How many mamils does it take to change a light bulb?

I was chatting to a neighbour last weekend that had dropped her husband off at his local golf course early on a Sunday morning.  You should have seen all of the mamils out there this morning, she exclaimed.  I could smell the bait but I wasn't biting.  My straight bat reply was so there was a lot of wild life on the golf course.  What are we talking about kangaroos, wallabies, bats?  No!  Don't you know what I'm talking about? I've seen you on your bike, aren't you one of them? All those middle aged men in lycra riding their bikes. I wish I'd invented the stuff, she lamented.



Ok, so I'm in my mid 40s, but does that fact alone make me middle aged?  Isn't middle age more of an attitude thing along the lines that you're only as old as you feel?  Society, the media and academia have a need to label and categorize and with the mamil, it's a term that's stuck and besides they do display some odd nocturnal habits like their animal namesakes.  Does the fact I bought my first pair of cycling knicks at the age of 16 preclude me from this group?  Can I re-badge myself an AIL (always in lycra) or a PIL (persistently in lycra) now that I've graduated from a TIL (teenager in lycra)?

Middle Aged Men in Lycra.  Is there a more pilloried group on two wheels at the moment?  Let's not forget it wasn't that long ago it was the weekend hacker who would cop their fair share of flack for all their talk about Big Bertha, disappearing for 5 hours on a weekend, a quick 9 holes mid-week, the occasional trip to the driving range to sharpen up their long game and short game and the putter in the office.  Dare I start on the ridiculous clothes some wore and the rules that go with the game?  I think I'll just leave it there.

For about the past 10 years I've been hearing that cycling is the new golf and I'm inclined to agree.  In this time poor world we live in, so much of our entertainment and exercise is being packaged up in 2-3hr time slots and the traditional 18 holes of golf on a weekend over 4hrs plus a visit to the 19th hole afterwards is in decline. 

Golf v Cycling could be debated all day so I decided to objectively analyse golf and cycling side by side from a health perspective to see how they stacked up

According to the averages of several web sites who proclaimed to know an 80kg man will burn 351 calories per hour playing golf pulling or pushing his buggy (less for cart users and more for those who carry their bags).  So over 4 hours that's just over 1400 calories, less a couple of beers at the 19th hole where a Pot (285ml) of mid strength has 78 calories or 105 full strength. Let's make it 1200 calories after 2 or 3 frothies, less 142 for the soft drink at the half way mark to bring the total calories expended to 1060.

On the other hand an 80kg man will burn 654 calories per hour for moderate cycling.  Let's say our man has only two hours to exercise, rides 50km, drinks water and then retires to his local cafe for a full strength cafe latte, which is 135 Calories, which brings his total calories consumed to 1173.  

Whilst this is a light hearted simple comparison, it does go some way towards showing the time effectiveness of cycling.  Cycling is going to elevate the heart rate for a longer period of time compared to walking a golf course which according to the excellent BBC doco shown on SBS titled the Science of Exercise revealed that High Intensity Interval Training has far greater health benefits than moderate exercise.

So to all my middle aged comrades out there, male or female, it’s time to stand up and claim our mamilhood and mafilhood, knowing we are more likely to be in better shape because we’ve chosen cycling over golf (not that there’s anything wrong with golf).  And Mamils and Mafils remember, when you’re next out on your bike, warm up, play with the speed, take a turn out the front and burn a few more calories.  And to answer that question in the title, my answer is none, because they're too busy riding their bikes, having a great time.  Just ask a MAWL (Middle Ager without lycra) could sort out that light bulb.

For those of you yet to be convinced here are a few links to articles on the health benefits of cycling.





Comments

  1. CraigWells23 February 2014 at 08:54

    Good article thanks..from our MAMILS! www.mamils.com.au

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Northern Combine St Kilda Trophy Race (Where's the pothole patrol?)

Image
A field of 54 gathered at the Kyneton Showgrounds for the final event of the Northern Combine 2023 road race series to contest the St Kilda Trophy Race on the Pastoria circuit.  Under clear skies and a prevailing north westerly wind, Chief Commissaire David Cutajar was clear in his pre-race briefing, watch out for the potholes. Upon closer inspection, that's not a pothole, it looked more like a shallow grave.  Don't say you weren't warned.  So today, let's pay homage to country singer Joey Holiday, who summed up the situation best when he sang  Where's the Pothole Patrol ?   The feature climb of the 19km rolling Pastoria circuit is Mt St Mary, 2.36km at an average of 4.6% is more like a set of stairs than a climb, with its repetitious inclines and false flats, which made it difficult for the pure climbers to exploit.  More of a course for the puncheurs, rather than the climbers.   A Grade  saw only 2 riders, Dean Madden and last week’s Alf Walker Hcp winner Jame
Read more

Easter Epic 2024 / Everest Roam

Image
After doing an Everest in late December 2023, I really had no interest in doing anything quite like it again, other than supporting those who supported me on the day in their quest, when and if they were ready.   However, when a window of opportunity opened for the Easter long weekend to do an Everest Roam, I thought let's do it.  An Everest Roam is a ride consisting of climbing 10,000 metres, covering at least 400km, within 36 hours.  Sleep is allowed and you can drive from point to point in between climbs. I put it out to my Everest support crew, Gruppetto Melbourne and Knights of Suburbia, here in Melbourne.  Other than a few laughs at my expense, and don't worry, I laughed at myself too, one brave soul put up his hand to join me on day 2 from Tawonga to Falls Creek.  Thanks to Joel, my brother from another mother.  It was great sharing the time with you. I want to say a special thanks to the guy from Southern Vets (now Masters) who 40 years ago, invited me as a 16 year old
Read more

Rob Monk Memorial Handicap - Race Report

Image
Every now and then, an event screams, enter me and bring a few mates along with you. And so it was, that a group of five of us from Brunswick and Northern Cycling Clubs made our way to Darnum, east of Warragul for the Rob Monk Memorial Handicap on Saturday 28 th October. While none of us knew Rob personally, I found myself in the same Kinglake cycles bunch as Rob's son Cyrus a few years ago when he was riding with Drapac-EF and still have the PRs thanks to Cyrus' tenacity to drive things from the front. This led to me tuning into his podcast appearances on the Semi-Pro Cycling pod and following him on Strava. I'd go so far as to say, heading out to this race was my mark of respect to Cyrus, his family and the Warragul cycling community, who were remembering a man who meant so much, to so many, in the best way possible. Rob & Cyrus Monk Arriving with plenty of time to ride the 8km course beforehand, Andrew Gannon, Steve Saunders and myself headed out on our recon, but n
Read more