Photo: Facebook / Kleon Papadimitriou
You can probably count the good things to have come out of the lockdown from earlier this year on the fingers of both hands, but this story should be among them: a student from Athens, Greece, biked all the way from Scotland to his hometown because all international flights had been suspended.
Kleon Papadimitriou is the motivational hero we need today. He is a student from Athens, Greece, living in Aberdeen, Scotland who, like all students from abroad, was left with two choices when countries started shutting down borders a couple of months ago: consider staying put and renting a place to ride out the lockdown wherever he was, or book a flight home as soon as possible.
Understandably, Kleon opted for the latter. In fact, he tells CNN in an interview from earlier this month, he booked three different flights back home, and all three were canceled. Faced with the prospect of not seeing his family for a very long time, he started toying with the idea of – maybe, possibly – biking all the way to Athens.
The idea turned into a plan and, on May 10, he set out for a 2,175-mile (3,500-km) trip that would span 48 days, with nothing but a bicycle (non-electric), a tent and sleeping bag, bike equipment and canned goods for provisions. To make his feat even more impressive, he didn’t even have proper experience: he says he raced once in 2019 and trained for several weeks in 2020, but that’s about it.
The challenge was a huge one. Kleon says his family back home traced his progress every step of the way on an app, and that he would often call up friends and acquaintances in Europe, asking to be put up for the night and allowed a shower. Other than that, he slept in his tent in fields and gardens, and biked between 35 and 75 miles (56 and 120 km) a day.
He crossed England, went through the Netherlands, Germany and Austria, before reaching Italy and taking a boat to Patras. He biked the rest of the way, from Patras to Athens. Upon arrival, the welcome committee included both family and virtual strangers who had followed his progress on Instagram. Based on comments alone, there were many who cheered him on on this one-of-a-kind Eurotrip.
“It was very emotional,” Kleon says of the moment he reached home. “Coming from a family from two parents that were very adventurous in their younger years, seeing me kind of follow in their footsteps, I think is very emotional to them and obviously gives me a lot of meaning. But I think if anything, they felt relief.”
Understandably, Kleon opted for the latter. In fact, he tells CNN in an interview from earlier this month, he booked three different flights back home, and all three were canceled. Faced with the prospect of not seeing his family for a very long time, he started toying with the idea of – maybe, possibly – biking all the way to Athens.
The idea turned into a plan and, on May 10, he set out for a 2,175-mile (3,500-km) trip that would span 48 days, with nothing but a bicycle (non-electric), a tent and sleeping bag, bike equipment and canned goods for provisions. To make his feat even more impressive, he didn’t even have proper experience: he says he raced once in 2019 and trained for several weeks in 2020, but that’s about it.
The challenge was a huge one. Kleon says his family back home traced his progress every step of the way on an app, and that he would often call up friends and acquaintances in Europe, asking to be put up for the night and allowed a shower. Other than that, he slept in his tent in fields and gardens, and biked between 35 and 75 miles (56 and 120 km) a day.
He crossed England, went through the Netherlands, Germany and Austria, before reaching Italy and taking a boat to Patras. He biked the rest of the way, from Patras to Athens. Upon arrival, the welcome committee included both family and virtual strangers who had followed his progress on Instagram. Based on comments alone, there were many who cheered him on on this one-of-a-kind Eurotrip.
“It was very emotional,” Kleon says of the moment he reached home. “Coming from a family from two parents that were very adventurous in their younger years, seeing me kind of follow in their footsteps, I think is very emotional to them and obviously gives me a lot of meaning. But I think if anything, they felt relief.”
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