New Science magazine had an article/question some time back, about the speed at which flies can fly... One of the answers came from a roadie, who claimed that at about 8km/h(??), he would always "lose" the flies, presumably because they couldn't fly fast enough to keep up with him... This had me thinking all sorts of silly things on my way up to the Cement Path on Paarl Rock the other day... i.e: 1.) Do African flies fly faster?; 2.) What about the effects of my slipstream - for something as small as a fly, does me moving through the air result in mini-slipstream currents that make it easier for them to tag along?; 3.) How is it possible that, on the top of a mountain, with not a soul in sight, and presumably, no unnatural sources to attract flies, I could have +/- 30 of the buggers, buzzing around my head?; 4.) How do flies communicate - since it's not as if all 30 showed up at once - started with a few, and then others just seemed to appear out of nowehere??; and lastly 5.) I really should stop riding alone - so as to a.) share the load i.r.o flies, and b.) stop having such pointless conversations in my head! In spite of all the aforesaid waffling - I think the lesson to be taken from this, is that flies come with the territory and the season - and somewhere along the line, if you ride fast enough, you will drop them! Moral of the story - if you don't like flies: HTFU!
