Hey Mid-Atlantic GSers... anybody seen a cicada yet?  They should be coming out any day now.  Get out and enjoy a good ride this week if you can, becuase May and June should be filled with *splat* after *splat*  

and that annoying loud noises they make

I've seen (and heard) a few early risers down here already. One may have already THWACKed off my helmet last weekend, but I didn't get a positive ID.

We get 'em in Az too. My wife and I were bed of the pickup camping years ago and a cicada perched by my head as I slept and then it decided to "sing"!  :x   Worst wake up I've ever had.

Quote from: Ed_in_AzWe get 'em in Az too. My wife and I were bed of the pickup camping years ago and a cicada perched by my head as I slept and then it decided to "sing"!  :x   Worst wake up I've ever had.

That reminds me of the scene in Monty Python and the Holy Grail, where the effeminate prince, instead of wanting to marry a girl with 'vast tracts of land!' just wants to... sing!  :lol:

That would freak me out too, that giant bug waking me up.  One time in the Navy, I was sleeping and someone tried to tap my shoulder to wake me up.  I ended up unconsciously grabbing the poor guy by the throat.  Then again, I was sleeping in the 'coffin' position with my eyes half way open... was drugged up after getting my wisdom teeth pulled.

Haven't seen any here yet, but I'm on the outskirts of the projected infestation - so I may escape most of them! I hear the 17 year cicadas are some of the worst infestations!

How big are these things?
We ahve June bugs in Calgary that are like the size of a hummingbird that are not cool to hit while riding. Noisy as hell too.

Rich: June bugs=cicada's, just a slang term for them prolly because of when they come out. A lot of folks down here call them by that name, too.

June Bugs:

Green:

http://www.troyb.com/photo/gallery/00005937.htm

Striped:

http://yahooligans.yahoo.com/content/animals/photo/3614.html

Cicada:

http://www.ent.iastate.edu/imagegal/homoptera/cicada/cicada.html

Cicada = UUUUGLY, and LOUD!

THat is funny, I don't know  if I have ever seen one of those.  Here in MS and TN our June bugs are a brownish color almost cranberry colored.

By the way:
I got stung by a bee at a stop light the other day, would'nt have happened had I been wearing a jacket of some sort.  Likewise with those big ass bugs hitting you at 70mph. It can't feel nice.

I hit a bird once. Flew right into my shoulder at 70mph. Damn near took me off the bike!

Cicadas aren't due here (38th parallel) until around May 25, depending on soil temperature.

June bugs can be highly dense locally.  My mom had them in her neighborhood as a kid.  She and her friends would catch them, tie thread to their back legs, and "fly" them like kites.  But, according to her, that was during the Depression when you felt lucky to have thread, much less fancy toys to play with.

i'll be damned kasper!, i thought i was the only one that did that  :mrgreen:  :dunno:

Quote from: yamahonkawazuki i'll be damned kasper!, i thought i was the only one that did that  :mrgreen:  :dunno:

haha i've done it too.

June bugs here are green.  and they suck even w/o riding a bike.

japanese beetles are horrible, too. they're EVERYWHERE come June or July.

I'll bet many of you in the projected cicada area are too young to have seen it before.  When the 17 year cycle happens it's something you'll NEVER forget!  I was living in NJ and we had the cycle when I was about 10 and it was incredable!  There are literally millions of those big ugly noisy bugs EVERYWHERE.  The sound, like the martians in War of the Worlds, is everywhere and loud.  If you've ever been to Hawaii for New Years then you can relate.  In Hawaii they go CRAZY with the firecrackers.  They hang rolls of 100,000 from 3rd story windows and telephone poles and EVERYONE in the state is setting them off.  Very memorable.  The same happens with the cicadas.  They're everywhere and they're all making noise.  You're in for quite an experience.

Cicadas and June bugs (aspecially the BIG brown ones up here in MASS) are all the excuse I need to wear a full face helmet.  Let alone the occasional rock that pings off the shield.

Quote from: joerockerI'll bet many of you in the projected cicada area are too young to have seen it before.  When the 17 year cycle happens it's something you'll NEVER forget!  I was living in NJ and we had the cycle when I was about 10 and it was incredable!  There are literally millions of those big ugly noisy bugs EVERYWHERE.  The sound, like the martians in War of the Worlds, is everywhere and loud.  If you've ever been to Hawaii for New Years then you can relate.  In Hawaii they go CRAZY with the firecrackers.  They hang rolls of 100,000 from 3rd story windows and telephone poles and EVERYONE in the state is setting them off.  Very memorable.  The same happens with the cicadas.  They're everywhere and they're all making noise.  You're in for quite an experience.

I think cicadas are the National Bug in Japan.  During the summertime, there's no getting away from the noise.  Whenever they want to emphasize that it's summer in Japan in movies and anime, you hear those bugs whanging away.  You don't really hear them in Tokyo except in the parks, but I think I'd rather be surrounded by millions of cicadas out in the countryside than millions of cars and people in Tokyo  

I want to go back to Japan soon but it's not going to happen until next year    I want to take a trip through the Hida Valley along the Japanese Alps... and maybe through them to Nagano.  So pretty, and meant for bikes (if you can stand going through curves behind some cars)

already starting to see the cicada's.. not too many out right now though.

Now that you mention it about the 17 year cycle of the Cicada's.  I remember a few years back we had one or something like that. I don't think we normal have bugs but from time to time here. Oh well. Happy ridding!

there is also a large brood that goes in 13 year cycles, typically farther south than the larger, 17 year "brood-x".

dan