Drafting

Had an interesting experience on Sunday's ride. The wind was from the southwest and I was riding south. This put the wind mostly on my right side. From the corner of my eye I detected a motion. Glancing over, I saw a bumble bee coming toward me from behind and to my left. The big bee approached to within about two feet, then dropped back and farther to my left. It's next maneuver was to speed up and come back to within the two foot distance. To my amazement, the bumble bee was drafting along beside me. It was my first bee peloton! We continued for a few hundred feet with the same relative positions. I decided to see if the drafting insect's behavior was just my imagination, so I quickly slowed. The bee flew right across the road, in front of me, and continued on its original southwesterly direction.

Perhaps it was just a coincidence, but it was fun to imagine I was leading the bumble bee breakaway. The opportunity to observe a flight just a few feet away was delightful. When they crawl around on a flower, bees are easy to see. Their flight is usually erratic and zig-zagging. To see one relatively still while it was flying was a treat. Sure would have been great to know where it was going.