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A man from Minnesota, Ian Anderson, had an ambitious goal of cycling across all seven continents. However, his plans were disrupted when Israel conducted air strikes on Iran’s military targets and nuclear facilities near his location.
As a result of the escalating conflict, Anderson, aged 32 and hailing from Minnetonka, Minnesota, had to quickly come up with a new route. He decided to divert his journey to Azerbaijan to avoid the heightened tensions.
“The bombs started falling,” Andersen told the wire service on Wednesday, while speaking on Zoom from a hotel in Baku. “It was extremely scary.”
Anderson had ventured into Iran as part of his global biking quest. He had been documenting his travels with the help of a local guide and sharing his experiences through videos on various social media platforms, gaining a significant following since the start of June.
A massive plume of smoke and fire rise from an oil refinery in southern Tehran following reports that an overnight Israeli strike targeted the site on June 15, 2025. (ATTA KENARE/AFP)
Biking, Andersen said, was his dream and escape, and in the past, he had struggled with addiction and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
And while his dream of cycling the seven continents may have hit a speed bump, he has no regrets from going on the journey.
The bombs in Iran were not his only brush with death. In fact, he said he was in northern Kenya in 2023 when a tribesman threatened to chuck a spear at him while biking through a rural area.
“There’s always going to be risk, and you have to accept it,” he said.
Now that he is out of Iran, Andersen said he is planning to ferry across the Caspian Sea to Kazakhstan, then head east into Uzbekistan. But from there, Andersen said he does not know where to go.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
