Is it OK for Middle
Aged Men In Lycra to race?
Like many MAMILs I
discovered cycling later in life, I started riding due to a parachuting injury
that prevented me running for the best part of 3 years. The bike allowed me to
maintain my fitness without the knee pain I had been experiencing previously
and I started to enjoy pain free exercise again.
Shortly after starting
to ride with a local group I found a new group of likeminded (fanatical)
friends and cycling became an all-consuming love affair that has changed my
life in many ways, once I was smitten, separation from the bike became
inconceivable!
On Saturdays I meet
the other MAMILs at 0900 and we set off on what is supposed to be a social
ride, now if social means you push yourself so hard your eyeballs bleed in an
attempt to drop your fellow MAMILs on the hills, then our ride is very social. In
our group, those who don’t race, make up for it in the group ride and to be
honest I love the pain inflicted by my contemporaries.
So to my point, is it
ok for MAMILs to race? Well let me declare this, I am not in any danger of
winning any races but should that stop me? I say No! My reasoning for saying
that is because I enjoy every aspect of racing, preparing my kit and race
tuning my ride, meeting other likeminded MAMILs and having a chitchat. But most
importantly it allows me to satisfy what’s left of my testosterone-fuelled
competiveness by pushing myself harder than I would in any training session.
That’s why its OK for MAMILs to race, life does not finish at 40 and why should
we not continue to have fun and push ourselves to the limits of our abilities.
And you just never
know, one day I might and I say again might…. Just win one!?
