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one Minnesotans The dream of cycling on seven continents was forced to propose other plans after Israel launched air strikes on Iran’s military leaders and nuclear facilities.
Ian Anderson, 32, of Minnitonka, Minnesota, didn’t intend to get caught in a real war zone, so he rode his bike to neighboring Azerbaijan on Monday, the Associated Press said.
“The bomb started to fall,” Anderson told the wire service on a Zoom in a hotel in Baku on Wednesday. “It’s very scary.”
Andersen toured in Iran, part of a multi-year mission to ride a bike on all seven continents. At the same time IranAndersen has a local guide who has shared videos of his adventures with thousands of followers on social media since early June.
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In this photo courtesy of @RideWithian, Ian Andersen poses in a selfie near the Turkey-Iran border on Sunday, June 1, 2025. (@ridewithian via AP)
“The day when the bomb began to fall” was Friday, and Anderson and his guide drove south along the Caspian coast, from Charlus to the capital of Tehran.
Anderson reportedly wants to apply for a visa Afghanistan In Tehran, ambitions cross Central Asia and Russia.
“It’s really the worst time,” he told the Associated Press.
Once the bomb began to fall, Anderson and his guide were sheltered and spoke Spanish to avoid suspecting that he was from the United States
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Smoke rises from an oil storage facility and cars drive on the highway on Monday, June 16, 2025 in Tehran, Iran on Saturday. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
He also said he saw a long line of vehicles fleeing Tehran, while his own family, friends and social media followers were concerned about his safety.
The U.S. State Department notified Anderson in an email that he should leave Azerbaijan or Türkiye.
Andersen’s friend in Los Angeles applied for a visa to Azerbaijan on his behalf, which was eventually awarded by the U.S. Embassy in Baku.
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According to reports, an overnight Israel strike targeted June 15, 2025, which was overnight smoke, with large amounts of smoke and fire rising from an oil refinery in southern Tehran. (Atta Kenne/AFP)
Anderson said cycling was his dream and escape, and in the past, he had struggled with addiction and ADHD.
Although his dream of riding a bicycle may have encountered a bumpy speed, he has no regrets about continuing to move forward journey.
Iran’s bombs aren’t his only death brush. In fact, he said he was in northern Kenya in 2023 when a tribe threatened to throw spears at him while riding a bike in a place where he was riding.
“There will always be risks, you have to accept it,” he said.
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Now he has left Iran, Anderson said he is planning a ferry to Kazakhstan in the Caspian Sea and then heading east to Uzbekistan. But from there, Anderson said he didn’t know where to go.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
