A Minnesota man’s dream of cycling across all seven continents faced an abrupt change when air strikes by Israel on Iran’s military leaders and nuclear sites disrupted his journey, bringing about the need for alternate plans due to the unexpected danger.
The Associated Press reported that Ian Anderson, aged 32 and hailing from Minnetonka, Minnesota, hadn’t anticipated finding himself in an actual war zone. Consequently, he decided to pedal towards nearby Azerbaijan on Monday to ensure his safety.
“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 was in Iran as a segment of his prolonged mission to cycle all continents. During his time in Iran, he was accompanied by a local guide and had been actively sharing videos of his journey online, captivating tens of thousands of followers on social media since early 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.
