Growing up as a Soviet Boy at the Handlebars of a Two-Wheeled Bicycle

Abstract

In the second half of the twentieth century, a bicycle was an attribute of everyday life for most Soviet boys. In this regard, it becomes possible to use a retrospective of events related to cycling in reconstructing the process of growing up for this category of the population. Of interest are the spatiotemporal parameters of mobility, cultural practices of using this vehicle, and the adventures of young cyclists. The empirical part of the study consisted of materials obtained during expeditions in 2018–2020 in 11 cities of Russia (method of semi-structured narrative-oriented interviews), the respondents were 50 men born in 1949–1977. Memoirs and works of art were also used. Based on the analysis of sources, it was possible to determine the stages of growing up of Soviet boys who actively used bicycles in their everyday life, marked by the use of different models of bicycles and the gradual expansion of the developed territory.