Beware of middle-aged men in Lycra

I’ve had cycling on the brain this week. This may be because, despite the back, I’ve managed to get back into the saddle, albeit only on the wind trainer in the lounge. This was probably not to the benefit of the general public.

Once I positioned my wind trainer in line with the TV and happily started pedalling, I realised the skimpy singlet I was wearing with my bike shorts  probably did not offer the best view the poor commuters driving past my window had ever seen.

Well they should be watching the road anyway, right? Although it’s better than the view the new studio my ballet class is moving to may provide for the unsuspecting.

The new studio has large windows, separated from the street by a narrow stretch of pavement. If a barre is placed along that window, we may cause accidents. One of the ballet stretches involves facing the barre, putting one leg on it and stretching. The mind boggles. Not quite the view Vivian St drivers are expecting, I’m sure.

Well, not these days at least, given the area has been spruced up, renovated and generally gentrified. I think there’s only one gentlemen’s club left.

But I digress. Back to cycling. Over on the SMH, a cycling blogger was musing on the phenomenon of Middle Aged Men In Lycra (MAMILs for a short) and the explosion of them on the roads and cycling tracks.

It’s not a new observation. Apparently, buying up large on shiny cycling gear and hitting the roads in logo-ed up glory is the new way of dealing with a mid-life crisis.

Well fair play. It’s much healthier and better for the environment than buying a red convertible, which is just so 1990s, darlings.

The SMH's self-confessed MAMIL did admit he had some issues coming to terms with encroaching middle age, and amused me very much by penning this line:  "[In] what other sport can you shave your legs and sip lattés in screaming loud Lycra while still feeling like a man? The sheer toughness of the sport more than makes up for it."

Now, I think these are all issues I’ve written about on this blog before, but I've never managed to encapsulate them in such a succinct manner.

I know the last time my boss was buying us all coffees, he told me my latte was such a girly drink. While I disagree with his assessment, I think he may have missed an important fact – I am a girl.

So tell me, Lycra-wearing cyclists out there – does cycling make you feel like a man?

It certainly doesn’t make me feel like one, which is just as well, really. I don’t need a tough sport to compensate for drinking lattes and shaving my legs. I’d do both those things even if I wasn’t a cyclist. Although if I wasn’t, there’d certainly be less Lycra in my wardrobe, not being the most flattering material known to mankind.

So, share your thoughts. Is cycling the new mid-life crisis activity? (I thought it had been for the last two years, but perhaps I was ahead of myself.) And what about all the female cyclists out there?

Does the "sheer toughness" of cycling make up for the lattes, leg shaving and Lycra? Does it need to?

Finally, if you don’t feel like discussing any of this, perhaps you can share what you’re planning to do with your weekend.

So far, I've pencilled in avoiding my housework, a brief run and dodging all the MAMILs on the road.

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