JBlog

So that’s what they are! They’ve been driving me nuts on my bike rides. I’m covered in hundreds of them by the time I finish my three mile commute home. Here’s the story by Phil Nixon:

Soybean Aphid Migration Obvious byPhil Nixon,

Large numbers of “gnats” in the air in northern and central Illinois are probably soybean aphids. High infestations are present this year as far south as Interstate 70. Close examination will reveal a one-sixteenth inch long insect with a translucent green abdomen, black head and thorax, black antennae, and large oval transparent wings.

When aphids land on something, they probe it with their sucking mouthparts to see if it is good to eat. People with sensitive skin may feel a slight prick, but it is unlikely to leave a mark. Others are unlikely to feel anything at all.

These insects are migrating from soybean to buckthorn to lay eggs for the winter. Although this migration occurs over a six-week period, heavy migration typically lasts for one to two weeks. Control efforts against these winged migrants are not practical, nor recommended.

Soybean aphids pass through 15-18 generations during the summer on soybean, where they feed on the sap of the soybean plant. They live on the leaflet undersides as similar-sized, yellow to cream insects. At the end of summer, they migrate to buckthorn. Buckthorn, Rhamnus spp., is a glossy-leaved, thorny shrub common along the edge of forests and in disturbed areas such as fencerows and along streams. On buckthorn, these migrants give birth to another generation of females that mate with arriving, winged males. They then lay overwintering eggs on buckthorn. These eggs will hatch in the spring, the aphids will complete a couple of generations on buckthorn, and then fly to soybean for the summer.

The front hub on my commuter bike felt pretty loose yesterday morning before taking off for work. It seemed to have gotten worse by the time I got into the building. I met a fellow bike commuter on the elevator on the way upstairs and he took a look at it and was also convinced that my hub was loose and in need of some tightening. He cautioned me to stop riding it until it was fixed.

I had my wife come get me and the bike at around 11 or so and we went straight to Champaign Cycle to have my hub looked at. The mechanic took a look at it, wobbled the front wheel and proceed to tighten my loose quick release.

Ahhh … lessons in humility.

I was riding with my son to swim practice this evening down a one way, two lane road. It’s usually pretty free of traffic this time of night, but one of the sections of road we passed a cop had pulled someone over on the right side of the road and there was a tree cutting truck to the far left side of the road, so a short bottleneck built up behind us.

I always try to ride a straight line and since the parking lane was clear I had my son next to me in it (and out of traffic.) I felt OK doing this because there were no cars parked there for blocks.

I held my line for about a block and cars behind me began to honk, so I thought I would be polite and pulled into the parking lane a little – the car behind me would not pass. So I pulled a little further to the right and finally he went roaring by me, engine yelling and everything.

Turns out this guy lived on the same road we were traveling on and decided he would wait for me and my son to roll by about a minute after he pulled into his driveway. When we passed his house, he beckoned me over to the curb and began to tell me how stupid I was for riding in the middle of the road and for not riding single file.

I kept trying to interject and finally asked him if he was going to allow me to speak, which he did. I informed him that I was riding in the right lane “as far to the right as practicable” and that riders were indeed allowed to ride two abreast. Also told him he should polish up on his rules the next time he decided to confront someone about them.

My preference is always to be right in the thick of traffic because I feel like I’m much more visible there, but after I thought about it, I thought that maybe I could have used the parking lane since it was empty for several blocks ahead of me. I’ve just kind of forced myself to think and act like a vehicle since I began commuting, though, and it didn’t occur to me at the time that maybe I should use the parking lane if it’s empty.  Not really sure what I’m going to do in the future yet.  I still think the traffic lane is the safest place to be.