We all have insect stories. Fly in your soup, a spider forming a nest in your VHS collection and so on.

While there are a plethora of species to annoy you, none gets you in a tizzy as much on a bike than that random bee.

Sunday, I was riding up the Verdugos when a pair took a liking to my brightly colored kit.

I can never remember what you’re supposed to do when you see a mountain lion, bear or yak, but when it’s a bee, I just book it.

As you can witness by this column, I lived to tell another day, but my luck almost ran out again yesterday.

What to do?

I was rolling downhill on Hillhurst above 30 MPH, even keeping up with some drivers when it hit me out of nowhere because I couldn’t see it.

It felt like a dart had lodged itself in the back of my neck and my first instinct was that someone was coming after me.

Then when I felt these small, frantic extremities trying to force the issue, my logic started to change.
 

 

I used a free hand and grabbed an insect far more significantly sized than I imagined and threw it to the side.

My first thoughts made me wonder if I contracted the Zika virus, but said creature felt far more meatier than a mosquito.

What I was puzzled about is how this thing was able to grip me on the back of my neck going at that high speed?

Some of the evidence is still there, but it’s hard to look up now.

Did I create a powerful wind vacuum? Is this signaling an attack from some super race of genetically engineered bees? I threw the evidence aside, we we’ll never know.

In all seriousness, we’ve all had an insect fly into our helmets and cause a panic moment, but remember to focus on your cycling first. You may get stung, but that’s far better than veering in front of another car.

Yes, insects can be dangerous, but there’s only so much you can do to avoid bad luck. If ever elected, I promise you I’ll do everything to rid our country of this terrible affliction.