Product Description
London to Cape Town overland by Panther and sidecar, pulling a trailer. No roads, no backup - just straight across the Sahara through equatorial Africa, and South to the Cape - in 1935, without even a compass! This is quite simply the most incredible Panther journey ever! Undeterred by nomads, sand drifts, heat, rain, rivers, breakdowns and politics, Theresa Wallach and Florence Blenkiron completed a journey that might well defeat a modern bike. From oasis to oasis arguing with the French Foreign Legion for permission to continue, and winning; fashioning a tow hitch for the trailer when it broke in the desert; rebuilding the entire engine from scratch in Agadez; meeting gorillas, lions and snakes on the road, staying in African villages and meeting an amazing variety of friendly and helpful people. Not to mention having an accident in Tanganyika (Tanzania) with the only car seen on the road for days!
About the Author
Theresa Wallach took a degree in engineering at the University of London and at about the same time started her lifelong interest in motorcycles which led her to undertake her epic journey from London to CapeTown by motorcycle and sidecar, the first ever journey overland between the two cities. She was one of three women to gain the Gold Star for a 100 mph lap on a motorcycle at brooklands in 1939. During the war she became a despatch rider and then used her professional skills to determinibng which engineering tasks could best be undertaken by women. After the war ended Theresa went to America where she toured the continent alone on a motorcycle, before starting her own business importing and selling motorcycles in Chicago. She had always been interested in training others to ride properly and safely and in her late 60s moved to Phoenix Arizona where she started her own school of motorcycling 'Easy Motorcyle Riding Schools Inc'. As part of this interest she wrote a well received book 'Easy Motorcycle Riding'. Theresa Wallach died on her 90th birthday April 30th 1998 in Phoenix Arizona.
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