Juicy Flies

lotus49
lotus49 Posts: 763
edited April 2013 in Road beginners
I was zooming along this evening and a reasonable sized fly went straight down the back of my throat. I had no choice but to swallow it. Fortunately I had some water left.

Is there a knack to avoiding this or is this just something I shall have to put up with as the weather brightens up?

Comments

  • harryharrison
    harryharrison Posts: 13
    swallow a spider to catch the fly :lol:
  • team47b
    team47b Posts: 6,425
    about 4 grams of protein :D
    my isetta is a 300cc bike
  • farrina
    farrina Posts: 360
    Going off at a tangent I have two observations ...

    A bumble bee hitting the (safety) glasses at 40 mph ... Ouch

    And when climbing long ascents on balmy summer days (possibly not experienced by many for a long time) the veritable cloud of flies that buzz around ones perspiring head. The only relief seems to be to go 1/2mph faster than your current climbing speed, but unfortunately (at least for me) this will be sufficient to push me into the overload zone, so torture continues.

    Never has the breeze been more welcome to cool the head and blow the flies away

    Oh the joys of cycling ...
    Regards
    Alan
  • lotus49
    lotus49 Posts: 763
    I can't breathe fast enough just through my nose when I'm climbing so it looks like I'll just have to suck it up - literally.

    I'm a vegetarian so I'd rather not eat flies :) but my real objection is just that it made me gag because it hit the back of my throat and was rather off-putting. Time to man up. I suppose.
  • Gizmodo
    Gizmodo Posts: 1,928
    Do they taste like chicken?
    Summer - Canyon Ultimate CF SLX 9.0 Team
    Winter - Trek Madone 3.5 2012 with UDi2 upgrade.
    For getting dirty - Moda Canon
  • team47b
    team47b Posts: 6,425
    Do they taste like tofu?
    my isetta is a 300cc bike
  • Davdandy
    Davdandy Posts: 571
    oxoman wrote:
    Enjoy the meal its free.

    You mustn't forget what those flies where sitting and munching on before it entered your mouth. :mrgreen:
    Cannondale CAAD 8 105
    Rockrider 8.1
  • lotus49
    lotus49 Posts: 763
    Since the little blighter hit my throat first, completely missing my tongue, I didn't have the opportunity to savour its taste. Somehow I find it hard to imagine that it was too delicious or more people would eat flies.

    There are a lot of things people eat in some parts of the world that I don't much fancy (scorpions, spiders, locusts, slugs etc) but I have never heard of anyone deliberately eating flies. That suggests they are pretty disgusting.
  • Davdandy
    Davdandy Posts: 571
    When you think that the small fly could have just been walking on a turd on the roadside moments before it entered you mouth it doesn't bear thinking about. :mrgreen:
    Cannondale CAAD 8 105
    Rockrider 8.1
  • lotus49
    lotus49 Posts: 763
    It almost certainly had. It wasn't one of those tiny mosquito types. It felt like the size of a small pea as I swallowed it so it will have been the sort of small house fly types that you see on cow pats. Yummy :) .

    I don't seem to have suffered any ill effects. It could have been worse, it could have been a wasp. I remember years ago riding along on my motorbike with one of my mates who suddenly slammed his brakes on, stopped, jumped off his bike and threw his helmet on the ground. When I went back to find out what he was playing at, it turned out that he had a wasp flying around inside his lid - not good.
  • Davdandy
    Davdandy Posts: 571
    lotus49 wrote:
    It almost certainly had. It wasn't one of those tiny mosquito types. It felt like the size of a small pea as I swallowed it so it will have been the sort of small house fly types that you see on cow pats. Yummy :) .

    Yeah,they can taste a bit sh1t. :mrgreen:
    Cannondale CAAD 8 105
    Rockrider 8.1
  • navrig
    navrig Posts: 1,352
    Consider yourself lucky.

    Having been a motorbiker in a past life I can testify to the problems caused by insects:

    1. A large bumble bee hitting your tight leather jacket at a closing speed of 80mph hurts. Squash ball in the back sore with the resulting bruise. Especially when it is summer and all you are wearing under the leathers is aT-shirt.

    2. Large juicy bluebottle, just after a feed, hitting your visor at 50mph plus is a hazard as the spread can make your view very limited.

    3. An angry honey bee getting passed your open visor and lodging between your sunglasses and your eyelid is downright dangerous and sore. I was glad I was only doing 30mph but I ended up in A&E getting checked over and an antihistamine injection. I'm bald. I looked like Uncle Fester with the swelling!! I was glad it wasn't a wasp.

    Keep your gob shut and learn to breathe through gritted teeth.
  • DavidJB
    DavidJB Posts: 2,019
    Yep, Its the time of year again...the two week period where you get smashed by a zillion flies before they all get killed by cars.
  • Davdandy
    Davdandy Posts: 571
    I once had a splinter in my finger. :mrgreen:
    Cannondale CAAD 8 105
    Rockrider 8.1

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