I went for a ride yesterday and whilst riding I am sure I could feel my backside being bitten whilst ridding, but thought it was not possible as I was wearing bib bottoms.

This morning I have a couple of bites the size of 50p pieces on my butt.

Can they bite through lycra, and anyone else suffered with this?

They can bite through chainmail! Try a smear of something on the skin under the clothes, Tea Tree oil perhaps?

Not jam, ovbs…

Horse flies are evil f***s.

Cheers

Danny B

Just back from Corsica and got horse fly bites and mozzie bites all over me. The horse flies were really bad in the rocks when we came out of the sea from snorkelling.

They do like their cool shades though 🙂

Something took a bite out of me or stung me during my ride on Friday night on my belly through my jersey. It’s come up nice and swollen and itchy as hell. No idea what it was.

Hateful evil useless things, a long time ago me and a mate were surfing one of the Gower reefs, walking back to the car we got savaged. They can easily bite through a rash vest as the six bites on my back testify. So bib shorts should be possible.

A bloke died in Devon after a bite last week, anaphylactic shock 😯

Horse Flies > Wasps

Sh*tty flies that serves no purpose on earth whatsoever but to pester riders and others.. There is part of my trail that has swarms of this

They got me through shorts last weekend. Bastards.

So they do bite through clothing, was not aware of that.

They do indeed bite through clothing. I used to do 3day eventing and the only thing we found to keep them off us at night whilst chilling by the camp fire/BBQ was hairspray.
They hate being sprayed by it.

Bites are sore for a few days but nowt you can do about it. Peppermint oil was about as close as we got to keeping them off.. Smear liberally 😉

If you’re getting bitten by horse flies, you’re not going fast enough. Just saying!

They can bite through cotton, lycra etc. I carry antihistamine cream in the summer and apply it as soon as I am bitten. It saves them coming up like golf balls. I was once bitten on the ankle three times and couldn’t get my walking boots on.

Doh ! A Horsefly can bite through horse skin, bib shorts will be but the tiniest inconvenience. Terrible little things. Agreed with the above, “bastards”

@bikebouy – that’s a lame (excuse terrible pun) excuse re the hairspray, we all know you are a regular user 🙂

they like black clothes, coz they make you look like a horses ass.

lidderally!

You can’t stop them, they are vicious, persistent and above all, f*cking sneaky little bastards.

Take non-drowsy antihistamines before your ride, and as above, hit the bite with a blob of antihistamine cream as soon as you feel it.

And obviously, go faster/don’t stop.

We have been plagued by them this year and I have been bitten twice by them. They are horrible things.

Thankfully they are not as quick as houseflies, so you do have the opportunity to kill them when they pitch on you, although this is not going to save you being bitten if you are riding at the time.

I did a bit of googling after being bitten and one person said rubbing your own saliva into the bite can help relieve the swelling as it contains anti-bacterials and another mentioned rubbing bracken on the bite.

I was hoping that the recent unsettled weather would have washed them away, but I was buzzed by a couple whilst out washing the car yesterday, sigh!

They do indeed bite through clothing. I used to do 3day eventing and the only thing we found to keep them off us at night whilst chilling by the camp fire/BBQ was hairspray.
They hate being sprayed by it.

I guess the human equivalent would be getting sprayed by a fire hose pumping out a fast setting PVA mixture.

hate the little sods though. Keep forgetting to put Skin so Soft on.

Bitten on the knee yesterday, the little swine left its mouth parts in me after I swatted it. Bitten on the eyelid today, this one wouldn’t let go. Bloke behind in a car stopped to check I was ok, I came to a halt so randomly. Pop science: yesterday’s bite has gone red again, presumably because of the new histamines.

cheez0 is correct – proper sciencey stuff has shown that they’re attracted to dark objects more than light objects, so make sure you always ride in light colours accompanied by a ninja dressed head to toe in black, preferably a sweaty one.

> 6months with multiple antibiotics here from two horsefly bites.

hora – Member
> 6months with multiple antibiotics here from two horsefly bites.

Ouch!

Bitten on the eyelid today

Ooof!

i am so glad to hear all of this, i thought it was just me who got attacked by them.
i still have brown marks on my legs from bites 3 years ago.
i havent noticed them biting through any clothing though, bare skin only ime, and i wear black lycra mostly, i also sweat a fair bit if its warm.
so far, in every case when ive been bitten, i have had a stop on the ride, so i reckon if you keep going you are mostly safe, also i havent been bitten on any night rides as far as i recall.
hateful things.

bleeding things, long sleeve shirt, long shorts, long socks, full finger gloves – you know the little hole on the back of the glove where it velcros together – 3 bites, little fookers

For some strange reason, this year I do not seem to have as much of a reaction to horse fly bites as I used to – which is perhaps as well, as I’ve lost count of the number of little fookers that have got me 🙁

They make eye contact and watch out for you as they snip your skin. They cut the skin,not pierce it. Horrible things. I noticed a few years ago that if you have one biting you on the back of the leg,if you turn around slowly they fly off as soon as you spot them. Nowt to do with you swatting them. Clever beasts and quite incredible looking things. At Culbin they seem to have monsters, unlike the one’s biting me through lycra on a road climb (road bike!) last monday. Swiping them every other pedal stroke on the steeps gets tiring.

They were landing out of sight on the underside of my arms (where they felt like a stone being flicked up) and biting thorugh my longsleeve baser layer on my last ride, little bastards.

Turns out they are important pollinators of some flowers, so not useless, but still little bastards. 👿

Lady Gresley- eat alot/less meat this year?

Yep. Been done and its been itching like a b@57@rd for a week now 🙁

Wasps and horse flies. Detest both!

Got bitten 6 times through my shorts on one ride. Even going down hill they got me. Evil things.

Got bitten by the bony bit on my wrist a few years back in Morzine. My hand blew up like a balloon overnight (as well as my ankle a little bit, weirdly).

Spent the next day in bed shivering with fever too. Riding mates fed me handfuls of antihistamines.

They are evil. FACT

Worst year I can remember for horse flies TBH. They’re the only beastie I kill on sight. Got bitten at least half a dozen times on one steep road climb on Thursday, all still itching like hell 😐

pollinate? if those evil little beast is the only means of their survival, i hope that plant is meant to make antihistamines otherwise that plant or flower will be extinct very soon by me and other angry riders 👿 ..i hope horses dont eat those or would be circle of life thingy 🙄

For some strange reason, this year I do not seem to have as much of a reaction to horse fly bites as I used to – which is perhaps as well, as I’ve lost count of the number that have got me

Funny that i’m the same this year. Normally i swell up like a balloon.

They really are evil buggers, wasps at least perform a useful function in predating on lots of harmful pests, to feed to their young, and really only sting in defence. Horseflies bite to feed, and they saw through the skin to get the blood!
They wear cool shades, though; if only Oakley could do similar patterns…

They were horrendous over in Torridon last weekend, I’ve never known them so bad. The worst bits were the hike-a-bike where I couldn’t swat them. They’d just bite and fly off leaving a trickle of blood. Thankfully I’m another who doesn’t seem to be suffering the usual golf ball sized lumps after they’ve bitten this year. Horrible little bastards 😡

Horseflies are little packets of protein-filled blood (albeit yours/mine) that will feed the local birds. Don’t hate them, love them for helping you donate your life-juice for the good of the eco-system.