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Offline mswood

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Racing Report Leg #2
« on: November 16, 2007, 01:36:45 AM »
Racing Report
Amazing Race
Season 12, Episode #2
Title:  “I’ve become the Archie Bunker of the Home”, quote by Ronald.
Date:  July 11th.
Provided Funds:  $59.00 by Kynt & Vyxsin
Pit Stop:  Standard 12 hours

Note:  Damn, I am really running late.  My boyfriend and I have both been sick and I haven’t had access to my computer (where I keep my backup of the episode).  So no recap/report, when I would normally have it posted.  Oh well, better never then late,  hehe.

Teams slept in tents near the Connemare Heritage Centre (also known as Dan O’Hara’s Homestead), which is located on the N59 5 miles from Clifden (the Capital of Connemara).

Teams leave the  Pit Stop in the order they arrived:
1.  Azaria & Hendekea – 12:00am
2.  Kynt & Vyxsin – 12:05am
3.  TK & Rachel – 12:15am
4.  Lorena & James – 1:15am
5.  Nicolas & Donald – 1:35am
6.  Shana & Jennifer – 1:57am
7.  “Ari” & Christina (I mean Ron) – 2:46am
8.  Kate & Pat – 2:47am
9.  Marianna & Julia – 2:59am
10.  Nathan & Jennifer – 3:00am

Teams must travel nearly 600 miles to the city of Amsterdam, The Netherlands (tok up, and prostitution yeah…).  When teams arrive they will travel by train to Amsterdam Central Station and search the city canals for Melkmeisjes Bridge (which one of the racers refers to as Milk Maids Bridge) to find their next clue.

Teams must travel back to Shannon to the airport.  It should be an easy drive 60 km on N59 to Galway, then continue on to Shannon.

All Teams apparently take the N59, except for Marianna & Julia who take the coastal route of R340 (which is considerable longer).

Donald gets a flat tire which allows a team to pass them before its changed.

“Mirna” & Christina (oops) and Kate & Pat stop in Galway at The Boat Inn and use the internet to check for flights.  This allows Nathan & Jennifer to pass them.

Teams arrive at the Shannon airport in the following order:
1.  Azaria & Hendekea
2.  Kynt & Vyxsin
3.  TK & Rachel
4.  Lorena & Jason
5.  Shana & Jennifer
6.  Nicolas & Donald
At 6:00am the Aer Lingus ticker counter opens (and they even give us a phone number (0818 365-000) to get them on the 7:00am flight to Dublin.
7.  Nathan & Jennifer (1st team still hasn’t been ticketed)
8.  “Peter” & Christina
9.  Kate & Pat
All make the first flight to Dublin, Info (lovingly borrowed from Apskip, okay, okay I flat out stole it) to follow.
10.  Marianna & Julia arrive after what I assume must have been a beautiful coastal drive a few minutes before departure, but too late to board and must take a later flight.

Apskip, I didn't find your update, so please correct me (last one I saw was on Episode #2 commentary, and I disagree)

Flight Info to Dublin

Flight #1
EI132 SNN DUB 0700 0745

Why wouldn't Marianna & Julia taken
Flight #2
El124 SNN DUB 830 0915 (?)

Wouldn't that allow them time to make the later connection to Amsterdam.

At Dublin teams take two separate flights to Amsterdam.
Flight#1
EI604 DUB AMS 0940 1215

Flight #2
EI606 DUB AMS 1110 1345

Flight #1 holds the following teams:
1.  Azaria & Hendekea
2.  Kynt & Vyxsin
3.  TK & Rachel
4.  Lorena & Jason
5.  Shana & Jennifer
6.  Nathan & Jennifer
7.  Nicolas & Donald (who manage standby)

Flight #2 holds the following stragglers:
8:  “Lake” & Christina
9:  Kate & Pat
10:  Marianna & Julia

The 1st flight arrives at 12:15pm.

Teams make their way through Schiphol Airort.

Trains depart roughly every ten minutes for a 20 minute trip to Centraal Station.
1.  Azaria & Hendekea get a 12:32 train, by paying on board instead of in the terminal.

Train #2 holds:
2.  Kynt & Vyxsin
3.  Lorena & James
4.  TK & Rachel
5.  Shana & Jennifer
6.  Nathan & Jennifer
7.  Nicolas & Donald

Several of these teams get on the wrong train by they wisely ask for confirmation from the locals who correct them, and they manage to board the correct train.

Train #3, most likely a full hour and a half later contains:
8.  Marianna & Julia
9.  “The Weavers” & Christina
10.  Kate & Pat

Teams arrive at the Melkmeisjes Bridge (thank you god, for copy & Paste) to receive their next clue in the following order:
1.  Azaria & Hendekea
2.  Lorena & Jason
3.  Kynt & Vyxsin
4.  Shana & Jennifer
5.  Nathan & Jennifer
6.  TK & Rachel
7.  Nicolas & Donald
and considerable later
8.  Marianna & Julia
9.  “Ray” & Christina
10.  Kate & Pat

DETOUR:  Hoist it or Hunt it.

In Hoist it:  Teams go across the street and use a traditional rope and pulley system to “Hoist” 5 pieces of furniture (including items such as a chair, a table, a lamp, a stroller, and a TV…..Puddin) up a typical Amsterdam residence.  Once all the furniture has been moved inside the foreman will hand the team their next clue. (Peach Rules)

In Hunt it:  Teams make their way several blocks to this tri-level parking lot where they will search through thousands of bicycles, the most common form of transportation in Amsterdam, to find the 2 bikes tagged with the specific colors designated by their clue.  After finding both bikes, teams must make ride them 5 miles to Buiksloter-meerplein where an attendant will give them their next clue.

Teams that Choose Hoist it are:
1.  Lorena & James (James does lower station)
2.  Kynt & Vyxsin (Vyxsin does the lower station for four out of five and then they switch)
3.  Shana & Jennifer (Shana does the lower station, and kudos to her)
4.  Nathan & Jennifer (Nathan does the lower station for four out of five and then they switch)
5.  TK & Rachel (TK attempts the lower station for as long as it takes everyone to complete this detour, before Rachel takes over and does all five.  Kudos also to Rachel.  And please someone check to see if TK’s shoes use Velcro…)
6.  “Jonathug” & Christina (but they switch after thinking about it and watching the knot tying demostration)

Teams that Choose Hunt it are:
1.  Azaria & Hendekea (Purple/Green/Purple, each find one of the bikes)
2.  Nicolas & Donald (Green/Yellow/Green, each find one of the bikes)
3.  Marianna & Julia (Red/Green/Red, and I still can’t tell ths two apart, so I have no clue)
4.  Kate & Pat (Orange/Green/Orange, Pat finds both while trying not to laugh at Ron…)
5.  “Allison” & Christina (Red/Blue/Red, and Ron finds both bikes because “Christina is useless daughter, who is fat and lazy, and doesn’t live in the real world.  And Boogers!!!”)

Teams complete the Detours in the following order:
1.  Lorena & Jason  (Damn, Jason’s Hawt…..yeah, you pull that rope)
2.  Kynt & Vyxsin
3.  Shana & Jennifer
4.  Nathan & Jennifer
5.  Azaria & Hendekea
6.  TK & Rachel (they had to stop so she could tie his shoe laces)
7.  Nicolas & Donald (who almost take the train, instead of following the clues instruction to walk)
8.  Marianna & Julia (That scenic route really hurt)
9.  “Russell” & Christina
10.  Kate & Pat

From Buiksloter meerplein (the drop off point for the bikes), travel by bus (#30, or route #30) to the rural village of Ransdorp.  Once there, search the marked field for your next clue.

Bus #1:
1.  Lorena & Jason
2.  Shana & Jennifer
3.  Nathan & Jennifer

Bus #2:
4.  Kynt & Vyxsin
5.  Azaria & Hendekea
6.  TK & Rachel
7.  Nicolas & Donald

Bus #3:
8.  Marianna & Julia
9.  “Ian” & Christina

Bus #4 (the main buses don’t run route 30 at night so a mini bus is used)
10.  Kate & Pat

Teams make it to the Clue box in field in the following order:
1.  Shana & Jennifer
2.  Lorena & Jason
3.  Nathan & Jennifer
4.  Azaria & Hendekea
5.  Kynt & Vyxsin
6.  TK & Rachel
7.  Nicolas & Donald
8.  Marianna & Julia
9.  “Wil” & Christina
10.  Kate & Pat

ROADBLOCK

In this roadblock a team member must master a skill (damn TK is in trouble) , once used by Dutch farmers to travel between fields. (Slowhatch)

Ditch Vault:  Team members must complete a single vault, successfully touching both feet on the marshy grass on the other side, once across they may retrieve their clue, then return to their partner in any muddy fashion.

Team members get to the roadblock in the following order:
1.  Nathan & Jennifer
2.  Shana & Jennifer
3.  Lorena & Jason
4.  Azaria & Hendekea
5.  TK & Rachel
6.  Kynt & Vyxsin
7.  Nicolas & Donald
8.  Marianna & Julia
9.  “Guido’s” & Christina
10.  Kate & Pat

Team complete the  roadblock in the following order (underlined members are who completed the roadblock):
1.  Lorena & Jason (1st attempt) – Jason has performed both Roadblocks.
2.  Shana, or as Jennifer of Nathan would call her, that “tiny bitch”, (also perhaps her 1st attempt) & Jennifer – Both have performed one roadblock
3.  Nathan & Jennifer – Both have completed one roadblock
4.  TK & Rachel, since has decided she better do every thing (1st attempt) – Both have performed one roadblock
5.  Kynt, who wants you to know he’s a bit prissy, & Vyxsin – Both have completed a roadblock
6.  Azaria & Hendekea – Both have completed one roadblock.
7.  Nicolas & Donald (I had to watch this again…I had better get some in shape men taking their clothes off at some point….) – Both have completed one roadblock
8.  Marianna & Julia (1st attempt) – Marianna has completed both roadblocks
And I am about to get banned again….
9.  Ron (look at my daughter, what a disappointment.  She has a pole between her legs and doesn’t understand how to position it, how am I to get her a good husband, she is also fat) & Christina – Both have completed one roadblock (though he could have done it better)
10.  Kate & Pat – Kate has completed both roadblocks

Teams must now ride a Dutch cargo bike called a bakfiels and ride it through the countryside while searching for the “Marked” drop off point at Durgerdam Yacht Club.  Durgerdam is a village 7 km east of the city, this picturesque waterfront on the edge of Europe’s 2cd largest lake, Lake Marker (Markermeer), is the Pit Stop of this leg of the amazing Race.

Note:  The marked drop off point isn’t in race colors and doesn’t have a flag next to it.  But it does have Phil on the Mat (with 2 greeters wearing hats….okay how many points did that cost me?) across the street looking at the racers like they are idiots.

Teams check in which about half of them* pay tribute to “Fran & Barry’s keen observational skills in the following order:
1.  Lorena & Jason* (who each win a 3 tricycle)
2.  Nathan & Jennifer*
3.  Shana & Jennifer*
4.  Kynt & Vyxsin
5.  Azaria & Hendekea
6.  TK & Rachel*
7.  Marianna & Julia
8.  Nicolas & Donald*
9.  Ron & Christina
10.  Kate & Pat who are eliminated and were hoping for ”footprints in the sand”

Can you believe, the detectives, had the departure times nailed very closely, the locations and activites at every stage of this leg, except for the clue box at the bridge.  Damn impressive.

Be back tomorrow with some actual legitimate commentary about team and team performance.A
Nd my browser just crashed and eat this post, so you guys and gals are getting my rough draft, because I am sleepy.


Offline puddin

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Re: Racing Report Leg #2
« Reply #1 on: November 16, 2007, 01:38:51 AM »
Maybe we can get you to help with the Big Brother feeds mswood! Late nighter, likes to type  :jam:? You rock!!


Offline mswood

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Re: Racing Report Leg #2
« Reply #2 on: November 16, 2007, 01:42:41 AM »
Maybe we can get you to help with the Big Brother feeds mswood! Late nighter, likes to type  :jam:? You rock!!
I have never even watched an episode of Big Brother, ever.

Offline apskip

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Re: Racing Report Leg #2
« Reply #3 on: November 16, 2007, 07:40:07 AM »
mswood, your usual fantastic report. It was worth waiting for. A couple of random points:

1. Kynt and Vyxsin missed the first #30 bus by seconds. Kate and Pat missed the third #30 bus by seconds. The elimination could have been different if the latter were slightly quicker to the bus.

2. Multiple teams, particularly Lorena and Jason, went past the bakfiels dropoff point and had to struggle to find it.

3. I will be commenting separately on the SNN DUB flight question.
« Last Edit: November 16, 2007, 11:29:19 AM by apskip »

Offline apskip

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Re: Racing Report Leg #2
« Reply #4 on: November 16, 2007, 07:50:59 AM »
mswood states "Why wouldn't Marianna and Julia have taken EI124 SNN DUB 0830 0915?"

My answer is contained in the Speculative Timelines thread for leg 2 and is copied here:

Their best option if they could have reacted immediately and ticketed a 715am departure would have been:

FR1302 SNN DUB 0715 0800, then connecting to EI606 since EI604 was booked.

However, their 650am arrival didn't permit that(Note: I'm less sure of that now) and they actually got:

EI372 SNN LHR 0740 0915, then connecting to BD105 1040 1300. Note: When I looked this up a month ago, I found a BA flight at 0830 SNN to LHR, but now it has disappeared from sight. At that time I do not remember seeing EI372 at all.


All of this is a grand way of saying WE DON'T REALLY KNOW because of the confusion. The usual definitive answers from historic flight information are cloudy.



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Re: Racing Report Leg #2
« Reply #5 on: November 16, 2007, 08:51:02 AM »
mswood,

I love your recaps. You truly rock! :jam: :jam: :jam: :jam: :jam: :jam: :jam: :jam:
Just here to visit.

Offline mswood

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Re: Racing Report Leg #2
« Reply #6 on: November 16, 2007, 10:22:48 AM »
mswood states "Why wouldn't Marianna and Julia have taken EI124 SNN DUB 0830 0915?"

My answer is contained in the Speculative Timelines thread for leg 2 and is copied here:

Their best option if they could have reacted immediately and ticketed a 715am departure would have been:

FR1302 SNN DUB 0715 0800, then connecting to EI606 since EI604 was booked.

However, their 650am arrival didn't permit that(Note: I'm less sure of that now) and they actually got:

EI372 SNN LHR 0740 0915, then connecting to BD105 1040 1300. Note: When I looked this up a month ago, I found a BA flight at 0830 SNN to LHR, but now it has disappeared from sight. At that time I do not remember seeing EI372 at all.


All of this is a grand way of saying WE DON'T REALLY KNOW because of the confusion. The usual definitive answers from historic flight information are cloudy.



Yeah I assumed that they probably wouldn't have the time to get the 7:15 flight, but Its possible.

As to the flights through London, I assume (though I will have to rewatch the episodes to see if there is any evidence that Marianna & Julia are ever in the airport, airplane, train station or early parts of the Amsterdam leg with Ron & Christina and Kate & Pat) that would tend to hint that they wouldn't have gone to London, since that flight gets in much earlier then the other flight to Amsterdam.

I took the flight I picked since it is on the footage shown (on the board, not that they actually took it), and it would then match them taking the same flight with the other two teams a equal foot race and why they were upset.  Though thinks to editing it would make sense in either situation.


Offline mswood

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Re: Racing Report Leg #2
« Reply #7 on: November 16, 2007, 11:03:46 AM »
mswood, your usual fantastic report. It was worth waiting for. A couple of random points:

1. Kynt and Vyxsin missed the first #30 bus by seconds. Kate and Pat missed the third #30 bus by seconds. The elimination could have been different if the latter were slightly quicker to the bus.

2. Mutliple teams, particularly Lorena and Jason, went past the bakfiels dropoff point and had to struggle to find it.

3. I will be commenting separately on the SNN DUB flight question.

Hell I even put an asterix to every team that passed Phil.  But forgot to put what it referenced specifically. :groan:

Offline patlini

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Re: Racing Report Leg #2
« Reply #8 on: November 16, 2007, 08:16:12 PM »

Hell I even put an asterix to every team that passed Phil.  But forgot to put what it referenced specifically. :groan:

Yes but I knew exactly what you meant, the image of phil watching TK & Rachel ride by is forever imprinted in my brain.


nice job with the update mswod  :tup:

Offline mswood

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Re: Racing Report Leg #2
« Reply #9 on: November 18, 2007, 02:10:03 PM »
Team Reports (Very late).

Note:  Almost all my ramblings are taking from a non spoiler point of view.  So while we might know a team last for a while or quite a while, I will mainly be commenting on behavior in current and previous episodes and how that would most likely play out for future episodes.

Lorena & Jason:  A strong leg with three errors.  What was nice is the self actualization that navigation and the communication breakdown were their only real problems in leg one.  Now sense driving wasn't a big aspect of this leg (except for one team), we have no idea if they have learned this lesson.  When your navigator is telling you something (and yo disagree stop and check immediately, don't waste what was probably 30 minutes to an hour of time.  BUt he comments on it so that shows he is aware of that problem.  No for the meat of the episode.  Their performance of tasks was spot on.  Performing the Roadblock the detour the fastest, and Jason vault was quite possible the fastest (with Marianna being the one who might have been faster).  They worked very well together and no real tension between them.  They made their way from point A to Point B quickly at all stages.  THey did make three errors, two of which were very minor.
1.  Getting on the wrong train to Centraal Station.  Which they almost immediately corrected by asking other riders to confirm the destination.  This error cost them nothing.
2.  The 2nd one (really not an error) was getting to the wrong bus as well (but they also did the correct thing in confirming the destination), this possible delay might have given them the chance to catch the earlier bus to put them fully in first place.
3.  Them not seeing the drop off point (a common error) and the multiple times they passed Phil (and saw him and the mat).  THis is the only time they got ruffled, and Jason was quite disappointed with himself.

Nathan & Jennifer:  The wonders of bunching is that legs are typically designed to start you on a fresh slate each episode.  By being able to make good time to the airport and, thanks in large part to the actions of three other teams this let them get on the first flight in both travel points (and for a counter agent who was faster at data entry certainly helped).  They were also smart to hide at the train terminal.  THey didn't give teams bad info, but if you see teams making mistakes it is absolutely important to not correct them on their errors.  You did well getting from points A to B, but others still seem quicker (jennifer I would assume based on her own words).  On tasks you did okay.  Nathan did good for the majority of the detour and faltered on the last one, while Jennifer was able to finish (though her attitude was slightly abrasive, it wasn't abusive).  Jennifer did okay on the vault.  Not the best, but certainly had less problems then several others.  They also had moderate difficulty finding the proper drop off point (but not to the level of many other teams).  If it wasn't for a donkey  :lol3:, this team would have had to very solid legs.  On an episode where they are solidly in the front of the pack, and the stress level much lower their behavior towards each other was much, much better.  Jennifer's "little bitch" comment towards Shana was uncalled for, but outside of others ears I tend to judge those comments less harsh.

Shana & Jennifer:  Okay ladies, thats how to do it.  After your first episode I really, really thought you were more Megan & Heidi then Dustin & Kandice.  But no what you rocked, with an extremely solid leg.  You made one real error and that was a small one that was easily corrected when you boarded the wrong train.  But besides that you did very well.  Shana performed both tasks and while others were faster then her.  Shana, Jason and RAchel were the only ones able to complete all five steps of the detour.  She then did the roadblock, and while she wasn't perfect she did it fairly well.  I was very impressed ladies, well done and Jennifer, while you did little you were very good at supporting your partner, for both aspect of this leg.  They either spent more time looking for the drop off for the cargo bikes or Nathan's superior strength allowed that team to catch up to barely pass you for 2cd place.  I am very curious to see how you perform next.  Was Leg 1, your typical performance (sucked), or is leg #2(very good).

Kynt & Vyxsin:  Just an okay performance from this team.  They make the same error of boarding the wrong train (but again correct quite quickly), they also had some problems with the detour (it does appear that the TV was the hardest of the 5 pieces), but they switched out the task to get it done.  They had more problems then most on traveling to the bus stop (which I believe those teams had to walk to).  We clearly see them going opposite other teams.  This made them just miss the 1st bus.  On the roadblock, Kynt had some problems, but he did better then many teams.  They admit to having problems with their cargo bike.  But they did find the drop off point easily and thus left hem in 4th place.  While this certainly wasn't a bad leg for them, they were 2nd to last in completing that detour, and had problems navigating.  Just enough to put them out of those that I think raced really well.

Azaria & Hendekea:  Well you picked the slower of the two detour options, letting almost all the ones who completed the other detour (even those who had problems doing it) get to the bus stop last.  You did very well getting to the first train (the only team) by paying onboard instead of in the terminal.  This gave you an extra bit of leg room to work your leg (about ten minutes).  Hendekea had more problems then most with the vault, but you did well on not missing the drop off point and thus were able to pass another team to get the 5th spot. 


You need to remember that there are really 5 things that can really impact the race.  Navigation (so far, so good), mass transit (so far so good), Following the clue's directions (So far so good), Luck (which is out of your hands), and choosing the right tasks.  THis time you absolutely choose wrong.  But with an hour and a half lead over the last group of teams you had plenty of time to cover that error.  Add to that you haven't had a roadblock yet and often have mini bunches between the two so that allowed you to catch up to several who did manage to pass you.

TK & Rachel:  I really like you guys, but you guys sucked this leg (with two exceptions).  First you weren't that quick going from point A to B in Amsterdam.  Sure we all know you want to stop and take a tok (or two, or three, bitchin), stock up on your reefer supply for the rest of the race, but seriously only Gramps and Nc were slower out of the first group.  At the Detour while you made the correct choice in tasks, TK you SUCKED....and Rachel you Sucked.  You two were stuck on the first one for the time it took everyone (including the other teams that had problems to do all five and leave).  Why the hell you waited so long to switch out is beyond me.  He's hot, his ego can take a little bruising.  Tell him to get his ass up stairs and you wills how him how to do it.  You wasted a lot of time.  Rachel did great on the Vault, and you guys did well traveling on the cargo bike.  But obviously the smoke was still in your glassy eyes because you had a hard time (probably only Lorena and Jason, drool had it harder).


Marianna & Julia:  Usually when a team screws up in the very first aspect of the leg, it doesn't have any real impact (for example D&K getting lsot for an hour and a half on a 5 mile drive  :lol3: :rotf: :lol3:, but damn.  Taking the coastal route was a huge blunder, that cost you enough time to prevent you making it to the airport, luckily for you 2 other teams were also forced to take a late connection other wise you would be  :boot: gone.  But after that error (and after your very poor performance over the entire first leg), you did what I didn't think was possible.  You performed very well.  You were (out of the last group) fastest at each stage of the leg (though there is some thought that you took a different flight that would have put you in a half hour before Kate & Pat and  :ahat: and Christina.  You choose the slower of the detours (I really think that was a mistake, I think you gals should have been able to do the other one and do okay, but still you remained focused on your own performance.  You did excellent on the roadblock (only Jason might have been faster), and did well in catching up to Gramps to check in towards the back of the pack, but in reality you ran a stronger leg then Kynt & Vyxsin, TK & Rachel, and Azaria & Hendekea.  Good job, and get a local to tell you fastest route next time.

Nicolas (who is the only pilot who looks young enough that he probably isn't old enough to drink yet)) and Donald:Okay what went wrong today.  First the flat, which like  :ahat: last week was caused by driver error.  thats one.  The next one was simply bad luck, but you managed to get standby tickets that allowed you the luxury of being in the first group.  You were last to every point of the leg.  You picked the wrong detour.  And for that you had no excuse, you could see the other teams, and should have known that only one person had to do the majority of the work.  That cost you time.  You nearly took a train somewhere in Amsterdam, before checking your clue to see that you had to walk (big error, always, always read your clue and pay attention).  But you still managed to make the first bus.  On the roadblock you actually made a smart, smart move.  When you are ahead by an hour and a half, you have the luxury to take a minute and watch the other teams start the roadblock.  That was very smart.  And while it was questionable to let Donald do the roadblock, it worked out okay.  It really comes down to how you see yourself in this race.  Most teams (that aren't fit or are older) honestly don't think they will finish the race.  But if your goal is to make it as far as possible, then Grams as to do his share.  And having Nic do all the tasks early, really hurts a team (ask Eric how much difference it would have made if Danielle didn't make him do a lot of the wrong tasks last year).  And with their lead, they have the opportunity to loose a lot of time and still be safe.  On the ride back they like many others miss the drop off point and follow the girls in (the pilot didn't see the drop off point, okay Nic way to inspire my confidence).  But you know what I still like this team, they don't fight, they show respect for each other and when offered the chance to tell off a team, they behave like adults.

Ronald & Christina:  Damn. not only did you race poorly on this leg, you raced ugly.  I hold family to a higher standard then friends and people dating.  You can date others, you can get different friend, but family you are stuck with.  You were also needlessly rude to other racers, for something that had no effect on you.  They might have been pushy, you were actually rude.  Now almost all teams have moments of breakdown or moments where they are harsh to each other.  But in this leg you were harsh for the entire day.  You wasted time on the drive to Shannon, allowing a team to pass you and take the final seat to Amsterdam.  You waffled on detours and started the blame game, that breakdown in healthy communication really effected your team's performance for the rest of the leg.  On the roadblock you might have had the 2nd or 3rd worst performance.  It is very possible if it wasn't for Kate & Pat not getting that same bus that you might have been eliminated.

Note:  Usually when we see the episodes, the guy is more then likely portrayed as the worst in any team.  But on clips, we often get a different story. Take season 10 Rob & Kimberly, where on episodes Rob is portrayed as the "bad" person, in clips its Kimberly.  In All Star, Eric was portrayed as a controlling ass who made Danielle do all the tough stuff.  Yet in clips it shows that Danielle is the one who made those choices, and then blames him for it.  So the clips can often show a completely different picture.  Yet in this case, we see nothing from Christina that puts her in the negative light.  This leads me to be even harsher on Ron, since it appears that he is fully responsible for the negative ton of this team.

Kate & Pat:  I never believed you would make it far.  You were slow to get from A to B, you were distracted by the behaviors of another team, which cost you precious time on the detour, and with no other team around you on the roadblock, we have now ay of judging that aspect of the leg.  You did seem very nice, and very much in love.  I hope you enjoyed your experience and have fun in Portugal. 

P.S.  Bitch slap that awful Ari.  WHo proves its not just the pressure of the race that made him an ass.

Based on these two episodes tI don't see any really dominant teams (which is unusual.  I have to go back to season 5 for its 1st two episodes before we have a season without a dominant team this early).

But based solely off of aired footage.  I can see Kent & Vyxsin, Azaria & Hendekea, Lorena & Jason, and Nathan & Jennifer lasting half way through. 

But we know that isn't going to  happen.

I would also expect Ronald & Christina and Nicolas & Donald to be the next two teams to depart, and we know that isn't going to happen.