THE RUGGED ROAD | AN AMBITIOUS MOTORCYCLE JOURNEY FOR THE AGES

09 Monday Mar 2015

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The Selvedge Yard

In 1934, two incredible women, Theresa Wallach and Florence Blenkiron, set out on a 600cc single-cylinder Panther equipped with sidecar and trailer and rode from London to Cape Town, South Africa. No modern roads, no back up plan, just a giant set of balls that any man would envy. Both women were already accomplished competitive racers, who were savvy enough to raise corporate sponsorship– which just goes to show how seriously they were taken as motorcyclists. The pair shot straight across the Sahara through equatorial Africa, and South to the Cape, on the long and brutal trek without so much as a compass.  A feat that no man had dared to even attempt.

Here’s the AMA’s account of their story, and the incredible account of Theresa Wallach’s lifetime on two wheels.  No wonder she was inducted into their Motorcycle Hall of Fame.

Warning: If you’re anything like me, reading this…

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AIR-HEAD AROUND THE WORLD | ELSPETH BEARD ON HER BMW R 60/6

08 Sunday Mar 2015

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The Selvedge Yard

Three decades ago, 24 year old architecture student, Elspeth Beard, set out to ride her bike around the world– a trek that would take 3 years and over 48K miles. The young Englishwoman, who’d been riding since she was just 16 yrs old, had already taken a few solo journeys to Scotland and Ireland– and now was ready to take on more before she finished school and settled down into a career.

Beard’s bike was a used 1974 BMW R 60/6 flat-twin, already with 30K miles, that she bought from a friend of a friend. Her around-the-world bike trek began in New York– “It cost $340 to send the bike and $197 for my own air fare,” she recalls. From NYC she rode up through Canada, then headed south through Mexico and Los Angeles– racking up 5K miles. From LA Beard shipped the bike to Sydney, while she first headed…

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