All you Want to Know about MAMILS

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Cugel
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Joined: 13 Nov 2017, 11:14am

Re: All you Want to Know about MAMILS

Post by Cugel »

Audax67 wrote:......

It's been going on for centuries: Whigs, Jacobites, Wearers of Green Wellies, witches, yuppies, Audi drivers, you name it. Look out for The Protocols of the Elders of Mamil, coming soon to a book-shop near you.

(Is there a book-shop near you?)


Books? I was nearly crushed by 500 of them just the other day as I nudged bookcase No.7 when going to the kitchen to get another cup of coffee! Charity shops now lock their doors when they see me coming with another sack full that I've finished with that week. "No room, no room"!

The Protocols of The Elders of MAMIL is already available, as I mentioned. It's called "The Rules" and is often quoted by both MAMILs and those who poke at their various pomps and postures. It is "made up stuff" perpetrated by some old cyclist as a joke but now regarded by many MAMILs as some form of bible.

Cugel, who can stereotype anybody to the Nth degree until they become unique.
“Practical men who believe themselves to be quite exempt from any intellectual influence are usually the slaves of some defunct economist”.
John Maynard Keynes
pwa
Posts: 17366
Joined: 2 Oct 2011, 8:55pm

Re: All you Want to Know about MAMILS

Post by pwa »

These folk are wearing lycra. And some of them are middle aged. MAMILs?
http://www.cyclingburylancs.com/aboutus.htm

(I know it is out of date)
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661-Pete
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Joined: 22 Nov 2012, 8:45pm
Location: Sussex

Re: All you Want to Know about MAMILS

Post by 661-Pete »

I donned lycra (well - lycra shorts) on just one day last year - and regretted it! Damned uncomfortable (I think they were too small for me) and a near-disaster. Ordinary clothes for me henceforth.

But I'm not out to have a pop at MAMILs simply for being in Lycra - nor even for being lidded (I'm an anti-lid person myself). What bugs me, sometimes, is the total disguise that some adopt - mainly with shades that cover much more than just the eyes.

Some years ago Mrs P and I were gently pootling around the local country lanes when a MAMIL (or so I thought) came pelting past us. Dressed for the part like so many. But this one paused, looked around at us, then burst forth with a cheery "hello Pete!" I was nonplussed at first, because until I heard his voice I didn't know him from Adam.

It was my boss from work. Shows how effective a disguise lid+shades can be!

But to call him a MAMIL is to do him a grave injustice. He's been a keen cyclist all his life, a far 'better' one than I'll ever be; he frequently cycles to work (when business commitments permit), and regularly does sportifs - something utterly beyond my capability!

Moral? Perhaps not a good idea to pass judgement...
Suppose that this room is a lift. The support breaks and down we go with ever-increasing velocity.
Let us pass the time by performing physical experiments...
--- Arthur Eddington (creator of the Eddington Number).
pwa
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Joined: 2 Oct 2011, 8:55pm

Re: All you Want to Know about MAMILS

Post by pwa »

I use the glasses myself. i prefer clear because I feel shades make every day look gloomy, but I do wear clear glasses because if I don't my eyes water too much on the downhills.

I used to wear lycra for audaxes, where comfort takes priority over my usual desire for modesty. But lycra must fit well to be comfortable. Too tight is a no no. Well fitting lycra will feel great on the bike, less good when walking.

All sorts of people wear lycra, from lifelong cyclists to newcomers with "all the gear and no idea" and making snap judgements about them is plain daft. Until you engage with the human behind the glasses you don't know them.
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661-Pete
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Joined: 22 Nov 2012, 8:45pm
Location: Sussex

Re: All you Want to Know about MAMILS

Post by 661-Pete »

I suppose I'm fortunate in that I wear glasses all the time, for short-sightedness. So I'm used to them, and am recognised wearing them. They certainly help a bit in protecting the eyes, though they won't stop grit coming in from a sharp angle. At the sort of speeds I manage, it mostly doesn't matter.
Suppose that this room is a lift. The support breaks and down we go with ever-increasing velocity.
Let us pass the time by performing physical experiments...
--- Arthur Eddington (creator of the Eddington Number).
JohnW
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Joined: 6 Jan 2007, 9:12pm
Location: Yorkshire

Re: All you Want to Know about MAMILS

Post by JohnW »

tatanab wrote:Before the current ridicule of lycra (by which they mean any brightly coloured and snug clothing since most people wear lycra in their socks or underwear) MAMIL was applied to Middle Aged Men in Leather. Perhaps in the next generation it will mean Middle Aged Men in Lingerie.

Nah - not me mate - knickers to that...................!
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