Damn Bees ...and a Surprise

I wasn't even planning or expecting to have a busy/highly eventful holiday season, but somehow things got crazy (including an unexpected purchase, see below). No need to go into the holiday details, everyone surely understands the season of insanity. But I ended the year with an amazing New Year's Eve in my favorite place, San Diego (I swear I should still be living there!), and a classy evening spent aboard the USS Midway. So cool. Catered all-you-can-eat gourmet dinner and open bar -- my date and I took multiple trips to both -- dancing, live band... The on-sea celebration and food/drink indulgence was well-earned... that day I did a solid bike/run brick in the Point Loma/Shelter Island area. For those who live down there, there's a ride by Cabrillo National Monument with one area by the tidepools that's know for doing hill repeats overlooking the ocean. Difficult yet gorgeous!!

We were having too much fun to worry about pics on NYE, but here's a peek at a post-sweaty, dressed up and "silly (aka wine-drinking)" me aboard the Midway...

Now to the damn bees. Despite holiday craze, I still got in my workouts, of course. And on one bike ride, a certain instance really had me going "What the f*@&?" I was cruising at about 20-22 mph, mind lost in my own world, and a freakin bee stuck into my leg. I quickly recognized the tingly sensation and yanked that thing right out and shook it off my glove. Now, normally I'd be freaking out or in shock. But, this isn't new in my book; it was THE THIRD TIME I've been stung while riding in a matter of a year and a half. This incident thankfully wasn't as bad as the first two....

Bee Sting No. 1, summer '07: I'm going downhill close to 30 mph, which is apparently faster than bees go. Next thing I know, one is solidly sticking right into my nose buzzing away! It wasn't like he casually landed on me and pricked me, there was force behind this sting. I was totally discombobulated, in pain, trying to swipe the damn thing away while simultaneously slowing down, stopping and not crashing. I flicked it off but couldn't tell if the stinger was still in me. I laid down the bike (oddly, I take the time to carefully do this as to not "hurt" the Trek) and ran over to two women on the trail. In a frantic way with tears welling in my eyes, I asked them if they saw a stinger in my nose. All clear; I had gotten the bee and stinger out, but not fast enough to escape the side effects. I woke up the next morning and... Oh. My. God. My nose was huge, red and swollen like that of a clown's. Whatever. Sh*t happens. I still went to work and out in public with my Bozo-the-Clown nose... it remainded in that state for a week!

Bee Sting No. 2, summer '08: Once again, going downhill by a group of trees with sweet-smelling white flowers. Beautiful, right? Hell no! Beauty can be deceiving. It was bee paradise. In a blur of events, my bike was thrust onto some grass (not so gracefully this time), my forehead was is stinging and buzzing, and I was running around like a psycho. Yup, bee in the forehead, right between the eyebrows. I got rid of the bee but not the stinger... venom seeping in. So, I found the nearest humans, in this case, a nice-looking teen couple walking a dog. No polite introductions, I just blurted out, "You gotta help me! I think there's a bee stinger in my forehead...it needs to get out, please help!!" (Meanwhile, I recognize the girl, turns out I went to high school with her sister, random.) Despite clearly being weirded out, the girl used her crazy-long acryllic nails to flick the stinger out. Some "thank-yous" and "your-welcomes" ensued and I was on my way, wondering what I've done to piss off the bee gods.

Unlike the first incident, the second time I was stung at the beginning of my ride, and I still wanted to get in miles. So I went home, quickly cleaned it and went back riding. But to this day I get squirmish by those trees... and, oh yea, the swelling that occurred with No. 2 was ridiculous. Check out this deformed face... it continued to worsen. (Can't believe I'm posting this):Ahhh! I'm not necessarily allergic; my doctor said the swelling was so bad because of the area I was stung...not really any fat on the forehead, so the WHOLE FACE SWELLS as a result.

So, me and bees.... we don't really mix well. But even the potential of looking like a cyclops won't stop me. Especially with this news.....

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MY NEW RIDE

Over Christmas I had a lucky turn of events that allowed me to buy one of these from Nytro in Encinitas (see, I'm still a total wanna-be SD resident):

The Felt B2r TTR. I'm in love. I also got a sexy fast Zipp 808 wheelset for racing. Oh man. So stoked. I'll write more on my legit tri-bike shopping experience at Nytro soon. They rock!!