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Homesick Student cycles 2,000 miles from Scotland to Greece during Lockdown

Student Cleon Papadimitriou, cycled 2,000 miles over 48 day from Aberdeen to Athens to see his family in lockdown surviving on Peanut butter sandwiches and Sardines!

Homesick Student cycles 2,000 miles from Scotland to Greece during Lockdown

A homesick student beat the lockdown by cycling 2,000 miles from Britain to visit his family in Greece in 48 days.

Cleon Papadimitriou, 20, got on his bike after getting fed up of waiting for travel restrictions to be lifted.

He left his student flat in Aberdeen on May 10 and took a ferry to Holland before cycling through Germany, Austria and Italy carrying a load of 30 kilograms.

From there he took another ferry to Patras in Greece, arriving in Athens seven weeks after setting off.

The 20-year-old was bored stuck in lockdown in his student flat in Aberdeen

Cleon said: "I like adventures so when I couldn't fly home I decided to go by bike. I had a lot of punctures and had to put up with snow, hail and intense heat along the way."

"Sometimes the bicycle tire burst two or three times a day, and that not only cost me a lot of time but it wasn’t good for my morale either.

He survived on bread, peanut butter and sardines, and slept in a tent, "It was a lesson I had to learn to manage.

"I'm a bit saddle sore but it was worth it," he added.

Cleon camped along his marathon journey and survived on bread, peanut butter and tins of sardines.

His parents greeted him when he arrived in Melissia, north of the Greek capital, with a laurel crown and a large banner saying: "Welcome Home Cleon: One more challenge accomplished!"

Cleon plans to fly back to Scotland to complete his electronic engineering degree at Aberdeen University when flights resume.

He began studying there in September 2018.

Always keen to start a new adventure, on June 9 he posted on Facebook : "Anyone interested in biking down the eastern coast of Italy with me from Venice send me a message."

According to his social media page, he also climbed Kilimanjaro in September 2019.

He wrote: "Summited at 5895m! Kilimanjaro was one true challenge I was not confident I'd be able to complete. Thank you to every single one of you who supported my cause and helped me make this trip possible!"

Student Cleon Papadimitriou, cycled 2,000 miles over 48 day from Aberdeen to Athens to see his family in lockdown surviving on Peanut butter sandwiches and Sardines!