Tom Isitt
@tomisitt.bsky.social
Author, historian, cyclist, hiker, occasional climber, idiot adventurer with unrealistic goals and expectations.
Terrible moral dilemma: should I subscribe to an AI translation platform? It would be very useful for my forthcoming Balkan book, but it would mean that your grandchildren will probably die of thirst. For an extra $7 a month I could get it to write the book as well 👊
Today we have mostly been in the Argonne looking at WW1 craters and eating heavenly tarts.
Today’s find: winding gear from a German WW1 cable car system on Hohneck, in the Vosges. There’s still a lot of this stuff scattered around these mountains, and some great hiking.
Imagine being the only clean rider on that list (I’m talking about Big Mig, obvs).
I’ve had a Johnny Hoogerland moment and cycled through 300m of brambles.
Today’s learning outcomes: 1. Push-starting a 1,400kg car on your own, in 35 degrees, is possible, but inadvisable. 2. Paying €300 never to have to do it again seems very good value.
Recommended by the scariest historian on social media? I’ll take that.
Inspired by @profaliceroberts.bsky.social riding a bike along the Via Appia antica, yesterday I rode my bike for a few km along the Via Cassia. It was delightful 👌
I can’t imagine why the inside of my car smells the way it does 🤔
Der Schlachtfeldhund schwimmt in der Klapfsee, a popular spot for Standschützen returning from front line duties during WW1.
The view from the window of a WW1 Austrian-Hungarian barrack at Tilliacher-joch (2094m) in the Carnic Alps. There was fierce fighting here, and on Cima Palombino in the summer and autumn of 1915.
Walked up to Golzentipp (2317m) for a view north, deep into Austria. The 360 panorama from the top is sensational, and down in the valley Obertilliach is delightful.
My hotel room balcony is quite large. Am thinking of setting up a trials course, and getting in a bit of extra practice.
Up on the Gavia today, a vital Italian supply route during WW1.
I can believe my mountain guide forgot to mention this in his list of potential vie ferrate hazards.
Today I nearly suffered the most middle-class death imaginable - I deeply inhaled an edamame bean from my salmon poké bowl. I eventually coughed it half way across the restaurant, just as the Maitre D was preparing to perform the Heimlich Manoeuvre. Apparently my face was a picture!
#OTD in 1916, the British celebrated Kossovo Day, during which everyone conveniently forgot about the 1915 Allied abandonment of the Serbs, and all the disparaging remarks about Serb fighting ability, and instead celebrated our plucky little ally in the Balkans.
There are many books about travelling the length of the Western Front, some good (mine), some not so good (no names, no pack drill). But this, by Nigel Bruce, is very different, in a good way. It’s filled with wonderful photos and excellent maps, there’s a wealth of info, and visually it looks 👌
Review of TiTM in the WFA Stand To! magazine. It recommends books by Gooch, Thompson, MacKay 🤐. Top Tip: if you want to know about Ortigara, Adamello, Pasubio, Dolomites, Carnic Alps, etc, do not “look instead” to Gooch or Thompson…you’ll find nothing of substance there. And I’m right about Fayolle!
You don’t get this on Messines Ridge. It’s an “exposure map” showing the likelihood of dying if you fall off the path while exploring WW1 battlefields. Green — unlikely. Yellow — you’ll probably be OK. Orange — you might be OK. Red/fuchsia — certain death. Quite handy (if you can’t read a map 😉)
Writing about people freezing to death when it’s 30°C in my office is weird.
Have just realised that seeking shelter from the storm seems to be a theme with me. Riding in the Zone Rouge, Thunder in the Mountains, and now my Balkan Retreat project, all feature people desperately seeking shelter. Probably says something about me, but I shudder to think what.
I like an authentic historical experience as much as the next person, but cycling from Belgrade to Valona in the footsteps of the Great Retreat of 1914 may be too authentic. This may require an R1250GS (if anyone has one I can borrow, I’d be very grateful).
