The Rugged Road by Theresa Wallach
Reviewed by Craig Littlefield
As motorcyclists we are all interested in the stories of people that just get on their motorcycles, leave their real lives behind, and travel the world. We have read books like Helge Pedersen’s 10 Years on 2 Wheels and Ted Simon’s Jupiter’s Travels. This story makes their adventures look like very easy journeys.
Two English women, Theresa Wallach and Florence Blenkiron, were both experienced motorcycle racers and mechanics. In 1935 motorcycle racing was not something that fathers encouraged their daughters to participate in. Then Theresa and Blenk came up with the idea of a trip from England to South Africa. Nobody had ever attempted to ride a motorcycle the length of Africa.
They managed to obtain a 1934 P&M 600cc single cylinder Panther. They mounted a Watsonian sidecar and a trailer. On December 11th 1934 they left London, crossed the English Channel, travel the length of France and then took a ship to Algiers. That was the start of their trip south across the Sahara Desert.
This is an amazing story. The journey took them 7 months. The book documents the struggles and successes of these amazing women. They faced first the insurmountable hardships of the desert sands and then the jungles of central and southern Africa. It is well written and contains some amazing old photographs. The book is written from notes and photographs taken by Theresa and compiled into a book just before her death at 90 years old in 1999.
In later years, Theresa came to the United States on a Norton motorcycle. She settled in Chicago and for several years ran a motorcycle dealership. Later she moved to Phoenix and started a motorcycle riding training program and wrote books on riding.
This book is a testimonial to early motorcyclists, both male and female. Reading the book brought back memories of those feelings that have made riding so special to all of us. The book is hardbound with 150 pages and a little expensive at $28. You could always borrow my copy.