MINNESOTA CYCLIST IN WRONG PLACE AT WRONG TIME: IRAN ON FRIDAY

Minnesota man Ian Andersen (NOT the Jethro Tull Ian Anderson. He’s 77.) is on a mission to bike across all seven continents. Guess where he was last week? Iran. Andersen, age 32, was biking through Iran when Israel launched bombing strikes on Iranian nuclear sites and the country’s military leaders. On Friday — “the day the bombs started falling” — he and his guide were on the road driving south to the capital, Tehran, where Andersen hoped to apply for a visa to Afghanistan. They sheltered in place and decided to speak Spanish so no one would suspect Andersen’s American identity. He was able to flee to neighboring Azerbaijan on Monday. “It was really just, like, the worst timing possible,” Andersen said.
* Understatement of the year.
* And yet, he thinks being an American in Afghanistan will somehow be safer than dodging bombs in Iran. Oh, you sweet summer child.
* At least he didn’t go with his first idea – biking through North Korea.
* He hopes to make it to Antarctica with his bicycle by mid-July.
* Still, it could have been worse. He could have been back in Minnesota.
PHONE TOPIC: I was in the wrong place at the wrong time.