They rise before dawn, squeezing limbs and stomachs into stretchy second skins. They congregate near water holes, identifying others in the species by the same second skin, aerodynamic helmet and eye-wateringly expensive two wheeled contraption.

They journey long distances, pausing to refuel on machiattos and piccolo lattes while they contemplate the virtues of Bianchi, Colnago, Pinarello or Cervélo and the technical specifications of cadence technology and GPS devices.

The existence and rise of the Mamil has been confirmed by new research.

Behold the Mamil. Given the socioeconomic and gender attributes, it is believed the middle-aged man in Lycra may have evolved from the dawn patroller species, typically found in droves throughout the nineties and noughties on lush plains where they swung sticks vigorously at small balls.

Since about 2010 however, the Mamil began to take over. New research, published in the Medical Journal of Australia, revealed that in the last decade, the proportion men aged between 45 and 65 who cycled at least once in the previous year nearly doubled from 11 percent to 20.8 percent.

The proportion who cycled at least once a week more than doubled from 6.2 percent to 13.2 percent.

“We’ve all seen them but this [research] provides evidence they exist,” said lead author, Professor Adrian Bauman from the University of Sydney’s School of Public Health.

Mamils tend to come from more affluent urban environments. They are frequently spotted in coastal and inner western Sydney, central and northern Canberra, inner Melbourne, and Claremont/Nedlands in Perth.

The capital city for Mamils in Australia however is Sydney's Mosman, which allegedly has “more Mamils per square metre than the Tour de France”.

This is because of the high cost of Mamalian gear (middle aged men may have swapped the sport’s car for the sport’s bike but are not saving a whole lot in the process).

“They are often spending five to 10,000 dollars on their bikes – only marginally less of a spend than tour-de-France elites,” Bauman reveals.

We could peddle better health by more of us pedalling regularly.

As for whether the cost of the bikes are worth it, he says: “The very light road bike gives them a bit more speed relative to fitness.”

But, fitness may not be the point – or at least, it’s certainly not the whole point as Mamils tend to be sighted only on the weekend. While Bauman says, from a fitness perspective, cycling is "better" than golf, the proportion of Mamils has not increased during week days.

And while Mamils tend to centre their days around coffee shops instead of club-houses, which is typically better for their health, Bauman points out that the primary reason for the big spending on gear is species-related:

“Part of the group process that makes a Mamil a Mamil – high end road bikes and matching Lycra are the cultural icons that tell you that it’s a Mamil.”

The group bonding involved in Mamilian behaviour is, however, good for mental health, as Bauman and his co-authors write in the paper:

"[It] may foster stronger bonds between men and have positive effects on their wellbeing and morale, as Mamils are having a wheelie good time."

The rest of us could be having more of a wheelie good time too. Bauman says the findings show the "need to promote cycling more broadly" and adds he would like to see more of the "lesser known species" of Mawils (middle aged woman in lycra) and Osacs (outer suburban active cyclists) out on the roads.

"It would be nice for them to cross the sex divide, to seek out the rarely glimpsed Greater Mawil, the female counterpart of the Mamil, as well as the very rare OSAC (Outer Suburban Active Cyclist), perhaps discovering that species of non-Lycra-clad riders of all ages also exist," Bauman and his colleagues write.

"If so, we could peddle better health by more of us pedalling regularly."

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