Theresa Wallach

In 1935 with another experienced motorcyclist named Florence Blenkiron, she rode a 600 cc single-cylinder Panther motorcycle complete with sidecar and trailer, from London to Cape Town, South Africa,[1] crossing the Sahara desert, reportedly without a compass.

[8] The pair travelled from London to Cape Town across the Sahara taking nearly eight months to complete the 13,500 mile journey.

The pair endured extremes of climate, political debacles, mechanical failures and encounters with wild animals.

The Woman Engineer reported that she referred "lightly to the endurance test of the Sahara, the wild beasts that approached sufficiently close for discomfort, though never for real, the snakes that became part of the day’s experiences, the encounters with tribes in varying degrees of civilisation, the tackling of problems connected with the cycle, with water, with other provisions, including petrol, and, finally to the enthusiastic welcome at Cape Town”.

[9] Several years after this expedition Wallach did not quite know where her future career lay and she placed a newspaper advertisement in 1938 seeking work as a 'Miss X'.

[14] After the war Wallach toured the United States by motorbike for several years before opening her own motorcycle dealership specializing in British machines.

In addition to her riding school Wallach was heavily involved in the formation and running of the Women's International Motorcycle Association.