Vespa Rally of the 3 Massifs 2023

Our Andrè, known from many SIP Scootershop videos and racer on the tracks of this world, has already torn off a real marathon on his Vespa this summer. And the summer is not over yet. All the more pleasing that he found the time to write a travelogue about his latest adventure for us. We think: really worth reading!

3.500 kilometres on the Vespa GS

No way! That would have been my honest answer if someone had asked me in that situation whether I still wanted to take part in the Rally of the 3 Massifs (3M) rally. After the road trip to Albania(Giro dei Tre Mari) at the beginning of the month, then the SIP tour to Interlaken and the participation in the World Vespa Days itself, the 3,500 km I felt "on the bike" were already quite in my bones ..

But I had no choice. I had already been invited last year, had accepted, but later had to cancel for family reasons. If I had cancelled again this year, I would have been left as a prankster, which is not my style. So what the heck, add another six days of holiday to the calendar; and if you're going to do it, then do it, so straight on the axle from Interlaken in Switzerland to the rally's starting point, La Grave in France. So just to make that clear: To drive another 350 km, and then to be allowed to take part in a ride of another 1,500 km there - ha!

At least my GS was up for it. After fine-tuning the carburettor in Albania and taking care of a few little things back home, such as the steering head and front axle bearings, the journey to Switzerland was fairly smooth and enjoyable.

On the red Vespa Rally to a surfer's paradise

So technically and driving-wise already quite confident, we left Interlaken with the direction south. Thomas on his red Rally and me on the trusty GS. From one valley to the next by motorail? Sounded like a change and a little adventure. And so it was, and the short ride on the Lötschbergbahn was a first highlight.

On the other side of the mountain, we found ourselves in the canton of Valais and we immediately visited an acquaintance from the VWD: Gabriel Giger, a cartoon artist and graphic designer who shares our enthusiasm for Vespas and Lambrettas. After a very quiet night at the Schlosshotel Leuk, we continued south down the Valais the next day. We had our morning coffee at a surf camp with artificial shafts that had been built out of the ground. But the scorching heat kept us from taking a long break. We preferred to get back into our comfortable Vespas and switch on the air conditioning ... or something like that.

The next stop was Annecy with its beautiful lake and indeed we found a cute, picturesque hostel not far from the shore. Without further ado, we decided to take a break there and enjoy ourselves. We bathed and rested all day.

The team "Les Teutos" is completed

The next day was going to be more strenuous again. First of all in terms of driving, because there were a few small passes to overcome, but later also socially, because we met up with our rally team and the other 200 or so participants. Horst had come directly from Landsberg with a Vespa GS 160 in his car. Ralph Bolag from Zurich was not only our team leader on a Vespa GS 150, but is also a 3M veteran and has many years of experience with the event.

We had firmly agreed that we would only ride along as tourists! So no timekeeping, collecting beautiful impressions and no stress. That was the plan. The next morning the world looked different in many ways. Firstly, it was raining seriously for the first time in weeks, and secondly, we threw our resolutions overboard right after the start and stepped on the gas. All right, I thought, there's bound to be some initial euphoria, but in fact our team kept up the high pace until we reached the ferry port in Savona in the evening. What particularly impressed me happened around lunchtime: Suddenly, the experienced leader lowered his nose like a dog and sniffed around every corner to see if there wasn't a checkpoint to pick up a stamp. Of course he had the right nose and a short time later our leg shield banners had their first badge.

The night on the ferry with four people in a four-bed cabin was something for real connoisseurs. The fact that the air conditioning was switched off from about 2:00 clock onwards was probably a good thing to save energy. Be that as it may, early in the morning life awoke again. The ship docked and a Corsican Vespa Club awaited us in a nearby beach bar for breakfast. After about 1,000 km and over seven days on the road, we took our first dip in the Mediterranean here!

Drama and support at the pass

About two hours later, from about 9:00 clock, the daily start procedure began. Minute by minute, one team of four started each day. We were team 42 and therefore on time at 9:42 clock. The fact that the day's route on Corsica was winding should not really need to be written. After all, the island of beauty used to have its own rally, which was one of the most arduous of all and was called the "Rally of 1000 Curves".

Although we were quite motivated from the day before, things didn't seem to go quite as smoothly today. We had to fiddle several times. Here a clutch cable, there a wire of the stator plate vibrated off, even my Vespa had decided in the meantime to strip the airbox. So in the late morning we cancelled our claim to want to reach the classification. But the pace still didn't let up, somehow it was just the pulse that drove us and the Schweitzer team "trop vite pommes frittes" across the island.

In Corté we found a nice place for lunch with much lower prices than in Switzerland. Haasi and I had eaten there a few years ago when we were on the island with the SIP Scootershop team. We told them that the special thing about Corsica was the fresh water and that there were even natural pools, or "Gumpen" in Bavarian. Apparently someone even listened to me when I said this, because when the airbox shook loose from the carburettor again later in the afternoon, the rest of the tour group went swimming in the river next to the road while I repaired it.

After this highlight of natural beauty and physical refreshment, it was still exhausting until we reached the hotel. There is this pass on the island and we actually experienced the same thing as in 2017, when I was there for the first time with SIP: One after the other, we ran out of fuel and there was no petrol station far and wide. But we didn't stop! An extraordinary team spirit spread. One of our Vespas started badly anyway and had to be pushed after every stop. In addition, those who still had fuel pushed those with empty tanks, up to those who had canisters with them. It was an extraordinary picture and really touching how we helped together and all got to the hotel together! For those who have not experienced being stranded in the middle of nowhere and then being pushed along by a friend, I wish it with all my heart. I would also like to feel this act of mutual support more strongly in everyday life.

But the absolute highlight was yet to come. And that was on the same evening. Actually, we had said goodbye to the time classification; because if you are serious about 3M, you have to ride extremely consistently at high speed. Dogged teams of four, for example, keep the average by splitting up at fuel stops: One refuels, one fills everyone's oil, one pays and one may either pee or smoke, according to the doctor's recommendation. We were far from that with our layovers, the delicious lunch and the bath in the ravine. Although we had also received a message at the checkpoint that we were exactly one minute ahead of the time target. We dismissed it as a mix-up. But in the evening, the surprise: Team "Trop-Vites" won the day's classification and "Les Teutos" (us) came in second. We were immensely happy and a little later fell blissfully into bed from this outstanding day.

Luck of the draw

The third stage of the day took place in the south of the island. Unfortunately, the day was overshadowed from midday by an incident in which one of our riders suffered an accident. I accompanied him to the hospital and only rejoined the group on the ferry. Thank goodness there were no serious injuries, just a few broken ribs and a collarbone. But the shock was deep. In general, there were some scooters with clear battle scars on the rally. There were certainly more crashes and accidents. So it really was a demanding sporting rally and less of a kitschy holiday ride.

This was also reflected by my GS at the start of the last stage. The brakes were virtually non-existent, the airbox was secured with cable ties, the exhaust bracket was completely torn through, etc. Nevertheless, we had to cover 280 km back to La Grave. Despite a brisk average speed of 45 km/h, that's six hours of riding in purely mathematical terms. Breaks and stops are added on top of that. So it would certainly be a long day. Although we crossed many more enchanting landscapes and places worth seeing, this day felt like a real effort for us. Two more fellow riders, this time from the "Trop-Vites" team, had to stay behind due to defects. So only five of the eight riders arrived on their own axles in the start and finish town of La Grave. After a very tasty paella-like dinner for all participants and the award ceremony, we quickly said goodbye and were happy to drive home in a modern, comfortable car.

Alone among the French

How did the other two get home, who first lost their clutch on the last day and then broke the washer during the repair?

David reports: "After Sandro and I had waited one and a half hours for the breakdown service, the two of us finally set off on the Vespa we had swapped with Sean. However, after about half an hour we had the next breakdown - the piston blocked. We were standing somewhere in the middle of nowhere, in a forest. It was simply exasperating. Again we waited 15-20 minutes. When the breakdown service finally arrived, I would have given him my first-born child or even my left kidney just so he would take us all the way to La Grave. But he wouldn't hear of it and would have preferred to leave us in the forest. "You have insurance," he said. After long negotiations, we agreed that he would take us to the next village. So we got into the back of the van and after five minutes it was about 60 degrees inside.

This village consisted of only about 20 houses - a backwater! We went straight to the next bar and checked if there was a bus or train connection. But this village had neither a train nor a bus connection - nothing at all! When we asked how far it was by taxi, we got the answer: "800 euros". And that on a Sunday, when no one would drive anyway. We were pretty much at a loss, but also found the situation kind of funny. So we went back to the main road and tried to flag down a car and find a ride to our destination, the next biggest town, which was about 40 minutes away. Eventually an elderly lady took pity on us and gave us a lift part of the way. When we got on, all sweaty and stinky, I charmed her and she actually let us ride the full 50 minutes to the bigger town.

Once there, we stood at the motorway entrance with a sign saying "Grenoble" and waited. At this point we experienced a lot: we were mobbed, insulted, ignored and even laughed at. We even had a discussion with a migrant who told us that he knew exactly how we felt. After about half an hour, we were extremely lucky when two young, supposedly lesbian ladies, who came from France but lived in Geneva, gave us a lift. They drove us all the way from there to Grenoble, about three hours, and they were quite funny.

Then near Grenoble we got off and had another drink while we lay in the pissy rest area grass for another three hours waiting for Sean to come along here in our van on his way back to Switzerland. In short, we were very lucky to find open-minded ladies twice at once who gave us long drives and whose route fitted our destination perfectly."

Conclusion

Everyone has arrived back home and in a few weeks' time all injuries to man and machine will be completely healed. We would like to thank the Vespa Club Dauphinois most sincerely, not only for the excellent organisation, but also for the unique experiences, which we will certainly not forget in a hurry. How annoyed I would have been if I hadn't been here ... In this sense, more hum hum, less blah blah! See you next time!

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If you are also planning an adventure on a scooter, I recommend our comprehensive Touring guide.