Imagine riding a Panther and sidecar plus trailer the length of Africa from Algiers to Cape Town and crossing the Sahara en route.

Now imagine doing that in 1935….

And you would also be the first to do that trip….ever!

Not only that the trip was done by two women, how cool is that?

So, how come most of us have never heard of these two women then?

When I read Lois Pryce’s excellent Red Tape and White Knuckles, click here for the review, she mentions that her inspiration for the trip was The Rugged Road by Theresa Wallach.

As an avid motorcycle travel book reader I had to seek out the book for myself, and lo and behold it appeared as part of my birthday presents from the Other Half a couple of months ago.

You might have guessed that Theresa Wallach and Florence Blenkiron were no ordinary women. Both gained the Brooklands Gold Star for riding over 100 miles per hour at the circuit at a time when women didn’t do things like that, in fact they didn’t as a rule ride motorcycles.

The book itself recounts the journey mostly in Theresa’s own words from manuscripts compiled from her log.

Theresa Wallach used all of her savings to do the trip despite coming from a middle class family, her wish to go her own way instead of conforming to what society demanded of her, and enjoy the freedom that motorcycling brings, caused a rift with them and Theresa had to live on her skills and expertise gained from an engineering course and her love of motorcycles.

Florence Blenkiron known as ‘Blenk’ had a passion for motorcycles from an early age and was the first woman to gain the Brooklands Gold Star, it is believed that Brooklands was where the two women met. Florence had relatives in South Africa that she wanted to travel and see and this was how the idea for the trip started.

There is no doubting that the two women were determined to make the trip which was a year in the planning. Phelan & Moore (P & M) were the only motorcycle manufacturer willing to provide a motorcycle for the trip with Watsonian Squire providing the sidecar.

Popular opinion of the time was that they would not be able to cross the Sahara by motorcycle which only focussed the two determined women further.

However, it certainly was a difficult crossing and they had to rely on their skills and ingenuity to get them through it. They were also required to register at the various Foreign Legion posts across the desert, which was mainly for their own safety.

Even today such a trip would be a challenge but at least we have the benefit, if you like, of improved communications and dealer networks to fall back on. At one point when a replacement part was required for the Panther the pair had to telegraph P & M and then wait four weeks for the part to arrive and all whilst living in the very basic of conditions.

Various replacement worn parts that were needed were fashioned from, for example, their used inner tubes (those that had been patched to the limit and no longer useable)and shows how they could think on their feet to get themselves out of a fix.

The times were certainly different then, with large parts of Africa being part of the Commonwealth or under French control. For Theresa and Blenk this meant that they were offered rest at various places along the route. But do not make the mistake of thinking that this made it easy as the pair certainly roughed it more than they enjoyed clean sheets and a comfy bed.

Getting to Cape Town was a massive undertaking and they became the first people ever to achieve this North, South crossing of the continent.

So, how come they haven’t had the recognition they deserve?

The sidecar outfit required some TLC after the trip though sadly it is not known, with any certainty, what happened to it.

As well as the trip to Africa the editor has been able to put together some very interesting background information on Theresa and her life afterwards – her army transport corps service during the war and then her life in America where she had a motorcycle shop and later concentrated on training people to ride a motorcycle, which was her real passion.

Theresa always enjoyed the freedom that motorcycling gave her, something that anyone who has ever ridden one will agree with. Below is a short poem by Theresa that sums up her thoughts:

“With the purr of my engine beneath me,
and the warmth of the high sun above,
I’ll go over the distant horizon
along the country lanes that I love.

Wild wood flowers and fruit will be growing,
winding rivers flow down to the sea,
On my revered travelling companion,
I lay claim to a life of the free.”

This is a great book for anyone with an interest in motorcycle travel and also for women motorcyclists of whom these women were two of the first pioneers.

Buy and enjoy the book yourself by clicking here