New ebike sport - MAMIL fishing

Does anyone else overtake the lycra boys with $5000 bikes on the way to work with a sheepish look as you cruise past on the ebike? Some of them take it personally, and decide to get off their seats (seeing in my mirror) to slipstream me all the way into the city. Having an ultra-stealth setup (everything except the motor is in a pannier), the occasional look of disbelief quickly turns into a desire to hook onto me out of curiosity. Yes, this is exacerbated by my large frame (110kg), jeans / work shirt, bear-trap pedals, zero sweat and a large top gear so I can still pedal at 50kph.

Here in Australia, a MAMIL is a "Middle-Aged Man In Lycra", and If they are cycling with undue respect for others on the cycle paths (you know- going for a PB every day whatever it takes) I have taken to overtaking them with the throttle off (so they think I am unassisted), and giving them the impression they can hook on, but keeping enough distance from them so they cant get into the slipstream. Sometimes they try really hard for several kilometres before suddenly fading to a jogging pace. Justice for the aggressive "out of my way" approach.

So, I also have a racer and lycra, but I feel justified in using my ebike to bring some aggressive MAMILS by "fishing" them if they can't handle the overtake, and letting their egos drive them to exhaustion.

Perhaps I am alone in this new sport, and must confess to enjoying it - especially as my HD camera is secretly mounted under the carrier and pointing backwards. Perhaps I am taking it too far, but my PB is 4 MAMILS for 6km.

I have a long section of bike path for part of my commute and sometimes let my boss (shares a commute but on a road bike, no lycra ) draft in the huge slipstream I create with my ebike. I usually have to keep the speeds down to 18-20 mph.

One day, we pass a MAMIL (I'm using this term from now on , I love it!) and he's decided to latch on for about 4 miles! When alone, I would just slow down to 12 mph and then gun it and ditch 'em pounding on my pedals as hard as I can with throttle on.

I had to keep the speed down for my boss, so we had a caravan of 3 bikes closely paced at 19 mph for good distance.

I like your idea of keeping them just out of the draft... I'll have to try that some day.

MAMIL fishing....I like that a lot. I've only done it one or twice. Maybe I'll try it again this Friday during the Critical Mass.

You are actually doing them quite a favor. it's been known for quite some time that if an athlete is training and habitually stays inside their "comfort zone"...they will not make the type of gains that are possible. Once in a while they NEED to shake things up and 'dig deep' to reach farther than they ever have before.

Dangling a target that "appears" to be just within reach...and then pulling that target just...a little...bit...out of their reach as they advance...well, the false hope of finally being able to conquer this interloper will drive them to new heights, and their strength and endurance will grow as a result. You are performing a noble service to MAMILs everywhere. Just don't ever let them find out the truth. Stealth rules.

spinningmagnets said:

You are actually doing them quite a favor. it's been known for quite some time that if an athlete is training and habitually stays inside their "comfort zone"...they will not make the type of gains that are possible. Once in a while they NEED to shake things up and 'dig deep' to reach farther than they ever have before.

Dangling a target that "appears" to be just within reach...and then pulling that target just...a little...bit...out of their reach as they advance...well, the false hope of finally being able to conquer this interloper will drive them to new heights, and their strength and endurance will grow as a result. You are performing a noble service to MAMILs everywhere. Just don't ever let them find out the truth. Stealth rules.

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Sounds similar to corporate productivity brainwashing... :lol:

I used to call it Lycra baiting, the trick is though ....not... to over take the. Just sit behind them and watch them get uncomfortable so much that they speed up...which of course you do as well.

They can't see the motor on your bike when you are behind so it makes for more fun.

I love to be pushed by ebikes when road cycling. So far I've run them all down eventually, and can beat most even on climbs(and if they do beat me on the climb, I DESTROY them on the decent ). It's like a nice treat when you're enjoying a ride and anyone else, ebike equipped or not, wants to test what you're made of.

I enjoy getting to play both sides of the ebike/roadbike pushing game. Great fun for all!

Lol MAMIL Fishing... i like it.. yeah I do it constantly on the way to work in a suit with fox gloves and a helmet.. But the thing is, im on a stealth bomber.. So ill sit behind them and push them along abit then pedal and overtake.. watch them try and speed up and overtake me, ill let them until we get to a hill and they are up on the pedals pushing hard and while sitting i pedal up the hill and overtake them.. Its awesome fun, especially when the MAMIL's or Even FOSIL's (Fat Old Sausage In Lycra) wont give up even on 40+ degrees Celsius days.. LOL

I even play with some cars, it was hot and this guy and girl P platers thought it was funny that I was pedalling and pulled up next to me and said, Pedal Faster hahaha.. So I just looked at them with a dirt bike helmet and goggles on, stopped pedalling at throttled up to 75-80km/h and overtook them hahaha.. It gets a lot of questions at the next set of lights..

Impressive - Stealth Bomber and wearing a suit. If your shirt has a big collar, you will get airborne.

Good to know that it seems to be a reasonably common activity amongst ebikers who commute alongside the MAMILS and FOSILS.

On the flipside, I have had fellow cyclists quiz me on the bike and then ask if they can slipstream me, so I gradually get to 50kph to assist them without accelerating too hard. Most fellow cyclists recognise that ebikes are a sign of progress, as they could easily be breathing in the fumes from my Jag as I overtake or crawl in a traffic jam.

Yes, I could use my unassisted racer, but I enjoy the family breakfast every morning with my children while most others in my location are already on their way to work. Unfortunately, I need a bit more pressure in my tyres to cater for my "non-athletic" build.

Racing a motorized bicycle against human powered without their knowledge is like an able bodied person competing in the special olympics. Be a man and race against motorcycles like I do. Causing friction between ebikers and cyclists is a mistake anyway. Their bias against ebikes is what landed you guys down under those ridiculous ebike legal restrictions, because it's cyclists who make those rules.

John - I understand your statement, but we are not in a competition or race during our morning commute to work. I have entered events that are timed and used a standard bicycle for the reasons you state, but this does not equate to the journey to work. If fellow cyclists see the daily commute as a race while negotiating pedestrians, traffic lights and other cyclists, then perhaps my ebike is an excellent way of bringing them back to reality when I see them treat everyone as daily obstacles to achieving their personal best.

These are the cyclists who I overtake on the straights, and then they run red lights because they want to stay ahead of me. Do I run the red light with them? No. Perhaps this helps to justify why I fish for certain MAMILS.

I don"t have serious desire to overtake anybody, usually i stay behind them keeping the fair distance. With 48V i am not superfast, more like equal on flats. Once i had to give up, that guy was very fast and kept it mile after mile. I could have stayed behind him giving my everything but i let him go. Once i had a crazy race with one young guy on a racebike, he was like twenty i think. I yelled him something friendly and he thought i wanted to race and started uncredible long sprint. That was fun and mad and dangerous on places. Through crossings 45km/h, over the curbs by pulling the front off the ground so that the rim did not break, etc. He was deep red, breathing like hell all the time but very fast. I ran out of cadence and out of motor rpm on downhills. Wattmeter was showing zero amps on some downhills with WOT. Then on one crossroads he turned left, i was planning to go straight so it ended there. MAMIL"s are mostly okay here, no negativity. What amazes me is how thin they are. Tall guys and weight is something like 65kg. Only bones and skin from the waist up. They weigh with their bike something like 75kg, me 130kg.

It's like cycle trolling, awesome. I only have the urge to overtake people that pass me up when I'm riding along without using the motor. Especially when they give me that over the shoulder, "haha I guess that's what you get for being fat" look. Then I engage the motor and blow right past them.

Sometime ago, my friend and I went for a ride, One electric bicycle and one pedal bicycle,

We decided to swap bikes once we reach half way point to the destination,
I had the ebike first, And then my friend, I remember following my friend and trying to keep up, I was quite fit at the time, pushed my body that far in order to keep up with my friend on the ebike, I ended up almost passing out and spewing water everywhere, i was sick as for about 15 mins b4 i could ride again lol.


My friend enjoyed watching me trying to keep up, slowing down and speeding up past me, haha it was hardcore training for me, Normally i pedal at my own pace..


we are doing the tight pants crowd a favour, They train harder

I cant stand sitting behind them, even if they know im there and are trying thinking im just pedalling a dh bike.. I really dont want some 40+yo guys ass as a view on the way to work.. its just not my style

when its a chick though, its a different storey.. Some girls just dont realise how see through their black tights go when they are on a bike, nor do they realise that their purple g-string may not have been the best choice when followed by a perve like me lol...

I once went to 100V (50mph) and decided that it was too dangerous, as I managed to get a MAMIL up to 40mph and they were a few inches from my back wheel. If I put the brakes on, we were both going to be side by side......in hospital. I draw the line at inviting dangerous behaviour, which is why the carrot-dangling approach of retaining a few meters distance when they are determined to catch up, is good, but be prepared for the occasional blast from someone who doesn't mind the view of my arse crack sticking out of my jeans in order to do a blinding speed - as long as they don't intend on parking their front wheel in it.

I will upload some footage to youtube when I have worked out how to reduce the video quality......

40mph, as in 64km/h? did you have a rope out that he was holding on to or something? lol...

most MAMIL's give up a touch over 40km/h... These electric bikes are becoming popular, I even saw a hot chick on one today..

There's definitely bonus points for wearing a suit while MAMIL fishing. Level up points are awarded for mounting your handle bars in the 'sit up and beg' position so your aerodynamics are clearly impossible. The MAMIL will look at you quizzically as it tries to work out how the physics are being overcome.

I often have MAMILS work it out at the lights and say they'd love a good custom ebike but couldn't afford the expense. It's often as they sit astride a $3k carbon bike, in $300 custom lycra after driving their bike on a german 4X4 car to their training ground of choice. It's a remarkable thing. Most of them lust for the Specialized Turbo and quote it as being "the world's fastest ebike mate". You explain options slowly but there is only so much time at the lights before the MAMIL starts looking down and fussing with those cloppy toe clip things, sounding like a spanish dancing horse that's consumed a slab of beer and a whole bag of crank.

I think Attenborough should make a study on the MAMIL explosion. They are breeding over here in the east of OZ also due to favourable conditions of the high aussie dollar and buoyant property growth, with regular cafe's now set to serve soy lattes all throughout their natural environment. Ideal habitat. I've recently taken up rabbit bow hunting on my ebike due to my concern for the explosion of this feral introduced species, but you've given me a new idea OP.

haha I had one of them pull up at the lights and tell me my bike sounds like an annoying mosquito when i was overtaking him with those off road tyres.. So my reply was, it still sounds better than your girly bell haha
Then he asked if it was powered? to which I said its pedal assisted. and then he said its cheating and I said 250w only helps you to 25k's so the rest is pedal power.. lol.. a bit of shit talk before i took off up to 60kmh

It's true though, $3k carbon fibre bikes with toorak tractors (aka a rich area of melbourne that soccer mums drive 4wd's that were not built for offroad and will never be taken offroad) and they say they cant afford an ebike.

What about extra bonus points if you overtake a MAMIL on dirt while they are overtaking a MAMIL? hehe

It's an interesting term, the cheating one. A dilemma for the mamil.

Any passive items designed to make pedalling easier are apparently not cheating. Expensive lighter frames, slippery suits, coconut shoes, etc are all apparently not cheating. Even steroids, in Armstrong's confused and forgetful world.

But using an obvious and active item such as a motor, to make things easier, apparently a different kettle of fish. Mamil fish, as it were...

Ghost (bike)rider said:

I once went to 100V (50mph) and decided that it was too dangerous, as I managed to get a MAMIL up to 40mph and they were a few inches from my back wheel. If I put the brakes on, we were both going to be side by side......in hospital. I draw the line at inviting dangerous behaviour, which is why the carrot-dangling approach of retaining a few meters distance when they are determined to catch up, is good, but be prepared for the occasional blast from someone who doesn't mind the view of my arse crack sticking out of my jeans in order to do a blinding speed - as long as they don't intend on parking their front wheel in it.

I will upload some footage to youtube when I have worked out how to reduce the video quality......

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Seriously. If it's a downhill, I'm flying passed cyclists only going 40mph, and I'm doing it pedal powered. There is no inviting danger, people make there own decisions to ride the speeds they do, you're just providing a fun riding challenge for cyclists who are constantly seeking them.

agreed.. if you choose to ride fast you do so at your own risk.. But anyway enough about safety.. thats boring and shoved in our face too much on tv,

So as of tomorrow lets count how many mamil's we pass and how we were passing them and make a scoring system, whats your thoughts on this?

Points..
0.5 wearing a suit
1 passing a mamil
2 passing a mamil on dirt
3 passing 2 mamils (IE one overtaking the other while you overtake them both)
10 passing a mamil on the back wheel

Any others?

Speedracer said:

So as of tomorrow lets count how many mamil's we pass and how we were passing them and make a scoring system, whats your thoughts on this?

Points..
0.5 wearing a suit
1 passing a mamil
2 passing a mamil on dirt
3 passing 2 mamils (IE one overtaking the other while you overtake them both)
10 passing a mamil on the back wheel

Any others?

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How many points do I get for each ebike I bury with my own legs alone? Even if I can only draft them to maintain the pace, I know typical ebike batts deplete long before my legs.

So true, the best most fast ebikers can hope for against the real lycra crowd is to sprint ahead for some distance then turn around and go home. In a few hours, the lycra will have been to the next town and back while you're recharging.

Definitely bonus points for blasting loud Polka music (or something equally absurd) from your hidden stereo while passing them. Would go well with legs-up-over-the-handlebars stance too.

mrzed said:

So true, the best most fast ebikers can hope for against the real lycra crowd is to sprint ahead for some distance then turn around and go home. In a few hours, the lycra will have been to the next town and back while you're recharging.

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