''Mamil'' (or ''MAMIL'') is an

acronym An acronym is a word or name formed from the initial components of a longer name or phrase. Acronyms are usually formed from the initial letters of words, as in ''NATO'' (''North Atlantic Treaty Organization''), but sometimes use syllables, as ...

and a pejorative term for a " middle-aged man in lycra" – that is, men who ride an expensive

racing bicycle A racing bicycle, also known as a road bike is a bicycle designed for competitive road cycling, a sport governed by and according to the rules of the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI). Racing bicycles are designed for maximum performance w ...

for leisure, while wearing body-hugging jerseys and bicycle shorts. The word was reportedly coined by British

marketing research Marketing research is the systematic gathering, recording, and analysis of qualitative and quantitative data about issues relating to marketing products and services. The goal is to identify and assess how changing elements of the marketing mix i ...

firm

Mintel Mintel Group Ltd is a global, privately owned market research firm based in London. The corporation also maintains offices in Chicago, Mumbai, Belfast, Shanghai, Tokyo, Sydney, Sao Paulo, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Dusseldorf, Bangkok, and Seoul. ...

in 2010. It gained further popularity in the United Kingdom with the success of

Bradley Wiggins Sir Bradley Marc Wiggins, CBE (born 28 April 1980) is a British former professional road and track racing cyclist, who competed professionally between 2001 and 2016. He began his cycling career on the track, but later made the transition to r ...

in the

2012 Tour de France The 2012 Tour de France was the 99th edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's Grand Tours. It started in the Belgian city of Liège on 30 June and finished on the Champs-Élysées in Paris on 22 July. The Tour consisted of 21 stages, i ...

and at the 2012 Summer Olympics, held in London. The British

UCI World Championships The UCI world championships are annual competitions promoted by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) to determine world champion cyclists. They are held in several different styles of racing, in a different country each year. Championship winne ...

victories in recent years have also spurred interest in cycling in the UK. In Australia the popularity of this sort of cycling has been associated with the

Tour Down Under The Tour Down Under (branded as the Santos Tour Down Under under a partnership arrangement) is a cycling race in and around Adelaide, South Australia, and is traditionally the opening event of the UCI World Tour and features all 19 UCI World ...

and the

2011 Tour de France The 2011 Tour de France was the 98th edition of the race. It started on 2 July at the Passage du Gois and ended on the Champs-Élysées in Paris on 24 July. The cyclists competed in 21 stages over 23 days, covering a distance of . The route e ...

winner

Cadel Evans Cadel Lee Evans (; born 14 February 1977) is an Australian former professional racing cyclist, who competed professionally in both mountain biking and road bicycle racing. A four-time Olympian, Evans is one of three non-Europeans – along wi ...

. Former

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

Tony Abbott Anthony John Abbott (; born 4 November 1957) is a former Australian politician who served as the 28th prime minister of Australia from 2013 to 2015. He held office as the leader of the Liberal Party of Australia. Abbott was born in Londo ...

has been described as a "mamil". And in Slovakia, for example, the popularity of racing cycling and wearing colorful Lycra on the roads rose after Peter Sagan begun winning in Tour de France and World championships. Buying an expensive

road bicycle The term road bicycle is used to describe bicycles built for traveling at speed on paved roads. Some sources use the term to mean racing bicycle. Other sources specifically exclude racing bicycles from the definition, using the term to mean a ...

has been described as a more healthy and affordable response to a

midlife crisis A midlife crisis is a transition of identity and self-confidence that can occur in middle-aged individuals, typically 40 to 60 years old. The phenomenon is described as a psychological crisis brought about by events that highlight a person's grow ...

than buying an expensive

sports car A sports car is a car designed with an emphasis on dynamic performance, such as handling, acceleration, top speed, the thrill of driving and racing capability. Sports cars originated in Europe in the early 1900s and are currently produced by ...

. There are documentaries investigating this cycling culture. ''MAMIL'' is the title of a

one-man play A solo performance, sometimes referred to as a one-man show or one-woman show, features a single person telling a story for an audience, typically for the purpose of entertainment. This type of performance comes in many varieties, including auto ...

by New Zealand playwright

Greg Cooper Gregory John Luke Cooper (born 10 June 1965) is a former New Zealand rugby union player. A fullback, Cooper represented Hawke's Bay, Otago and Auckland at a provincial level and the in Super Rugby. He was a member of the New Zealand nationa ...

, written for actor

Mark Hadlow Mark Selwyn Hadlow (born 1957) is an Australian-New Zealand actor and comedian. Hadlow is perhaps best known internationally for playing the roles of Harry in ''King Kong'' and Dori, a Dwarf, in ''The Hobbit'' series. Early life Hadlow was b ...

. It is also the title of a feature-length documentary directed by Nickolas Bird and produced by Bird, Eleanor Sharpe and Mark Bird.

References

External links

* {{cite news , author-link=Catherine Bennett (journalist) , first=Catherine , last=Bennett , newspaper=

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the ...

, url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/may/30/modern-tribes-midlife-cycling-obsessive , title=Modern tribes: the midlife cycling obsessive , date=30 May 2015 Neologisms Acronyms Cycling Middle age Pejorative terms for men