Short Way Up A classic ride through Southern Africa

Short Way Up  

A classic ride through Southern Africa - 5,000 solo miles on a 1950s Ariel 

By: Steve Wilson 

Foreword: Ted Simon

When Steve Wilson planned a 6,000-mile ride through Africa, the journey sounded challenging enough - just two Brits on 1950s Ariels,  using their own resources to survive life on the wild roads.

It became even more hair-raising when events meant he would have to do the ride solo.

In this moving account Steve chronicles the entire experience: bike preparation, organisation, mechanical mayhem, personal discovery and - one reason for the trip -

raising a cheque for £2,000 for a school in Zambia

Format: Hardback

RRP: £19.99

ISBN: 978 1 84425 685 3

Short Way Up: an old bike and even older rider’s solo 5,000 mile journey through Southern Africa

With both rider and bike considerably older than those featured in Long Way Down – the TV series featuring Ewan McGregor, Short Way Up, published by Haynes (2 June 2011) chronicles classic motorcycle journalist Steve Wilson’s last real run before the bus pass takes over.

This witty and dramatic account, punctuated by mechanical breakdowns, details a journey across croc- and hippo-infested waters, through baobab-dotted landscapes, and full of the immense kindness of strangers.

Writing the foreword to Short Way Up, legendary long-distance rider and writer Ted Simon says:

"Every journey is the story of the traveller finding himself. And the moral of this story is that in the end it's not the bike, or the planning or the intentions that matter: it's who you are, and how you tell it. Steve tells it well."

A solo ride wasn’t the original plan for the 65-year-old Wilson and his bike of almost equal vintage. But when a companion was forced to drop out he made the decision to go it alone, riding a classic motorcycle from Cape Town to South Luangwa in Zambia and back again, raising money for community development charity Project Luangwa (see Notes to Editors). Haynes Publishing will continue this fund-raising mission, donating 50p for every copy of Short Way Up sold.

Steve plunged into a world he could not possibly have imagined. He tells of one particularly hair-raising day where his unreliable steed spluttered to a halt in the middle of the lion-haunted National Park in Botswana, just 25 miles from the Zambian border, in fierce heat and swarming flies. After a final despairing kickstart revived the bike, Steve crossed the Zambezi river on a pontoon and continued his perilous journey, short on fuel and in fading light with no front and rear lights.

Eventually Steve was escorted along pitch dark roads to Livingstone in the lights of a loaded goods lorry – even attracting attention from local police who shouted through a crackling loud-hailer “...VERY DANGEROUS...”

Short Way Up is a gripping tale of a middle-aged man’s folly, where the harsh environment of South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Zambia meant that dreams and prayers became as necessary as food and fuel.

About the Author

Steve Wilson is a leading classic motorcycle journalist and author of the definitive six-volume British Motor Cycles since 1950. He also wrote Triumph Bonneville, in Haynes’s ‘Great Bikes’ series, and Down The Road, a collection of his best writings about classic motorcycles, which became a cult classic. He has contributed monthly to Real Classic and Classic Car Mart magazines. He lives in Wantage, Oxfordshire.

* For every copy of this book sold, 50p will be donated by Haynes Publishing to Project Luangwa, a registered charity formed by the Safari Operators of South Luangwa to create an effective, co-ordinated approach to helping local communities improve their long-term economic prospects while avoiding a negative impact on the environment and wildlife. The charity believes that by developing and improving schools, creating a vocational training centre and supporting the micro-financing of small businesses, it can give families the chance of a lasting and sustainable income. For more details please see www.projectluangwa.org