C
ycling is becoming more and more popular in Russia but it still hasn’t reached the level of European countries. As you can see on the graphs of the research conducted by the Nielsen Company since 2013, Russia’s interest in cycling has grown six percentage points, rising from 21% to 26% in 2017.
However, the main highlights that can be made from Russian cycling market analysis look a bit disappointing. According to experts, the characteristic features of cycling in Russia today are:
- the young age of cyclists - 25-35 years;
- a significant predominance of males;
- spontaneity. Campaigns are organized independently and are not registered anywhere;
- lack of continuity of generations. Young cyclists must actually start from scratch, mutual understanding with the older generation is often absent
- poor infrastructure development.
Nevertheless, not everything is so bad. Currently, the infrastructure is for cycling as the whole is developing in Russia. For example, recently the SmartTrack project has started. The main aim of it – to improve bike infrastructure and make riding a bike in Russia more comfortable.
As for cyclotourism in Russia, this kind of tourism is one of the cheapest in Russia but still not so popular. Usually, tourists with bikes prefer traveling in Central or North-West Russia. For example, the British agency «Explore!» offers cyclotour from Moscow to Saint Petersburg for around 1250 euros (including all possible facilities such as guides, accommodation, meals etc). During the tour you can see the main sights of Moscow, splendors of Saint Petersburg and Veliky Novgorod, wild nature of Lakes Seliger and Ilmen, Valdaysky National Park and impressive monasteries.
