Route 40 strikes

We set off for El Calafate on Lake Argentina on Tuesday, 11.02. Of the planned 335 km, 65 km are gravel roads. These gravel roads can be imagined as follows. There are ruts from cars and trucks, otherwise gravel accumulations up to 20 cm high. You have to try to ride in these tracks with the motorcycle, if you get out of there and into the gravel, you almost always crash. The faster you ride, the sooner. Of the mentioned 65 km, 40 were fairly easy to ride, the other 25 were the worst route. Since Celestino had his crash the day before, Norbert was riding the bike. He crashed in an extreme gravel area and was temporarily out of action because he had a cut under his left eye, a swollen little finger, and abrasions on his instep despite wearing a helmet. Now Isabella has taken over, also out of action after 2 crashes, due to shoulder problems, which turned out to be a broken collarbone later on. From this point on, Gabriele Orlini, our media chief, took over and showed that he can do it too. Afterwards, I was told that he has already participated in motorcycle races and has even won prizes in this area. Ecki and I also got caught. However, relatively harmless, our machines fell over at low speed. We and the bikes were fine. After we were picked up by a representative of the Interpol office in El Calafate shortly before El Calafate, I overlooked a pothole at the entrance to El Calafate and damaged the front wheel rim in such a way that the BMW is not roadworthy for the time being. It was loaded onto one of the vans and taken to our overnight location, a fire department equipment house. On Wednesday we contacted BMW in Buenos Aires. They could have sent us a wheel that would have technically fit, but not the same construction as the current one. They wanted a whopping 3000 dollars for it, what a bargain. Of course, we politely declined. Objectively, it has to be said that import duties in Argentina are huge. A new BMW 1200 GS costs around 45,000 euros here. That's why there was such a fuss when we cleared customs for our bikes in Valparaiso. Now we have ordered the same rim, exactly like the current one, in Rome for 840 euros + shipping and customs here in Argentina. We are sending it to the Interpol office in Rio Gallegos, hoping that we might not have to pay any customs duties then. We'll see. The transport is expected to take about 5 days. Until then, the BMW will be in Rio Gallegos, as we have to pass by there on the way to Tierra del Fuego. On the way back north, we will pick it up there again, with the new wheel. During this time, I will ride in the van or take over someone while riding the motorcycle. Otherwise, Wednesday was free time. We were in the city, exchanging money, etc. Marco, our mechanic, has repaired Celestino's machine so that it looks great again. He fixed the windshield with small cable ties. A broken mirror got a custom-made mirror insert at a glazier's shop, for the equivalent of 4 euros. On Wednesday evening, we were invited for dinner at the local police station.