"Ian Andersen cycled into Iran in June 2025, carrying a camping stove, a tent, a flat-tire kit and cigarettes."

"Mr. Andersen, a free-spirited Minnesotan, was documenting a 10,000-mile bike journey from Portugal to Japan for a growing social media audience and had entered the country despite U.S. State Department warnings not to travel there. In one clip, Mr. Andersen, 33, is seen biking a mostly empty road while blaring an explicit, satirical rock anthem about America. In another, he remarks that the State Department’s advisory left opportunities for 'hidden gems.'"

From "Is Instagram’s Latest Travel Trend a Disaster Waiting to Happen? Travel accounts that feature risky, cross-continental journeys are proliferating on social media. Security experts have serious concerns" (NYT gift link). 

Here's that "one clip"

 

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IN THE COMMENTS: A lot of you want to talk about the "real" Ian Anderson, and I see he's still around. He's 79. Here's the 2022 Jethro Tull album, "The Zealot Gene."

"Hiking in the San Juan Mountains in Colorado, the one and only time he dropped acid... Mr. Cunningham peered down at the town of Silverton and was overcome by the feeling..."

"... that 'cars were the boss and people were the servants of the cars.' In the 1970s, he had been known for wearing a mask around the Bay Area, breathing with an oxygen tank to protect his lungs from air polluted by cars. Other machines could also drive him to distraction. He and Ms. Phelan, who married in 1988, regularly slept in what was essentially a treehouse outside their home in Fairfax, Calif., near San Anselmo — for the fresh air and the nightly respite from the plugged-in world of cellphones, fax machines, televisions and computers...."

From "Charlie Cunningham, Mountain Bike Innovator, Dies at 77/In the late 1970s, he built what is considered the first off-road bicycle with a frame that was aluminum rather than steel, one of his many inventions" (NYT).

"[H]is policies ranged from ripping up the streets and replacing car transport with bicycles, to putting dishonest drug dealers in the stocks because 'no drug worth taking should be sold for money'..."

"...to disarming police because street violence was usually down to 'some trigger-happy cop in a fear frenzy.' He also cut his hair off so he could refer to his Democratic rival in debates as 'my long-haired opponent.' This might have seemed a satire of politics, populism as a joke, but Thompson was very serious. 'There is common sense in the apparent madness of my campaign,' he told an audience ahead of polling day. 'I am not running for sheriff in the traditional sense, but to help get hold of our destiny and begin controlling development.' He wouldn’t try to force changes, but encourage referendums and create a legal advisory board of lawyers to sit with select citizens to consult with the sheriff’s department. 'We either have a participating democracy or a police state.'... To Thompson, a 'freak' was 'not a beast roaming the streets chewing drugs, but someone who is spiritually disenfranchised, who has not wanted to participate in government.'... Thompson’s individualism... feels at odds with the community spirit and citizen participation required to realise the ascendancy of the collective good.... 'Unfortunately,' Thompson said in his 1970 concession speech, 'I proved what I set out to prove… that the American Dream really is fucked.'..."

From "Hunter S Thompson’s freaks have overrun America/The pioneer of gonzo chronicled his people’s wild descent – and saw what his country has now become" by. Barney Horner (New Statesman).

The boldface is my nudging to tell you that I see what maybe you see: "We will replace the frigidity of rugged individualism with the warmth of collectivism."

"What counts as biking the world?"

"With oceans inconveniently filling much of the Earth’s surface, a true circumnavigation by bicycle is impossible. So rules were laid down by Guinness to determine what counts. Wilcox had to complete at least 18,000 miles, travel in the same direction and finish where she started. She also had to pass two points that are antipodal, or located on opposite sides of the Earth. For her, those were Madrid and Wellington. Planning it all was a tricky matter of logistics. The cycling press reported that Wilcox’s 108-day ride was expected to be ratified as breaking the record of 124 days set by Jenny Graham of Scotland in 2018. And it was often a long day in the saddle. 'In the end it was 12 hours riding, sleeping seven hours a night,' Wilcox said."

From "18,000 Miles Later, an American Woman Has Cycled the World/It took Lael Wilcox 108 days to circumnavigate the globe. Improbably, she said it was 'the most fun ride of my life.'" (NYT).

"The adrenaline rush is so bad that it makes them forget the pain. Even seriously affected riders, such as Spaniard Marc Soler, both elbows fractured, Briton Chris Froome, with hip and chest injuries, or Swiss Marc Hirshi, his right shoulder completely disjointed, manage to finish."

Said the on-site surgeon, quoted in "French police fear woman who caused the Tour de France's worst-ever crash with placard written in German is UNTRACEABLE and has flown home" (Daily Mail). 

I hadn't blogged about this incident yet, though of course, I've watched the video. Many times, in fact. 

I'm not too interested in this dumb lady, and I don't particularly care whether she's caught or not. Can't they use computerized facial recognition? The article makes it sound like they're looking for someone based on her clothes and glasses. 

I'm blogging today because I'm fascinated by the loony heroism of getting up and finishing the race with "hip and chest injuries" or a dislocated shoulder. Did somebody pop that shoulder back in for Hirshi, or did he just ride with a shoulder out of joint? 

I'm not going to look to see if anyone is saying that that the cyclist who ran into the sign could have avoided the catastrophe. He seems a bit as if he's not paying enough attention. And these cyclists are choosing to ride very close together. They're taking the risk of losing control if one cyclist falls. And what's with leaving the fans in a position to jump out into the road with their wacky little signs? Either control the boundary between fan and competitor or expect the competitors to look out and maintain control. Leave untraceable German lady alone! 

UPDATE: They've now arrested a woman.