. Will wear my new £3.50 ALDI specs tomorrow I think! Clear, grey or yellow lenses though? Hrrmmm...
    4537512329_a78cc710e6_o.gif4537512331_ec1ef42fea_o.gif
  • Jamey
    Jamey Posts: 2,152
    lost_in_thought wrote:
    Anyhow, I've got my sunglasses on my head for the ride home... hopefully the tailwind will below all the little seeds past me rather than at me...

    Or maybe the tailwind will blow them past your head but they'll catch on the inside of your glasses and bounce into your eye.
    My photography // My helmet cam videos // My bike
  • ziggy.mcd
    ziggy.mcd Posts: 66
    I'm finding Hayfever pretty bad at the moment, cycling glasses essential when wearing contacts, that leaves the grinning Garfield look to prevent me eating bugs.
  • Bassjunkieuk
    Bassjunkieuk Posts: 4,232
    sarajoy wrote:
    Yuh, was pretty gritty in the air here too. Will wear my new £3.50 ALDI specs tomorrow I think! Clear, grey or yellow lenses though? Hrrmmm...

    It has to be the SCR classic colour:

    Strong shade of orange

    ;-)
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  • always_tyred
    always_tyred Posts: 4,965
    61aliG.jpg
  • Kieran_Burns
    Kieran_Burns Posts: 9,757
    I'm with AT on the midges thing - the country cycling is a complete 'mare when you don't see the cloud in time to duck.

    Even if you DO duck, you've now got a head full of the flaming things and it drives you nuts when you can't get to the buggers through your cycling helmet. :evil:

    I usually also get dive bombed by suicidal flies and bees - and trust me: hitting a bumble bee at anything near 20mph is enough to knock you senseless. :?

    Little spinny helicopter seeds would be the least of my worries :wink:
    Chunky Cyclists need your love too! :-)
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  • lost_in_thought
    lost_in_thought Posts: 10,563
    Well, I evaded the murderous trees on the way home... only inhaled one minion.... fly my pretties!

    And I totally agree on the country cycling - don't encounter many midges my way, but a lot of large-ish bugs like bees. They hurt.
    FCN 7/1
    Viner Maxima, Tifosi CK7, Giant Bowery, Old commuter.
  • antfly
    antfly Posts: 3,276
    I don`t breathe in near trees after reading this.http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/russia/5152953/Surgeons-find-fir-tree-growing-inside-patients-lung.html
    Smarter than the average bear.
  • snellgrove
    snellgrove Posts: 171
    nation wrote:
    Get a Buff and wear it covering the lower half of your face, mugger-style.

    Doesn't do much to keep the crap out of your eyes, mind.

    Well, if you wear it low down it won't will it? :roll:

    Simply wear it a bit higher, to cover your eyes as well as mouth / nose and you'll stop them getting in there too.
  • tardington
    tardington Posts: 1,379
    Once had a bee go down the zippy front of a cycling top. I am SO glad they die after stinging.
  • b0y1nterupted
    b0y1nterupted Posts: 124
    nation wrote:
    Get a Buff and wear it covering the lower half of your face, mugger-style

    i did that the other morning & got asked if it was because of swine flu.....

    i was just cold :roll:
    FCN 4

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  • il_principe
    il_principe Posts: 9,155
    Oooh those muthafcuking Plane Trees. I swear they've never been this bad before. I was stopped at some lights on the way home tonight and I could see the stuff floating around. Not nice when traffic blasts it into your face.

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