I seem to be an all-you-can-eat buffet at the moment for insects, a few weeks ago I got 2 bites on my right calf which swelled up up so much that I couldn’t stand up for that long. Then a week ago I got attacked by a swarm of midges and ended up looking like I’d had chicken pox…

Then last night went for a quick ride around the local trails, sprayed my legs with cheap insect repellant as that’s where I always seem to get the bites when in the woods, and I got a single bite on my left elbow which a day later has swelled up 3-4 inches either way up and down my arm – it’s not painful, but it is uncomfortable! The outside of my left forearm now looks like popeye’s!

I’ve started taking hayfever tablets (antihistamines) and will be buying some smidge repellent, but other than bathing in the stuff, what else can I do?

The other issue is that I sweat a lot, so on a ride more than an hour it’s likely anything will have been sweated off and be useless.

The other issue is that I sweat a lot, so on a ride more than an hour it’s likely anything will have been sweated off and be useless.

take the smidge with you then

what else can I do?

get an after bite pen and put a quick dab on as soon after being bitten as you can. Sooner treated the more effective it is

cheers, didn’t know they existed! Will order one along with the smidge.

I’m hoping Smidge is as good as it says and stays effective through the litres of sweat I seem to produce.

That after bite is good stuff. Beware – we call it the “p&ss stick” in our house.

Funnily enough I’ve got a massive bite on my left elbow from a ride in deepest Dorset last week. Almost like a tick bite but no tick. Had a real lump and a sore arm. Just got a small lump now.

I use Smidge and Anti-San cream but even so I seem to have got more horsefly bites this year.

It could be the weather but there does seem to be a general increase in flying things to the extent that I have had to use a buff to cover my mouth and wear a cap under my helmet. I never saw the point of those cotton caps before and always thought it was a roadie affectation but never leave home without mine now.

We are also noticing a substantial increase in flying insects this year (scotland), could it be related to lockdown traffic levels i wonder? (Or, more specifically, the relative lack of traffic)
Smidge and after bite pen for me too, I’ve had quite a few bites this year.

ould it be related to lockdown traffic levels i wonder?

Less cars on the road = less flies/mozzies/midges being killed by cars?

Have ordered 2 spray cans of smidge and the small carry one so I can take it with me on shorter rides, and the ‘p1ss pen’ 😀

Same here, mixture of midge bites, couple of horsefly bites which have swollen up and seep puss 🙁 and to top it off got stung by a wasp under my helmet (strap!) on my last ride.

From experience as a travelling snack bar for all the flying ba****** I find that it’s when you stop they descend, so don’t stop, or if you do be vigilant and minimise it. Other alternative is to ride with tastier people than you, the sacrificial lamb!

Horsefly bites I also use a hot (not burning) spoon to try and denature the dirty bacteria as soon as possible after discovering the bite, then bite cream and even hydro cortisone cream if they get really sore.

Someone also once suggested not eating as many bananas they make you smell attractive to bugs, but I’m not sure if there was ever any truth in this.

Less cars on the road = less flies/mozzies/midges being killed by cars?

the sparrows in the waterfront car park at Fort William will be disappointed. Whenever I’ve parked there on my way back from Skye there’s a gang of them waiting to pick the bugs out of peoples radiators. Must have been a lean year for them 🙂

From experience as a travelling snack bar for all the flying ba****** I find that it’s when you stop they descend, so don’t stop, or if you do be vigilant and minimise it. Other alternative is to ride with tastier people than you, the sacrificial lamb!

I noticed this when pushing up a steep climb in the Peaks, I was a sweaty mess by that point and had a swarm of flies buzzing around me, it wasn’t until I crested the hill and could get some speed up I outran them.

After being giant hogweeded twice and becoming allergic to something in the countryside(large patches of little yellow bubble pus burn type blisters yahoo) I’m now mr long socks, 3/4shorts, long sleeves with collar, when in McMidgeland I simply top it all off with a sartorially elegant large midge net that goes over the helmet and peak,yes you sweat so much you feel that you’re being water boarded but to be fair I haven’t been bitten for a while.