Outtakes
Random behind-the-scenes photos
Photos that didn't quite make the cut, but give a glimpse of what I've been doing for the last seven years.
Tom's maternal grandfather’s medal roll. The thing that started off this project.
Tom's maternal grandfather (circled), with his father and seven brothers, before the war.
Tom's maternal grandfather, J R S Culverwell, in his WW2 home-guard uniform.
Tom's grandparents on a visit to Venice.
Tom's father in Venice (saying evensong, which he did every day, being a vicar).
One of the family's regular trips to Italy.
On the sleeper train from Paris to Venice, with my bike in a massive bag.
Harry’s battlefield exploration vehicle at Passo San Pellegrino.
Doggo has become quite accustomed to chairlifts now.
Budget accommodation all the way.
Holly (left) and Emma (right) after a big day out on the battlefields.
Battlefield companions, aren’t they cute?
Lovely cows in the Comelico valley, with the Dolomites behind.
Tom's particularly ill-advised Coppi tribute outfit. Seriously, what was he thinking?
Family outing on Monte Krn.
A hard-boiled egg is the perfect portable snack for Doggo mid-walk.
A very tough day in the mountains.
Local beer. Nuff said.
I never go anywhere without my trusty 115-year-old Baedeker.
My dismantled bike in the drunk lady’s Lancia.
Me and Harry on the Via Ferrata Lipella, Tofane group.
Harry preparing to eat an emormous pizza.
Men dressed as octopodes for some strange Slovenian festival.
Selfie with a cow (wallpaper)
Selfie with a horse (real)
Emma prepping for another big hike...hot chocolate and pie!
A rifugio dog at Lobbia Alta.
Emma and Doggo in the Sexten Dolomites.
It’s not all about the war, you know. There's botany, too.
Marc Marquez would have saved that, no bother.
Isitt family Type 2 fun. Left to right: Joe, Tom, Emma and Harry (eldest son George has a proper job doctoring, so rarely comes with us).
Hard, and hot, days on the bike (temperature was after I left it in the sun for 20 minutes).
Red wine from grapes grown on the Carso.
White wine made from grapes grown on the Collio.
Slovenian beer.
The best sandwich in Italy, made in Slovenia ;-)
It turns out that the snow in the trenches is less compact that the snow elsewhere.
One of these pairs of names may have been made up by me.
Typical Italian hotel breakfast – Type 2 diabetes, anyone?
Emma about to embark on a rather scary snowmobile dash up Monte Piana.
Well it made me laugh.
A sure sign that you've just had a pig of a climb, because they included it in a recent Giro d'Italia.
The "reception" area of a particularly budget hotel.
More "quality" accommodation on the Altopiano.
Polenta and melted cheese, a staple of rifugi everywhere. Some people actually like this.
Rifugi footwear...ridiculously HUGE Crocs.
The daily routine of washing and drying my bike riding kit.
Via Ferrata Senza Confini, on Monte Cellon, a truly terrifying experience.
He is, after all, a gun-dog of the highest calibre.
I generously allow Emma a few hours R&R during our research trips.
Coffee, hot chocolate and chocolate bars…all richly deserved after a hefty climb.
It's not all fun and games, you know...
The reality behind the pretty pictures of mountains.
Tom climbing the Via Ferrata Lipella on the Tofana.
The Skoda has been the perfect exploration vehicle.
My band of helpers (left to right)...Renan, Harry, me, Holly, and Joe.