That Stings!

I was happily riding along yesterday afternoon, enjoying the weather on my way out to Golden and Lookout for the day's training when a bug flew in my mouth. This isn't the first time it has happened. I've swallowed plenty of gnats in my day, even a fly. Usually when the offending critter flies in, you just exhale hard, do a little spitting and problem solved. Yesterday's bug was unfortunately a bee. My exhaling and spitting wasn't fast enough apparently and on the way out the bee stung my bottom lip, front and center.

I have never seen any violent allergic reactions to stings myself in person, but I started having visions of trying to talk to somebody on the phone to come save me as my head swelled, lip first, to unfathomable sizes. I was only 10 minutes into my ride at the time and certainly in no mood to turn around given the weather and an acute desire to actually be out riding.

The sting went from a sharp pain to a sharp, throbbing pain as I blindly removed the stinger and continued my ride west. Nothing like throbbing pain that works in time with your heart rate when you are putting in an effort going uphill. Eventually I got used to the feeling and stopped biting my bottom lip every few minutes, wondering if it was swelling and abnormally large. Even with daylight fading, I was able to make it out to Lookout, up the frontage road, back down US40, to Rooney Road and back the way I came before it got too dark.

After cleaning up and staring at my lip some more in the mirror, I jumped on the townie bike and headed up to the Fillmore for the Westword Menu Affair. I am, on occasion, lucky enough to know people who know people and end up with free tickets to cool events. It was slightly dangerous showing up to a concert venue full of food samples and open bars right after a ride, but I like to live on the edge. Some of the food was pretty good, some was marginal, and some we walked right past without considering letting it sully our palates. One of my favorites was the mousse cup from D Bar Desserts. This restaurant is high up on the list of places to go and their sample only solidified their position on the list. Think sushi bar, but dessert . . . mmm dessert.

Fueled up for the ride home, I headed back out into the night. The ride home was another reminder of how much fun it can be riding around town in the dark. It is nice to just cruise, check out how different neighborhoods look in the still of the night as opposed to during the hustle and bustle of the day. I coasted down Capitol Hill and made it home, satisfied that I had made the most of one of the few remaining warm autumn evenings.