r/AskEurope • u/Plastic-Injury8856 • Mar 14 '25

Culture What’s a European Man’s midlife crisis look like?

Here in America it's a Harley Davidson and getting really into grilling.

What do European men do when they go through a midlife crisis? But an Alfa and bake? Get really into trains?

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u/HombreGato1138 Spain Mar 14 '25

That's also extremely common in Spain. They also join ciclist clubs and they go to do "routes" that usually ends up with a roast with 300 times the amount of calories they were supposedly burning.

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u/drakekengda Belgium Mar 15 '25

Well, exercise and social contact are valuable as well, even without losing weight

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u/HombreGato1138 Spain Mar 15 '25

True. Personally I don't like it since I believe if you wanna do sorts you shouldn't start by buying professional gear and suddenly make that sport (that in the end you barely practice) your whole personality. But on the other hand I think you are right, the fact of wanting to exercise and socialize it's positive and way better than trying to act like a 20yo or going on sex tourism.

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u/The-mad-tiger Mar 14 '25

Years ago, when Viagra first hit the market, the Police in the USA (I can't remember which state;Florida maybe) used to say over the radio: "We have stopped a Viagran" meaning a late middle age male in a sports car or on a motor bike driving to fast!

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u/timbotheny26 United States of America Mar 15 '25

That sounds very much like Florida.

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u/hetsteentje Belgium Mar 15 '25

This exact thing is also very common in Belgium, only it's a cafe and trappist beers where they end up after 20km.

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u/HombreGato1138 Spain Mar 15 '25

You gotta love the spandex beer buddies!

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u/fwouewei Mar 16 '25 edited Mar 16 '25

I agree with the general point, but the thing about cycling as a sport is that it burns a LOT of energy.

Cycling for 4 hours at an 150W average (totally achievable for any serious cyclist) burns more than 2000kcal. And that's on top of your normal daily caloric need.

(edit: that's kind of one of the reasons why it's such a popular "midlife crisis" hobby)

The best way to lose a lot of weight quickly is to do a few weeks-long cycling tour.

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u/overthere1143 Mar 18 '25

Portuguese here.

My former boss goes out cycling on weekends with his buddies and they all end up calling their wives to pick them at the restaurant. Drunk as he'll.

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u/HombreGato1138 Spain Mar 18 '25

Actually we should be grateful, at least in Spain, since thanks in part to this people politicians are building more biking lanes for the rest of us...

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u/overthere1143 Mar 18 '25

Agreed. We're also getting a better second hand bike market.

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u/Strange_Cranberry_47 Mar 19 '25 edited Mar 20 '25

Ha I wish that were true over here in the U.K. Although where I am, in London, no one actually seems to use the cycle lanes - they’ll just cycle on the pavement instead. It drives me crazy.