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Offline maf

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Racing report: TAR30 episode 12 is on page 1
« on: January 08, 2018, 01:18:40 PM »
And here we start the reports for this season.
« Last Edit: March 06, 2018, 01:28:52 AM by maf »

Offline maf

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Re: Racing report: TAR30 episode 1
« Reply #1 on: January 08, 2018, 01:19:50 PM »
Racing report
Amazing Race Season 30, Episode 1, "You're a Champion, Prove It"
Film date: 2017-10-01 - 2017-10-02

This season is billed as a season of champions. That is most of the teams are champions of one sort or another. The teams are:

  • Joey & Tim, competitive eaters
  • Cedric & Shawn, former basketball stars
  • Dessie & Kayla, models and boxing ring girls
  • Alex & Conor, Indy car racers
  • Kristi & Jen, former professional skiers (X-games)
  • Cody & Jessica, former Big Brother contestants
  • Lucas & Brittany, ocean rescue lifeguards
  • April & Sarah, goat yoga instructors (that is yoga with goats, not yoga for goats) and entrepreneurs
  • Henry & Evan, Yale debaters
  • Eric & Daniel, Twin firefighters
  • Trevor & Chris, well built violinist (part of the group Well String)

This race had a public start in Washington Square Park, New York. At the starting line Phil talks about how competitive the different teams are. He also uses the opportunity to give Joey a hot dog (since that is one of the things they compete eating).

The first clue is taped to the middle of the fountain behind the teams. This tells them to fly to Reykjavik, Iceland.

The episode does not mention it, but teams were split on two different flights.

Flight #1 was:
 FI614  JFK-KEF  20:30 - 06:14+1  (scheduled 20:40 - 06:15+1)


Flight #2 was:
 DL446  JFK-KEF  20:55 - 06:24+1  (scheduled 21:08 - 06:45+1)


When teams land they must pick up a car and drive themselves to Geitárgljúfur (180km 2h22min), a river canyon waterfall where they will find their next clue. It is dark when they arrive so navigating is even harder. And that is significant because this place is kind of hard to find, even though teams apparently got driving directions in the clue.

 "Shockingly these other teams aren't dumb", Cody realize they have some competition
 "If you steer me wrong I will hold it over your head for the rest of our lives", Brittany has harsh with Lucas

April & Sarah have a hard time working together while driving. It turns out that April spoke to the stewardess on the plane and got a different set of directions. All while Sarah was sleeping. Sarah is not happy about this and their relationship then deteriorates rapidly.
 "I wish that we could work a little bit better together", April

The goat yoga girls are not the only team having navigation issues.

 "I think we are a good day away from our destination right now", Tim

Teams reach the clue box at Geitárgljúfur in the following order:
  1. Henry & Evan
  2. Cody & Jessica
  3. Alex & Conor
  4. Cedric & Shawn
  5. Kristi & Jen
  6. Dessie & Kayla
  7. Trevor & Chris
  8. Joey & Tim
  9. Lucas & Brittany
 10. April & Sarah
 11. Eric & Daniel

It is not shown in the episode but teams also got bags of winter clothing for themselves and their camera team here.

In the task here one team member must go out on a zip-line halfway across the canyon and pick up an Icelandic flag. Their partner can then pull them back. The canyon is relatively deep and has a river at the bottom. But there is not really much you can do to screw this task up so teams finish in the order they started it.

 "There was definitely a moment of shock to actually see what I was about to do", Evan
 "Your crotch should thank me right now, because oh boy.", Jessica on the zip-line

The first 5 teams seem to be fairly close to each other and then there there are gaps between most of the rest of the teams.

Teams complete this task in the following order (* marks the person going on the zip-line)
  1(+0) Henry & Evan*
  2(+0) Cody & Jessica*
  3(+0) Alex* & Conor
  4(+0) Cedric* & Shawn
  5(+0) Kristi* & Jen
  6(+0) Dessie & Kayla*
  7(+0) Trevor & Chris*
  8(+0) Joey* & Tim
  9(+0) Lucas* & Brittany
 10(+0) April & Sarah*
 11(+0) Eric* & Daniel, just after #10

Route info: "Drive yourselves to Esjumelur and search for your next clue."

Team arrive here (120km 1h31min) in the following order:
  1(+0) Henry & Evan
  2(+1) Alex & Conor
  3(-1) Cody & Jessica
  4(+1) Kristi & Jen
  5(-1) Cedric & Shawn
  6(+1) Trevor & Chris
  7(+2) Lucas & Brittany
  8(-2) Dessie & Kayla
  9(-1) Joey & Tim
 10(+1) Eric & Daniel
 11(-1) April & Sarah

Here teams find a road block. Contestants must ride along in off-road buggies. Along the way they must spot different letters. Each letter also has a small number attached on it. The trick, which the contestants must figure out, is that the numbers give the order of the letters in the word they have to spell. Once they get back they are give a station and plates of ice with the different letters. They must now spell the word made up by the letters. The answer is Ingólfstorg.

The trick is not hard and most teams figure it out immediately. You can go as many times as you want, but the driver is an expert and seems to be in a hurry. They also seem to be instructed to hit every possible pool of water along the way, and there are many. So there are plenty of distractions for the contestants.

The main difficulty in this tasks turns out to see the difference between ó and o. Both letters are included in the word.

 "Can you drive a little slower?", Henry at least asks the driver to go slower
 "I'm fairly sure I saw all these letters, but they are all in a strange order", Conor hasn't seen the numbers yet
 "Ahhhh", Trevor spot the diacritic over one of the o's
 "You're a champion, prove it[/i", Cedric gets the title
 "Pay attention to the O's and the P's", Cedric shouts some advice to Shawn

Shawn has serious problems with the o vs ó. Eventually there is only him and Sarah left at the road block. That is when he decides to help her. With his help she gets it but he still does not see what is different from his solution.
 "This is exactly the same as hers", Shawn is confused
But eventually he spot the difference and they are out of there. Strategically just helping her was not smart. And not making her promise to help him as well was outright dumb.

Teams complete this road block in the following order (* denotes team member doing the roadblock):
1(+2)Cody* & Jessica  (1-0)
2(-1)Henry* & Evan    (1-0)
3(+1)Kristi & Jen*    (0-1)
4(+2)Trevor* & Chris  (1-0)
5(-3)Alex & Conor*    (0-1)Did at least two trips in the buggy
6(+3)Joey & Tim*      (0-1)
7(+3)Eric & Daniel*   (0-1)
8(-1)Lucas & Brittany*(0-1)
9(-1)Dessie* & Kayla  (1-0)
10(+1)April & Sarah*   (0-1)
11(-6)Cedric & Shawn*  (0-1)Did at least 5 trips in the buggy

The next clue tells teams to make their way to Ingólfstorg in Reykjavik. Here they will find a bunch of Icelandic strong men and a woman. Teams will have to find Katrin who will ask them to identify two popular national tonics.

Teams arrive at Ingólfstorg (20km 24min) in the following order:
  1(+0) Cody & Jessica
  2(+1) Kristi & Jen
  ?(+?) Henry & Evan
  ?(+?) Trevor & Chris
  ?(+?) Alex & Conor
  ?(+?) Joey & Tim
  ?(+?) Lucas & Brittany
  ?(+?) Cedric & Shawn
  ?(+?) Eric & Daniel
 10(+0) April & Sarah
 11(-2) Dessie & Kayla, had a hard time finding the designated parking

Apart from the strong persons lifting weights and dragging cars there is a male choir adding ambiance at the square. Katrin has two questions for the racers:
 * "What do Icelanders call the drink known as 'Black Death'?"
 * "What is Porskalysi?"

The answers to these questions are "Brennivin" (a local liquor) and Cod Liver oil. Once teams have figured out the correct answers they each have to drink a shot of one of the drinks before they get their next clue.

Teams complete this task in the following order:
  1(+0) Cody & Jessica
  2(+0) Kristi & Jen
  ?(+?) Henry & Evan
  ?(+?) Trevor & Chris 
  5(+0) Alex & Conor
  ?(+?) Joey & Tim
  ?(+?) Lucas & Brittany
  8(+?) Cedric & Shawn
  9(+?) Eric & Daniel
 10(+0) April & Sarah
 11(+0) Dessie & Kayla

Route info: "Make your way on foot to your first pit stop".

Phil is waiting by Reykjavíkürtjorn, a small pond in Reykjavik.

Cody & Jessica are first but make their way to the sea shore instead of the pond they should have gone to. I assume the clue said something about Phil waiting on the shore of Reykjavíkürtjorn and they assumed this to be along the seashore.

Cedric & Shawn get a 30 minutes penalty since Cedric tried to help Shawn during the road block. Cedric tries to argue that he didn't see the letters so he couldn't give any specific help and Shawn says he didn't hear it. But the penalty stands.
 "Even if you didn't hear it, he's not allowed to give any help at all", Phil

So while Cedric & Shawn wait out their penalty we get to see Dessie & Kayla having issues parking their car.

Eventually this leg turns into a nail biter. Phil tells Cedric & Shawn to come to the mat as they have 30 seconds left of their penalty. Meanwhile they see the last two teams sprinting towards the pit stop. The guys just make it and then there is a footrace. The finish is extremely close but Dessie is the last person to step on the mat (just behind Sarah).

Teams reach the pit stop at Reykjavíkürtjorn (500m) in the following order:
  1(+1) Kristi & Jen, win a trip to Santorini, Greece
  2(-1) Cody & Jessica
  3(+?) Henry & Evan, just after #2
  4(+?) Trevor & Chris, just after #3
  5(+0) Alex & Conor
  6(+?) Joey & Tim
  7(+?) Lucas & Brittany
        Cedric & Shawn, get a 30 minutes penalty
  8(+1) Eric & Daniel
  9(-1) Cedric & Shawn
 10(+0) April & Sarah
 11(+0) Dessie & Kayla, are eliminated


Offline RaceUntilWeDie

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Re: Racing report: TAR30 episode 1 is on page 1
« Reply #2 on: January 08, 2018, 02:15:17 PM »
The amount of placement changes is 😍

Offline Marionete

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Re: Racing report: TAR30 episode 1 is on page 1
« Reply #3 on: January 08, 2018, 02:23:18 PM »
Would be even more amazing if we didn't have so many question marks :P

Offline RaceUntilWeDie

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Re: Racing report: TAR30 episode 1 is on page 1
« Reply #4 on: January 08, 2018, 02:25:07 PM »
Would be even more amazing if we didn't have so many question marks :P
Not gonna lie, I didn't even notice we were missing so much footage! I guess it kind of justifies the editors' decision to leave those parts out but I really wish they showed everyone completing each task for us TAR nerds  :cmaslol


Offline Marionete

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Re: Racing report: TAR30 episode 1 is on page 1
« Reply #5 on: January 08, 2018, 04:34:32 PM »
Yeah, I didn't mind it and it was certainly a good decision to edit that out, but it would just be nice to have seen all of the placement shifts.

Offline ianthebalance

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Re: Racing report: TAR30 episode 1 is on page 1
« Reply #6 on: January 08, 2018, 05:55:25 PM »
I always love these!

And if you were going to edit most of a task out, that is one of the better ones to do. Not the best task ever lol

Offline BourkieBoy

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Re: Racing report: TAR30 episode 1 is on page 1
« Reply #7 on: January 08, 2018, 06:22:57 PM »
These are always top notch quantity! LOVE reading them! Thanks maf!  :cmas26

Offline maf

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Re: Racing report: TAR30 episode 1 is on page 1
« Reply #8 on: January 15, 2018, 02:06:37 PM »
Thank you for all the kind words. The next report will likely be a little delayed since I have been on a very intense company trip the last week so I only just got to see the episode.

Offline maf

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Re: Racing report: TAR30 episode 2
« Reply #9 on: January 20, 2018, 11:51:02 AM »
Racing report
Amazing Race Season 30, Episode 2, "You're the best French fry ever"
Film date: 2017-10-03 - 2017-10-04

The last pit stop was at Reykjavíkürtjorn, Iceland. This seems to be where teams are released the next morning in the following order:
1.Kristi & Jen    08:08
2.Cody & Jessica  08:16+0:08
3.Henry & Evan    08:18+0:10
?.Trevor & Chris  ??:??+?:??
?.Alex & Conor    ??:??+?:??
?.Joey & Tim      ??:??+?:??
?.Lucas & Brittany??:??+?:??
?.Eric & Daniel   ??:??+?:??
?.Cedric & Shawn  ??:??+?:??
?.April & Sarah   ??:??+?:??

Route info: "Travel to Antwerp, Belgium".
Once in Antwerp teams they need to find a Chocolatier shop where they will get their next clue. Teams get $272 for this leg of the race. And due to limited availability production has booked tickets to Amsterdam for them. Teams are however free to take another flight if they want.

The first task is to get to the travel agency, Kilroy Travels (400m), and pick up their tickets. Some teams have a harder time to find the travel agency than others. But they have plenty of time so they all make the flight. Some teams save money by taking the bus to the airport while others splurge on taxis. All teams end up on the same flight (which was the provided one):
 WW446  KEF-AMS 15:10 - 20:08 (scheduled 15:10-19:40)


Once at Schiphol teams jump onto a train to Antwerp:
  InterCity 9272 from Schiphol railway station to Antwerpen Centraal, 21:08-23:15

The telecast cut all the drama where Joey & Tim almost miss the train because they thought you had to go into Amsterdam first.

Once in Antwerp teams find that the Chocolatier (The Chocolate Line) opens at 9 the next morning. They get to spend the night on a floor in a nearby pub. Production gave them foam mattresses but not anything else.

All teams are waiting when the shop opens at 9 and they get their next clue. This is a road block: Who wants to get high?

In this road block one team member must climb a rope ladder and retrieve a race flag from the top. The catch is that the rope ladder is attached to a frame which hangs from a crane. And as they start climbing the crane lifts the ladder, and thus the contestants, up into the air until the top is about 30m up from the ground.
 "An opportunity to get so high that you can almost see all of Belgium", Phil

Phil also says that if you haven't reached the flag by the time the crane has finished hoisting the ladders you will have to go again. But nobody seems to run into this issue.

The frame actually holds four rope ladders so four contestants can go at any one time.

 "It's the first time in our careers that we actually have to work together", Tim

Many teams have a hard time to find the Skyclimb. Alex & Conor is one of them and when they finally jump into a taxi the driver says it's only 100m. But they want him to take them anyway.

The crane is located at the waterfront (1.6km) and teams reach it in the
following order:
  1. Cedric & Shawn
  2. Trevor & Chris
  3. Cody & Jessica
  4. Joey & Tim
  5. Henry & Evan
  6. April & Sarah
  7. Lucas & Brittany
  8. Kristi & Jen
  9. Alex & Conor
 10. Eric & Daniel

As teams are climbing a couple of clues fall off the ladders before the contestants reach them. But they are not in any way penalized for this (which is right since it seems it was not their fault).

There is not much time to get ahead in this challenge as teams go up in batches of four. So the end time difference between the teams in the same batch is really small, but the time between the batches seems to be significant.

Teams complete this road block in the following order (* denotes team member doing the roadblock):
1(+1)Trevor & Chris*  (1-1)Batch 1
2(-1)Cedric & Shawn*  (0-2)Batch 1
3(+0)Cody & Jessica*  (1-1)Batch 1
4(+0)Joey* & Tim      (1-1)Batch 1
5(+3)Kristi* & Jen    (1-1)Batch 2
6(+1)Lucas* & Brittany(1-1)Batch 2
7(-1)April & Sarah*   (0-2)Batch 2
8(-3)Henry & Evan*    (1-1)Batch 2
9(+1)Eric* & Daniel   (1-1)Batch 3
10(-1)Alex* & Conor    (1-1)Batch 3

 "Oh my god, my biceps have never burned more than this", Chris after the road block

The next clue is a detour: Old print or Diamond glint

In old print teams must make their way to the Plantin-Moretus Museum (1.6km). Here they are given a page of Flemish text. They must then set this in type. Once done they must bring their finished type over to a printer who will print it on a sheet of paper. If they got it right they get the sheet of paper, which turns out to be their next clue. if they made any mistakes the printer crumbles the resulting paper and throws it away.

In Diamond Glint teams head to the A.D.C. building (2.1km) where they must appraise the value of three diamonds. They are given a sheet with a formula detailing how to calculate the value based on size, weight, color and imperfections.

On their way to the detour Lucas & Brittany have some communication issues over if they should grab a taxi or not.
 "Pineapple", Jessica
Later Jessica interviews that this is their safe-word which allows one to tell the other to get it together and calm down.

Teams arrive at the detours in the following order:
  1(+2) Cody & Jessica, print
  2(+0) Cedric & Shawn, print
  3(+5) Henry & Evan, print
  4(+1) Kristi & Jen, print
  5(-1) Joey & Tim, diamonds
  6(+4) Alex & Conor, diamonds
  7(-6) Trevor & Chris, diamonds
  8(-1) April & Sarah, diamonds
  9(-3) Lucas & Brittany, print
 10(-1) Eric & Daniel, diamonds

The printing task is not easy. The biggest catch is that you must set the type i a mirror image of the desired text and it is easy to trip up when you need to turn the b d and other letters the right way. The text they need to set is:
Quote
Op deze grote openbare plek vind
je het stadhuis en Silvius Brabo.
Zock de spandocken neem een
nummer en start de Frietrace.

Teams have different strategies. The, IMHO, smartest are Kristi & Jen who just turn the original over and hold it up to the light. Next is Lucas who asks Brittany to bring out her mirror:

Eric & Daniel have big problems with the printing and even though they figure out how to test-print against their arms they are too confused to get it right so they switch.

 "I was surprised they didn't have any emojis", Cedric wants more modern types

For the diamond option there is a lady doing a demonstration.
 "Could you go very slowly for us?", Joey & Tim to the demonstration lady
There are two sub-tasks in the diamond detour, measuring, weighing and inspecting the diamonds and math. Some teams have brought calculators while some need to use pen and paper.

At the diamond task it turns out that the flaws Trevor & Chris though they saw where just pieces of their skin left when they handled the diamonds with their fingers.

April & Sarah are having a hard time with the diamonds.
 "Sarah, you dropped a $20.000 diamond", April
They are the last team there and considering switching when Eric & Daniel walks in after switching from the print detour. This gives the girls an energy boost and they keep at it.

 "That's not good", Daniel hear happy shrieks from April & Sarah
 
Teams complete this detour in the following order:
  1(+1) Cedric & Shawn, print
  2(+2) Kristi & Jen, print
  3(-2) Cody & Jessica, print
  4(-1) Henry & Evan, print
  5(+2) Trevor & Chris, diamonds
  6(+0) Alex & Conor, diamonds
  7(-2) Joey & Tim, diamonds
  8(+1) Lucas & Brittany, print
  9(-1) April & Sarah, diamonds
 10(+0) Eric & Daniel, started print but switched to diamond

The next clue, which is written in Dutch, leads teams to the town hall and the Silvius Brabo statue (400m from print and 1.9km from the diamond detour).

Teams reach the square by the town hall in the following order:
  1(+0) Cedric & Shawn
  2(+1) Cody & Jessica
  3(+1) Henry & Evan
  4(-2) Kristi & Jen
  5(+0) Trevor & Chris
  6(+0) Alex & Conor
  7(+1) Lucas & Brittany
  8(-1) Joey & Tim
  9(+0) April & Sarah
 10(+0) Eric & Daniel

Here teams encounter a new element called a Head to Head. The first team has to wait for the next team to arrive. They must then complete against each other in a race. The winner gets to check in at the pit stop. The loser has to wait for the next team to arrive and must then race them and so on. The last team to lose the race will be eliminated.

The race is billed as a Friet-race. This has some cultural relevance since Fries (aka French Fries) is a Belgian invention. One member from each team must race a dolly loaded with 8 bags of friets through an obstacle course and try to beat the other team. Any bags frets they drop must be picked up.

Teams must be dressed in giant Friets-costumes while doing this task. The race is very tiring since the bags weigh about 10kg each. Teams may switch who is racing from their team between races.

There is a board listing the rules:
Quote
(1) When called you must go to the starting line
    with your dolly and friets.

(2) You must stay on the marked course

(3) You must push your friet cart and may not pull
    your cart behind you to make forward progress.

(4) You must have at least one hand on your cart
    when crossing the finish line.

(5) All of your bags of friets must be on your
    dolly when you cross the finish line

(6) If the first person that cross the finish
    line has broken any of the rules the race
    may be restarted.
   
(7) If the race is restarted because one team
    has broken the rules the other team
    may switch partners.

    INAUGURAL
    FRIET RACE

 "You're the best french fry ever", Trevor gets the title as he compliments Chris

The 8th race is kind of exciting. Henry starts by cutting April off (as he has been cut off in earlier races) and then Henry falls just before the finish line. But he manages to get up and over the line before April arrives.

The races unfolds as follows:
 1. Cody wins over Cedric
 2. Shawn wins over Henry
 3. Evan loses against Kristi
 4. Henry loses against Chris
 5. Evan loses against Alex
 6. Henry loses against Lucas
 7. Evan loses against Tim
 8. Henry wins against April
 9. April loses against Daniel

After the last race Daniel hugs April and say he is sorry.
 "They were the better team today", Eric about the fact April & Sarah complete the detour before them

According to post race interviews Evan & Henry had to wait for a long time (3h) before April & Sarah turned up. This allowed them to get rested. Then April & Sarah also had to wait for a long time (possibly also 3h) for Eric & Daniel.

Teams checked in at the pit stop (which is right by the race course) in the following order:
   1(+1) Cody & Jessica, win $2500 each
   2(-1) Cedric & Shawn
   3(+1) Kristi & Jen
   4(+1) Trevor & Chris
   5(+1) Alex & Conor
   6(+1) Lucas & Brittany
   7(+1) Joey & Tim
   8(-5) Henry & Evan
   9(+1) Eric & Daniel
  10(-1) April & Sarah, are eliminated

 "We're ending on a really good note. It's just another crazy April & Sarah thing we did", Sarah


Offline maf

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Re: Racing report: TAR30 episode 3
« Reply #10 on: January 23, 2018, 01:52:14 PM »
Racing report
Amazing Race Season 30, Episode 3, "It's gonna be a fragrant day"
Film date: 2017-10-05 - 2017-10-06

The last pit stop was at city hall in Antwerp, Belgium. This is also where teams are released the following morning in the following order:
1.Cody & Jessica  06:51
2.Cedric & Shawn  06:58+0:07
3.Kristi & Jen    07:03+0:12
4.Trevor & Chris  07:15+0:24
5.Alex & Conor    07:48+0:57
6.Lucas & Brittany07:55+1:04
?.Joey & Tim      ??:??+?:??
?.Henry & Evan    ??:??+?:??
?.Eric & Daniel   ??:??+?:??

Route info: "Fly to the city of Tangier, Morocco" Once teams land in Tangier they must make their way to the fish port and find one of three marked bins of fish.

 "In Morocco, is it French or is it Spanish?", Trevor wonders which language to use

All teams are on the same flight:
  AT687  AMS-TNG  18:05 - 20:03  (scheduled 17:00 - 19:10)


We have learned separately that production had racers spend the night in a hotel outside town. The next morning they are released and can jump into taxis. This is where teams realize this country will be a bit harder to get around in.
 "I don't speak English very good", Taxi driver

Some racers turn out to have unexpected language skills.
 "I know a little bit Arabic", Cody is full of surprises
Evan also turns out to know a little bit of Arabic after having studied in Marrakesh for a year.

Kristi & Jen seem to have drawn the short straw when it comes to taxi drivers. They are unable to communicate with him in any language and eventually they exit the taxi more than a mile away from the fish port and make their way there on foot.

We are not really shown in which order teams arrive at the fish port except that Kristi & Jen arrive last.

At the fish port teams must fill an empty tray with fish. The fish must be stacked in a specific way and there is an example to look at.

Some contestants are a bit squeamish about the fish, which are dead and smelly. But once you get over that it is fairly straightforward, at least as long as you look carefully at the example.
 "Hi babies, I'm so sorry you are dead", Brittany talks to the dead fish
 "I have to touch these?", Jessica
 "Oh, they stink", Cedric
 "It's gonna be a fragrant day", Team well strung get the title

Teams get their next clue in the following order:
 1. Cody & Jessica
 2. Eric & Daniel
 3. Trevor & Chris
 4. Henry & Evan
 5. Joey & Tim
 6. Cedric & Shawn
 7. Lucas & Brittany
 8. Kristi & Jen
 9. Alex & Conor

This clue tells them to make their way on foot to the Kisariate Jbala Souk. Once there they must greet the merchant with the traditional Arabic expression As-salam Alaykum (Peace be with you). The merchant is fairly easy to spot since he sits next to a Travelocity gnome. He will then give the team the gnome and their next clue.

Here I must note that these gnomes sport marvelous local outfit with a leather jacket and a very pointy hat.

Finding this place is not easy so there are some placement changes. Teams arrive in the following order:
  Joey & Tim - fail to spot the merchant and leave again
 1(+3) Henry & Evan
 2(-1) Cody & Jessica
 3(+0) Trevor & Chris
 4(-2) Eric & Daniel
 5(+3) Kristi & Jen
 6(+1) Lucas & Brittany
 7(+1) Cedric & Shawn
 8(+1) Alex & Conor
 9(-4) Joey & Tim

Road block: Who's ready to rock the Kasbah?

 "It could be dancing", Trevor
 
In this road block one team member must go zip-lining through the Kasbah, or at least their gnome gets to. First they must make their way to the Tangier American legation museum and find the marked gate. This is kind of hard since the Kasbah is a hilly part of town with a maze of little twisty streets and alleys which all look alike. Once they find the marked door they must make their way up to the rooftop where the gnome gets strapped into a zip-lining harness.
 "Is he the only one who gets to zip-line?", Jessica is disappointed
The answer is yes. So the gnome gets to zip-line down to another roof a couple of blocks away. The racers must make their way down to street level and then find the marked door in the house where the gnome has landed.
 "There's a lot of rooftops and a maze of streets down below", Chris

Once teams find the gnome they open his pouch and get another clue. This tells them to find the Kasbah museum and enter the marked door. At the museum they will find a second, much longer, zip-line. And they have to follow the gnome again.

This road block is physically exhausting. Not only do they have to run around in the hilly Kasbah but the marked routes to the roof include stairs, steep surfaces and walls they have to climb.

We see lots of racers working together during this task and lots of placement changes. For example Cedric seems to be next to last at the first zip-line but is the first one to reach the second line.

As he is making his way to the end of the second zip-line Cedric's age catches up with him. That and the very heavy back-pack he is lunging around. All other racers left their bags with their partners who are waiting in the Souk where they got their Gnome.

After the second zip-line racers get a clue directing them to an old school telephone in a tele boutique. Here they must use the provided coins (stored in a pouch on the gnome) to dial a number where they will get further instructions. These instructions are to greet the shopkeeper with the phrase "Sabah al-khair" (good morning). The shopkeeper will then give them their next clue and they can run back to their partner and open it.
 "This last one is kicking my butt", Cedric while looking for the tele boutique

Jessica & Brittany seem to work together at the tele boutique and when Brittany starts to dial Jessica relives her of her gnome. Jessica then puts the gnome down and Brittany forgets it. Brittany is so happy she has found a couple of nice ladies speaking Spanish who help her find her way so she leaves as quickly as possible.

Jessica interviews that she notices that Brittany has forgotten her gnome but she will not say anything because she is last and need the cushion.

Meanwhile Brittany soon realize she is missing her gnome and makes her way back to pick it up.

Cedric is so tired that he does not notice the entrance to the court where the other team members are waiting and walks just past it. Eventually he realizes he is lost and backtracks. This costs them 2 placements and some time.

Teams complete this road block in the following order (* denotes team member doing the roadblock):
1(+0)Henry* & Evan    (2-1)
2(+3)Kristi & Jen*    (1-2)
3(+5)Alex & Conor*    (1-2)
4(+0)Eric* & Daniel   (2-1)
5(-2)Trevor & Chris*  (1-2)
6(-4)Cody & Jessica*  (1-2)
7(-1)Lucas & Brittany*(1-2)
8(+1)Joey & Tim*      (1-2)
9(-2)Cedric* & Shawn  (1-2)

Detour: Drop it off or shake it off

In drop it off teams must make their way to a wholesale truck and pick up a bunch of groceries. These must then be delivered to:
Quote
* The vegetable stand at
  Bab Kasbah - Squash

* Marhaba Palace
  Restaurant - Chickens

* Orange Juice Vendor at
  BabEl A'assa -
  Oranges

The items come in plastic crates which teams have to drag along the ground with a hook as the locals do.

In shake it off teams must make their way to Restaurant Mamounia Palace. Here they must change into belly dancing outfits. Once in costume they must dance among the tables and look for words. The words they need to find are:
 Moulay - written on the belly of one of the dancers
 Palace - written on the back of the uniform of one of the serving staff
 Hafid - written on a tambourine
Once they think they have all words they can say them to the head waiter who will given them their next clue if they have them all. Note that teams are not told how many words they need to find.

 "I don't really feel like running around the city any more", Jen does not want to deliver
 "Nobody will ever cheer for my dancing like this again ever", Evan

Cody & Jessica were going to do the delivery but when they arrived there and read the extra info they decide to switch to dancing instead. And this was probably a very good move.
 "This one seems a little too much", Cody reads the info on delivery

The three teams doing the delivery side of the detour all end up behind those who did the dancing so they were pretty unbalanced.
 "50+ pound pack and almost 50 years old", Cedric soldiers on
 
Teams complete the detour in the following order:
 1(+0) Henry & Evan, dance
 2(+1) Alex & Conor, dance
 3(-1) Kristi & Jen, dance
 4(+1) Trevor & Chris, dance
 5(+1) Cody & Jessica, dance
 6(+2) Joey & Tim, dance
 7(-3) Eric & Daniel, deliver
 8(-1) Lucas & Brittany, deliver, just after #7
 9(+0) Cedric & Shawn, deliver

Route info: "Travel by taxi to your next pit stop at Moulay Hafid Palace".

As they exit the restaurant Alex & Conor realize they have left their gnome upstairs so Conor runs back to fetch it, this costs them some time and possibly a leg win.

At the palace we find a band of local musicians who play for the teams as they run up to Phil and the mat.

It was a quite tight race at the top with probably not more than a minuter or two between team #1 and #4.

Joey & Tim are close to blowing it. They find the palace entry easily but they go in a see the band and decide this is not it. So they go back out again. Fortunately for them nobody passes them while they search for another entrance.

Teams reach Phil in the following order:
 1(+0) Henry & Evan, win a trip to Zurich (including some mini-golf)
 2(+0) Alex & Conor, about 5 seconds after #1
 3(+0) Kristi & Jen
 4(+0) Trevor & Chris
 5(+0) Cody & Jessica
 6(+0) Joey & Tim
 7(+0) Eric & Daniel
 8(+0) Lucas & Brittany
 9(+0) Cedric & Shawn, are saved by a non-elimination

And let us end this episode with sending lots of admiration to the camera-guys who had to follow the teams through the Kasbah. If the racers are tired then just think of what the camera guys must have felt.

Offline maf

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Re: Racing report: TAR30 episode 4
« Reply #11 on: January 31, 2018, 11:34:55 AM »
Racing report
Amazing Race Season 30, Episode 4, "Gotta put your sole into it"
Film date: 2017-10-07 - 2017-10-08

The last pit stop was in the Moulay Hafid Palace, Tangier Morocco. Teams seem to be released from just outside the palace the next day in the following order:
1.Henry & Evan    11:34
2.Alex & Conor    11:35+0:01
3.Kristi & Jen    11:37+0:03
4.Trevor & Chris  11:41+0:07
5.Cody & Jessica  11:54+0:20
6.Joey & Tim      12:08+0:34
7.Eric & Daniel   12:25+0:51
8.Lucas & Brittany12:26+0:52
9.Cedric & Shawn  12:44+1:10

Route info: "Do you know the way to Saint-Tropez?"

 "Hopefully we won't end up in speedos, for our sake and the audiences sake", Eric
 
Teams must make their way to a travel agency and pick up their tickets. It seems production has provided tickets and the are no better flights available. All teams end up on the following flights (thanks to claude_24hrs) leaving the following morning:
  AT471   TNG-CMN  04:50 - 06:00
  AF1497  CMN-CDG  07:42 - 11:53 (scheduled 07:40-11:40)
  AF7714  CDG-NCE  12:46 - 14:06 (scheduled 12:45-14:15)


At the Nice airport teams pick up their cars. These turn out to have a manual transmission, which always seems to trip some teams up. The ones having the most problems seem to be Eric & Daniel who are unable to figure out how to put it in reverse. So we got some hilarious shots when they push their car backwards.

Teams must now drive to Ecole de Voile, Saint Tropez (105km 1h24min). Some teams have an easier time navigating than others. Alex turns out to have raced in this part of the world so he has driven here a lot.

 "Babe, let's move here", Jessica appreciates the beauty of the area
 "No, unless they've got the constitution and bill of rights and all of that", Cody only trusts one system

Lucas & Brittany are among those having a hard time. They have a hard time finding their way  and seem to be upset with each other.
 "I messed up there so I apologized to her", Lucas interviews later

Eventually all teams arrive to the next clue box in the following order:
 1. Kristi & Jen
 2. Alex & Conor
 3. Cody & Jessica
 4. Henry & Evan, probably 15+ minutes after #2
 5. Trevor & Chris
 6. Joey & Tim
 7. Cedric & Shawn
 8. Lucas & Brittany, after the first 5 teams have left
 9. Eric & Daniel

Cedric & Shawn find their speed bump here. They must pick up 14 optimists from the beach and place them in numerical order in a storage rack. There is nothing complicated with this task, just some grunt work. This takes some time but no other teams arrive while they are doing it so they do not loose any positions.

The other teams can go directly for the clue box.

Road block: "Who's ready to break wind?"

In this road block contestants must learn so sail an optimist (a kids sailing boat). There are no lessons nor any demonstrations. They must just pick up a set of riggings (already completed) from a stand and put the mast in the right hole on the boat (this is hard to miss). Then off they go into the water. They must sail out to two buoys and pick half a clue at each.

The boats are kind of small and it is easy to get lots of water in when you crawl in. It looks kind of ridiculous to see the racers who do not know like they know what they are doing in these small boats. And for added effect this task is interspersed with shots of beautiful ocean-going yachts racing further out.

There is one part missing from these optimist and that is the main sheet (the rope holding the boom) instead players must hold the boom with their hand. This makes for awkward sailing but I assume it is done so as to reduce the risk of anybody getting hit and hurt by the boom. This strategy does not work.

 "This looks extraordinarily difficult", Jen looks as Kristi attempts to sail
 "I think she is figuring it out, there is like forward progress happening", Jen after a while
 "It took him all of 15 minutes just to leave the shore", Conor explains to Jessica how hard the task is for Alex

 "He probably thinks he is doing it right, but he is not", Conor comments Alex
At this moment Alex is letting the sail hang loose and is instead paddling the boat with two paddles. He is making progress but it is slow.

Alex did not read his clue properly so he returns to the shore after collecting only one half of the clue. He has to go back out there to get the other half as well. And offline we learn that Lucas did the same mistake.

Evan is, like most others, having a hard time with the sailing.
 "This is so frustrating", Evan
 "I feel so dumb right now", Evan
Eventually as she is using her hands to hold the paddle she turns and greets the oncoming boom with her smile. The boom is harder and breaks one of her teeth. But she is not prepared to give up so she soldiers on and eventually gets the hang of sailing.

In the extra footage we learn that what she lost was an old filling, which was on its way out anyway. And production sent her to a dentist during the pit stop so she got a new filling.

 "That speed bump was made for us but too bad these boats weren't", Shawn see the big Cedric trying to get into the small boat without taking the whole ocean with him

 "As a lifeguard I feel very compelled to go and help him right now", Brittany see that Cedric's boat is capsizing, but she suppresses her instincts

Lucas seem to be the only one who knows how to sail.

Teams complete this road block in the following order (* denotes team member doing the roadblock):
1(+0)Kristi* & Jen    (2-2)
2(+0)Alex* & Conor    (2-2)
3(+0)Cody* & Jessica  (2-2)
4(+1)Trevor* & Chris  (2-2)
5(+1)Joey* & Tim      (2-2)
6(+2)Lucas* & Brittany(2-2)
7(-3)Henry & Evan*    (2-2)
8(+1)Eric & Daniel*   (2-2)
9(-2)Cedric* & Shawn  (2-2)

Detour: Bread or thread

In bread teams must use 30lb of dough to make 50 traditional baguettes. This takes place at La Tarte Tropézienne. They are given a big piece of dough and must roll it out to baguettes ready for the oven.

In thread teams must complete a pair of sandals. This takes place at Sandales Tropeziennes. Teams seem to get the parts needed and must just thread the straps and fasten them will small nails.

Both detour take place in Saint Tropez so teams must park their cars at Parking du Nouveau port (3.2km 9min) and make their way on foot.

 "No, I have no idea?", Conor does not understand why his baguettes get rejected
 "Trevor is absolutely the Martha Stewart of our apartment", Chris
 "You'd better hurry up because we're on your heels", Cedric at the shoe detour

The telecast did not show this but both sides of the detour ended with teams having to deliver something (a loaf of bread or a pair of sandals) to a person in Saint Tropez.

Teams complete the detour in the following order:
 1(+0) Kristi & Jen. thread
 2(+0) Alex & Conor, bread
 3(+0) Cody & Jessica, bread
 4(+0) Trevor & Chris, thread
 5(+0) Joey & Tim, thread
 6(+0) Lucas & Brittany, thread
 7(+0) Henry & Evan, thread
 8(+1) Cedric & Shawn, thread
 9(-1) Eric & Daniel, thread

The next clue point teams to another head-to-head. This takes place at Place des Lices. Teams arrive in the following order:
 1(+0) Kristi & Jen
 2(+0) Alex & Conor
 3(+0) Cody & Jessica
 4(+0) Trevor & Chris
 5(+0) Joey & Tim
 6(+0) Lucas & Brittany
 7(+0) Henry & Evan
 8(+0) Eric & Daniel
 9(+0) Cedric & Shawn

Here teams must play pétanque, a game similar to boule. The rules are describes as:

     PETANQUE RULES

* The object of Pétanque is to get your boules closer
  to the jack than your opponent's.

* Pétanque is played in rounds, with each team member
  throwing 3 boules per round.

* The jack and all boules must be thrown from the
  start circle.

* A member of the starting team throws the jack into the
  marked area, and then throws the first boule.

* After each throw, the team NOT closest to the jack
  takes the next throw

* Once a team has used all its boules, the other team
  will throw the rest of its boules.

* After all 12 boules are thrown, the team with a boule
  closes to the jack receives one point for each boule
  that is closer to the jack than their opponet's
  closest boule.


Phil also says that the first team to get 3 points wins. But the way the matches are edited it looks like it is enough to get just one boule closer to the jack than your opponent.

The head-to-head matches turn out like this:
 * Kristi & Jen loose against Alex & Conor
 * Kristi & Jen loose against Cody & Jessica
 * Kristi & Jen win over Trevor & Chris
 * Trevor & Chris loose against Tim & Joey
 * Trevor & Chris win against Lucas & Brittany
 * Lucas & Brittany looses against Henry & Evan
 * Lucas & Brittany looses against Eric & Daniel
 * Lucas & Brittany wins against Cedric & Shawn

The last match was even more exciting in reality since Cedric & Shawn won the first round with 2 points. Lucas & Brittany won the second with one point. Finally Lucas & Brittany scored two points in the third round and win the match, and get to stay in the race.

The pit stop is right by the course so team can check in as soon as they have won a match. They do this in the following order:
 1(+1) Alex & Conor, win $5000 each
 2(+1) Cody & Jessica
 3(-2) Kristi & Jen
 4(+1) Joey & Tim
 5(-1) Trevor & Chris
 6(+1) Henry & Evan
 7(+1) Eric & Daniel
 8(-2) Lucas & Brittany
 9(+0) Cedric & Shawn, are eliminated

 "I've been watching for 29 seasons, my whole family, and I wanted to win", Cedric

Offline maf

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Re: Racing report: TAR30 episode 5
« Reply #12 on: January 31, 2018, 12:20:31 PM »
Racing report
Amazing Race Season 30, Episode 5, "Gotta put your sole into it"
Film date: 2017-10-10

The last pit stop was at Place des Lices, Saint Tropez France. Teams are released somewhere nearby, right by the water, after what seems to have been an extended pit stop. They are released as follows:

1.Alex & Conor    01:49
2.Cody & Jessica  02:02+0:13
3.Kristi & Jen    02:10+0:21
4.Joey & Tim      02:18+0:29
5.Trevor & Chris  02:38+0:49
6.Henry & Evan    02:52+1:03
7.Eric & Daniel   04:04+2:15
8.Lucas & Brittany04:28+2:39

The first clue tells teams to drive themselves to Château des Baux. This place did feature in the first season of TAR.

The château (192km 2h25min) turns out to be closed when teams arrive and opens at 08:30 in the morning. Which means that all teams have time to catch up although Henry & Even apparently just got there half an hour before they opened. And they all get to see a marvelous sunrise, but cold.

At 08:30 a man clad in medieval armor opens the gate. Teams rush in and find their next clue box.

Road block: "Who wants to go medieval on this road block?"

In this road block contestants must use the provided parts to put together a trebuchet. And to further motivate them their partners will be put in the stocks while they work.

For added ambiance there is a big trebuchet here as well which is firing while the teams work.

 "Oh, this is fun", Jessica does not sound enthusiastic at all when she is lead to the stocks
 "Tim's not, uf, the most, uh, experienced builder", Joey is worried

This all takes place on a hilltop in the morning. The sun is up but there is a freezing wind as well so most racers complain about being cold. Specially those in the stocks.

 "Ernest delivery and words of encouragement", Trevor goes meta on Chris
 "I don't have any idea what I'm doing here", Conor is stumped
 "He always calls me the stockier twin", Daniel keeps making puns

Teams complete this road block in the following order (* denotes team member doing the roadblock):
1.Lucas* & Brittany(3-2)
2.Cody* & Jessica  (3-2)
3.Kristi* & Jen    (3-2)
4.Eric* & Daniel   (3-2)
5.Henry* & Evan    (3-2)
6.Trevor & Chris*  (2-3)
7.Joey & Tim*      (2-3)
8.Alex & Conor*    (2-3)

The next clue directs teams to drive themselves to Café de la Fontaine and ask the man enjoying a glass of red wine for their next clue.

 "I can't believe that we are losing to the life guards right now", Jessica has clear ideas about relative team strength
 
Teams reach the café (5km 9min) in the following order:
 1(+0) Lucas & Brittany
 2(+1) Kristi & Jen
 3(-1) Cody & Jessica
 4(+0) Eric & Daniel
 5(+0) Henry & Evan
 6(+0) Trevor & Chris
 7(+1) Alex & Conor
 8(-1) Joey & Tim

Detour: Full of bull or colorful

In full of bull teams must make their way to the Arena d'Arles. Here they must search among lots of replica bulls of different sizes for three different colored ribbons. The ribbons are held in small pouches between the horns.

In colorful teams must make their way to Pont de Langlois (24km 27min), which is an iconic old bridge which van Gogh painted. Here they will find a big replica of a van Gogh painting with some movable parts. They must figure out in which order they need to move the parts to unlock the paining so they can pick up the clue inside.

Henry & Evan initially decide to do colorful but while they are on their way they decide to change since there seems to be lower variance (their word) with the bull detour.

The Arena is a big landmark and hard to miss. But it is in a pedestrian zone and finding the designated parking on Rue de la Cavalerie (17km 25min) turns out to be very frustrating for many teams.

The first teams to the arena are Kristi & Jen and Lucas & Brittany. Both teams want to win this task so the search pace is set to frantic.
 "Kristi, let's separate form them", Jen does not wan to go the same route as Lucas & Brittany

Both Joey & Tim and Trevor & Chris have a hard time finding their respective detours.
 "We are pretty lost at the moment", Chris

The puzzle detour is puzzling. The clue only says that they need solve the puzzle to reveal their next clue. After some confused moments Joey & Tim realize that some pieces on the painting can be moved. They quickly figure out the sequence. Which seems to be fairly simple since it seems that at any moment only one piece can slide and when it is moved it unlocks another and so on. What then stumps them is that the last step is to move the top of the easel as well. This seems to take them quite a while to figure out.
 "We think we solved it about 10 times before we understood how to open the box that contained our clue", Tim

Teams complete the detour in the following order:
 1(+0) Lucas & Brittany, bull
 2(+0) Kristi & Jen, bull, less than a minute after #1
 3(+1) Eric & Daniel, bull
 4(+1) Henry & Evan, bull
 5(+2) Alex & Conor, bull
 6(-3) Cody & Jessica, bull
 7(-1) Trevor & Chris, bull
 8(+0) Joey & Tim, colorful

The next clue sends teams to the pit stop at Hotel Benvengudo.

Production helpfully included driving directions to this hotel in the clue. However Kristi & Jen missed this so they stop to ask for directions and this lets Lucas & Brittany to overtake them.

Trevor & Chris are convinced that they are last when they eventually arrive at the mat.
 "I can't see how anybody would have been slower than us", Chris

Teams reach the mat at the hotel (16km 25min from the arena and 23km 28min from the colorful detour) in the following order:
 1(+0) Lucas & Brittany, win a trip to Bali
 2(+0) Kristi & Jen
 3(+0) Eric & Daniel, arrive just as Lucas is getting the ring
 4(+0) Henry & Evan
 5(+0) Alex & Conor, arrive in time to congratulate the newly engaged couple
 6(+0) Cody & Jessica
 7(+0) Trevor & Chris
 8(+0) Joey & Tim, are eliminated

And, as should be obvious from the above and from all the not so subtle hints the race has been giving us, Lucas proposes to Brittany on the mat. Many tears and much happiness ensues.

 "It was a tremendous privilege to get to do this", Tim

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Re: Racing report: TAR30 episode 6
« Reply #13 on: February 06, 2018, 09:52:41 AM »
Racing report
Amazing Race Season 30, Episode 6, "The claws are out"
Film date: 2017-10-11 - 2017-10-12

Note, all driving times and distances are from Google maps and should taken with a big sack of salt.

This episode starts a little different. First we get to see teams use the Travelocity app to book their flights to Prague, Czech Republic. Then we get to see the start times.

The last pit stop was at Hotel Benvengudo in the south of
France. Teams are released from the hotel in the following order:
1.Lucas & Brittany16:34
2.Kristi & Jen    16:43+0:09
3.Eric & Daniel   16:52+0:18
4.Henry & Evan    16:58+0:24
5.Alex & Conor    17:00+0:26
6.Cody & Jessica  17:09+0:35
7.Trevor & Chris  17:43+1:09

The first clue tells teams to fly to Prague. It also warns them that there is a double U-turn ahead.

Teams start by taking a taxi to the Marseilles airport (71km 52min).
 "The possibility of a U-turn tells me to be a little bit more insecure about my relationship against the other teams", Evan
 "The claws are coming out", Evan gets the title
 
Teams are split onto two different flights.
Flight #1 is:
  VY1509  MRS - BCN  23:12 - 23:57  (scheduled 22:10 - 23:15)
  VY8652  BCN - PRG  07:42 - 10:08  (scheduled 07:35 - 09:58)
And carries:
  Henry & Evan
  Eric & Daniel
  Kristi & Jen
  Lucas & Brittany

Flight #2 is:
  SN3604  MRS - BRU  06:54 - 08:30 (scheduled 06:40 - 08:30)
  SN2809  BRU - PRG  09:39 - 11:00 (scheduled 09:30 - 11:00)
and carries:
  Cody & Jessica
  Alex & Conor
  Trevor & Chris

Once teams land they must travel by taxi to the Rudolfinum, where they will find the double U-turn and their next clue.
 "We've got the worlds fastest cabdriver", Kristi & Jen found a gem and they keep him for the rest of the leg

Teams reach the U-turn board (13km 23min) in the following order:
 1. Kristi & Jen
 2. Lucas & Brittany
 3. Eric & Daniel
 4. Henry & Evan, just after #1
 5. Alex & Conor
 6. Cody & Jessica, U-turns Trevor & Chris
 7. Trevor & Chris, arrive as Jessica & Cody are searching for a taxi

Detour: This or that

And that is basically all the clue says. The extra info lists the locations of the detour options. Teams will find out what they are doing once they arrive at the location.

Henry & Evan get into a small argument here where Henry wants to take a taxi and Evan wants them to do what they said before the race and use public transport.
 "I'd say that I'm tactful but pointed", Evan, who won the argument

"This" takes place at the Staropramen brewery (3km 9min). Teams must break down one stack of empty kegs and re-stack them nearby. One of the 68 kegs is full. When they find it they must tap it and pour a perfect mug of beer (there is a picture for reference). They have to bring this to the brewmaster and once he approves they must transport their full keg, on foot, to Fidelio at Naplavka Smichov. This turns out to be a party boat on the nearby river.

In "That" teams must make their way to the Department of Chemistry at Charles University (3km 13min). Here they must listen to two lectures (6min each) one claiming that the earth is flat and the other, more reality based, that it is round. After the lectures there will be an oral exam of 8 questions which they must answer correctly.

The lectures are filled with numbers and there is no way of knowing which will feature on the exam. Also the exam will be cut short as soon as you give a wrong answer so you can not go in there once to hear all the questions. But you are free to go back to the lecture whenever you want. The exam questions are:
* What is the distance in miles that Copernicus calculated between the earth and the sun? Answer: 3,391,000 miles
* What is the name of the second lecturer? Answer: Prof Bergler
* Which planet did Copernicus say was the second farthest from the sun? Answer: Jupiter
* What is the law which causes objects to disappear as they move away from us? Answer: law of perspective
* NOT HEARD. Answer: Blue
* Up to how many miles away can a lighthouse be seen? Answer: 40 miles
* What year did Copernicus publish his astronomical model? Answer: 1543
* Is the earth round or flat? Answer: round

Lucas & Brittany are the first to arrive to the lecture hall, but this detour is not for them, their eyes glaze over almost immediately. They quickly decide to switch.
 "That's what we always did, we skipped school to go to the beach", Brittany

The keg stacking is straightforward and the pouring is only slightly harder. Specially since the brewmaster tell you what you did wrong.
 "Henry, this is what you missed by not being in a fraternity", Evan while moving empty beer kegs
One difficulty which wasn't really shown is that it was quite a walk to the brewmaster so a lot of foam had time to evaporate before you got there. You had to either add too much foam at the start, or do what Kristi & Jen did and bring an extra glass of foam and refill it just around the corner.

The hard part turns out to be to find the party boat Fidelio. This could be because teams are not told that Fidelio is a boat.
 "Sometimes the game sucks", Kristi is searching
 "It's very frustrating when you can't find where you are going", Brittany

Jody & Jessica arrive at the university just as Eric & Daniel are leaving. But once inside they make their way to the wrong lecture hall.
 "This is not English", Jessica realize the lecturer speaking Czech
They immediately decode to switch.

 "I hope nobody's drinking this", Jessica as she uses her hand to scoop out foam from their beer

Teams complete the detour in the following order:
 1(+2) Eric & Daniel, lecture on their 9th attempt
 2(-1) Kristi & Jen, beer
 3(+1) Henry & Evan, beer
       Trevor & Chris, lecture on their 2nd attempt
 4(-2) Lucas & Brittany, beer after spending more than an hour searching for the boat
 5(+0) Alex & Conor, just after #4
 6(+0) Cody & Jessica, beer
 7(+0) Trevor & Chris, beer

The next clue directs teams to the Andëlská Láze Beer Spa. Teams arrive here in the following order:
 1(+1) Kristi & Jen
 2(-1) Eric & Daniel
 3(+0) Henry & Evan
 4(+0) Lucas & Brittany
 5(+0) Alex & Conor, seconds after team #4
 6(+0) Cody & Jessica, seconds after team #5
 7(+0) Trevor & Chris

At the spa teams find three men bathing in beer and also drinking beer. They are merry and conjure the next clue from their baths. The is a route info which directs teams to Stará Çistírna Odpadních Vod where they should search outside for their next clue.

Teams arrive here (8km 14min) in the following order:
 1(+0) Kristi & Jen
 2(+0) Eric & Daniel, a minute after #1
 3(+0) Henry & Evan, while the first two teams are still here
 4(+2) Cody & Jessica, after the first three teams have left
 5(+0) Alex & Conor
 6(-2) Lucas & Brittany
 7(+0) Trevor & Chris, as Alex & Conor are leaving

Here teams find a road block, and it is a switchback to season 15. Players must enter a a big room full of old fashioned ringing phones. Players must find the eight phones which have somebody else on the other end of the line and hear the words they each say. They must then arrange these words into a famous Kafka quote "The meaning of life is that it stops".

Players are not allowed to make any notes.

 "The ringing was maddening", Jen
 "Wow. Oh, my gosh", Evan upon entering the room with the ringing phones

Evan & Daniel decide to work together. A very cute fact is that Daniel, a family man, mishears some of the words so he thinks he hears "wife" instead of "life" and "love" instead of "of".

The judging of this task has a big psychological element (and this is what got Big Easy in season 15). For each guess they must fill in a form with a bunch of random questions plus their answer. Then a guy examines it under a magnifying glass and if it is wrong he takes a big red X-stamp and goes wild on the form. If the answer is right they get a big KAFKA stamp on their form, and their next clue.

Brittany, Jessica and Alex work together. But Jessica seems to be sneaky and it seems she does not tell them the correct words. But as she has her form approved she tells the others the correct phrase.
 "She told us wrong.. just to save it for her", Brittany is not happy about Jessica's behavior
Jessica later says that she did not want anybody else to benefit from her work unless she was the first one out. She achieved that but may have put a target on her back.

According to interviews Trevor did not hear all the words so he just guessed the quote. Apparently he did this really well because it seems they complete this task quickly (they think it took about 35 minutes).

Teams complete this road block in the following order (* denotes team member doing the roadblock):
1(+0)Kristi & Jen*    (3-3)
2(+0)Eric & Daniel*   (3-3)
3(+0)Henry & Evan*    (3-3)Just after #2
4(+0)Cody & Jessica*  (3-3)
5(+0)Alex* & Conor    (3-3)
6(+0)Lucas & Brittany*(3-3)
7(+0)Trevor* & Chris  (3-3)

In the telecast it look like this clue sends teams directly to the pit stop. In reality it sends them to Romantik Hotel U Raka (5km 15min) where they pick up the clue sending them to the pit stop at Letenské Park (4km 11min).

The first difficulty is getting a taxi. These are few and far between at the road block.
 "It's really hard to get a taxi in the suburbs of Prague", Alex

Trevor & Chris talk to some locals who advice them to take the metro. I assume this is to the hotel where they pick up their next clue.

As usual the episode is cut to make it look like a close race between the last two teams. Trevor & Chris are seen flying through the challenges and Cody & Jessica are having issues. And it really comes down to transportation issues and the 30+ minutes took to complete the road block (since we know Trevor & Chris arrived as Alex & Conor left).

Teams reach Phil and the mat in the following order:
 1(+0) Kristi & Jen, win a trip to Perth, Australia
 2(+0) Eric & Daniel
 3(+0) Henry & Evan
 4(+1) Alex & Conor
 5(+1) Lucas & Brittany
 6(-2) Cody & Jessica
 7(+0) Trevor & Chris, are eliminated

"I'm just so glad we had this opportunity to do this together", Chris
« Last Edit: February 06, 2018, 11:50:12 PM by maf »

Offline claude_24hrs

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Re: Racing report: TAR30 episode 6 is on page 1
« Reply #14 on: February 06, 2018, 10:02:03 AM »
Maf, could you add this on your post that I updated the first flight in the transportation thread:

Quote
Vueling (VY) 1509, MRS-BCN, 2312 (10/11) - 2357 (10/11) (scheduled 2210-2315)
Vueling (VY) 8652, BCN-PRG, 0742 (10/12) - 1008 (10/12) (scheduled 0735-0958)

Offline maf

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Re: Racing report: TAR30 episode 7
« Reply #15 on: February 12, 2018, 03:34:45 PM »
Racing report
Amazing Race Season 30, Episode 7, "All's fair in love and war"
Film date: 2017-10-14 - 2017-10-16

The last pit stop was at Letenské Park in Prague, Czech Republic. This is also where teams are released after what seems to have been a long pit stop in the following order:
1.Kristi & Jen    10:08
2.Eric & Daniel   10:48+0:40
3.Henry & Evan    ??:??+?:??
4.Alex & Conor    11:44+1:36
5.Lucas & Brittany11:50+1:42
6.Cody & Jessica  ??:??+?:??

Route info: "Fly to Harare, Zimbabwe"

It seems production has provided tickets for the teams in this leg. Teams go to Typ agency (1km) to pick them up.

 "In the last leg Jessica gave me wrong information. But I guess all's fair in love and war", Brittany gets the title

All teams are on the same flight:
  LX1499  PRG - ZRH 19:53   - 21:00    (scheduled 19:55   - 21:15)
  LX288   ZRH - JNB 22:43   - 09:06+1  (scheduled 22:40   - 09:10+1)
  SA22    JNB - HRE 11:00+1 - 12:19+1  (scheduled 10:45+1 - 12:15+1)


Once they land teams must travel by train to Marondera and there get into a van which will take them to the Imire Rhino & Wildlife conservancy.

When they arrive at the wildlife conservatory teams have been traveling for 30 hours. They are put on a safari truck and taken for a ride to a bushcamp. Here they find their next clue.

Route info: "The early bird gets the worm. Build your safari tent as fast as you can and then settle in for the night." Given the wording it is natural that teams assume there is a reward for building the fastest.

 "I have zero experience doing this", Jessica
 "I have never done any camping in my life, ever", Conor

Teams get their tents approved in the following order:
 1. Cody & Jessica
 2. Lucas & Brittany
 3. Henry & Evan
 4. Kristi & Jen
 5. Eric & Daniel
 6. Alex & Conor

At 04:00 then next morning Phil arrives and bangs a pot to wake everybody. Racers have time to get dressed and eat breakfast before he collects them and makes the big announcement (now the sun is up). They will switch partners for this leg. Teams have to pair up and swap partners and will then be racing in these new constellations until further notice. Teams get to pick which other team to partner up with in the order they completed their tents. So the selection goes like this:

 1. Cody & Jessica selects Kristi & Jen
 2. Lucas & Brittany selects Alex & Conor
 3. Henry & Evan have no choice but to pair up with Eric & Daniel

The new teams become:
  Jessica & Kristie
  Cody & Jen
  Brittany & Alex
  Lucas & Conor
  Henry & Eric
  Evan & Daniel

Phil then tells them that on his mark they can run over to the guides standing nearby and get their next clue. It may be worth noting that teams are accompanied by at least one guide all the time in the wildlife conservatory, and that they all leave their packs in the camp.

Route info: "Row row row your makeshift bush raft" Search the islands of Imire lake to find two canteens of water and your next clue."

Teams must now run over to the lake, pick up a raft from the shore, carry it into the water and then row out to the small islands dotting this part of the lake. The next clue hangs from a tree over the water from one of the small islands.

 "This morning Phil told us that there's a partner swap, which is my worst nightmare because I didn't want to do this unless I was with Jess", Cody
 "So I'm his worst nightmare come true", Jen

Teams find the canteens in the following order:
 1. Brittany & Alex
 2. Jessica & Kristie
 3. Cody & Jen
 4. Henry & Eric
 5. Lucas & Conor
 6. Evan & Daniel

The clue by the canteens tells them to paddle across the lake to the lookout tower and search for their next clue. They reach it in the following order:
 1(+0) Brittany & Alex
 2(+0) Jessica & Kristie
 3(+0) Cody & Jen
 4(+1) Lucas & Conor
 5(-1) Henry & Eric
 6(+0) Evan & Daniel

Detour: Rhino track or Bush Whack

In Rhino Track teams must saddle up and ride along a track. While riding they must keep an eye out for evidence of poachers. We are told they need to find 8 pieces of evidence and at the end they must place each piece of evidence on the correct marking on a map.

In Bush Whack teams must drive a car along an off-road track and replenish a ranger supply station with water. The catch here is that the track goes through a mud pit where their car is likely to get stuck.

At the start of Rhino track teams are shown a list of things to look for along the track. It is basically non-natural stuff like, for example,  boot prints, snares and clothes. The clue does not mention that they need to remember the locations of the various pieces of evidence. It just says: "Collect evidence of poachers then accurately document the evidence to receive your next clue". Some teams are smart and assume they need to remember the order clues are found in and others are not.

The items they find along the Rhino track are: matches, coal, snare, can, bones, shells, cooking utensils, fork.

In Bush Whack a driver drives the car to the supply station where teams must pick up a jack, steel cable, water and two shovels. This list of things should make teams very suspicious about what lies ahead. Along the way they have to cross water at two places. In both cases they have to get out of the car first and walk the crossing to find the best route. The first crossing feels like a proper pond while the second is more like a mud pit.

Jessica & Kristie initially decide to do the Bush Whack, but balk when they realize one of them, actually Kristie since Jessica can not drive, must drive a stick shift car. They immediately decide to switch. As they are running back they pass Cody & Jen who are headed for the cars. Jen agonizes over if they also should switch but decides not to, this is probably a big mistake.

This is a detour with limited stations so only three teams can perform each side of the detour.

 "Little Bambis", Jessica see some antelopes
 "I think I talk to this horse like I talk to Henry", Evan
 "The smile hasn't left my face", Kristie about riding a horse among wild animals
 "The academic flannel?", Daniel thinks up a team name for their hybrid team

The first water crossing of Bush Whack is easy. At the supply station teams must dig up an empty water tank and replace with the new one, so there is some moderate physical work involved. The second water crossing is more like a mud pit. And Cody is the only ones who manage to drive through
it without getting stuck.
 "I've always wanted and African mud bath", Jen
 "This isn't my kind of driving", Conor gets stuck in the bog
Teams getting stuck must use their hand winch to drag their car out of the bog. This is heavy work.
 "You are now the winch king", Conor, who did not get out of the car, to Lucas who did all the work
 "Anybody made it through that, I would love to watch an instant replay", Conor after the mud pit (and production does splice in a replay of Cody)

Jessica & Kristie really struggle with the final path of the Rhino Track detour. They can not remember in which order they found the clues. When they have been struggling for a while  Evan & Daniel turn up. Kristie asks if they want to work together but Evan declines.
 "We'll see, we'll give it a shot and then let you know", Evan
This does not give her any friends. Specially as she and Daniel seem to remember the positions so they get it on their first attempt.
 "She frustrates me because she's not a team player", Jessica is not fond of Evan
Finally after many attempts Jessica & Kristie find the right order and can continue racing.

Teams complete the detour in the following order:
 1(+2) Cody & Jen, drive
 2(-1) Brittany & Alex, ride
 3(+1) Lucas & Conor, drive
 4(+2) Evan & Daniel, ride
 5(+0) Henry & Eric, drive
 6(-4) Jessica & Kristie, ride

The next clue directs teams to the pit stop at an nearby overlook. Teams arrive in the following order:
 1(+0) Cody & Jen
 2(+0) Brittany & Alex
 3(+0) Lucas & Conor
 4(+0) Evan & Daniel
 5(+0) Henry & Eric
 6(+0) Jessica & Kristie

 "That was quick", Phil greets Cody & Jen
At the mat Phil tells them that they need to reunite with their original partners before he can check them in. So each team must wait for the other half to arrive before they can check in. Eventually all teams are checked in in the following order:
 
 1. Lucas & Brittany
 1. Alex & Conor
 3. Henry & Evan, about 20 minutes after the first teams
 4. Eric & Daniel
 5. Cody & Jessica, about 22 minutes after the first teams
 5. Kristi & Jen

The partner swap is now officially over and once they check in Phil tells them they are still racing and hands them their next clue.

Offline Maanca

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Re: Racing report: TAR30 episode 7 is on page 1
« Reply #16 on: February 12, 2018, 08:08:49 PM »
"...new constellations", is that a typo or definition of the word I'd never heard of? :)

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Re: Racing report: TAR30 episode 8
« Reply #17 on: February 13, 2018, 03:42:29 PM »
Racing report
Amazing Race Season 30, Episode 8, "All's fair in love and war"
Film date: 2017-10-16

This leg follows just after the previous as leg 7 ended with a keep on racing pit stop. At least the telecast shows team immediately leaving for their next destination. In reality there was an 1h pit pit stop during which they film the confessionals for the previous leg. Once that is done teams start leg 8 in the following order:

 1. Lucas & Brittany
 1. Alex & Conor
 3. Henry & Evan, about 20 minutes after the first teams
 4. Eric & Daniel
 5. Cody & Jessica, about 22 minutes after the first teams
 5. Kristi & Jen

Route info: "Make your way to Khan fabrics and haberdashery in Harare to find your next clue. You have $18 for this leg of the race."

Teams jump into safari trucks, which take them out of the conservation area. Once outside they jump into the waiting vans. They keep these vans for the rest of the leg.

The total driving time to Harare is close to 2 hours.

At the fabric store teams encounter a double U-turn board. This comes as a surprise for the racers as the clue did not warn about any upcoming U-turn. Teams arrive at the fabric store in the following order:
 1(+0) Lucas & Brittany, U-turns Cody & Jessica
 2(+0) Alex & Conor, U-turns Henry & Evan
 3(+2) Kristi & Jen
 4(+1) Cody & Jessica
 5(-2) Eric & Daniel
 6(-2) Henry & Evan

 "It's nothing personal in U-turning Yale. We wanted to get a strong team out", Alex
 "I think it is time to be a little more competitive. Hopefully there's no hard feelings", Brittany is optimistic
These U-turns should not come as a surprise. Editing has done it's best to show us animosity between Brittany and Jessica. And we get the feeling that team Yale keeps to themselves and other teams feel that they are a strong team (which they are).
 "I don't really get ocean spray's logic with U-turning us.", Jessica is not happy
 "I don't like her, the feeling is mutual", Jessica also provides an answer

Kristi & Jen are very happy, and a bit surprised, to not see themselves on the U-turn board.
 "You get U-turned now and you're probably done", Daniel
 
 "That sucks", Evans reaction to their U-turn

Detour: Handle with care or Just get it there

In Handle with care teams must make their way to Eastgate mall. Here teams must go to the mail room and deliver 7 packages to different businesses in the confusing mall. At each business they must also collect their outgoing mail.

In Just get it there teams must make their way to Magaba tyres and deliver two tires by rolling them on the ground. They will have to travel half a mile through a busy market and finally load the tires onto a marked delivery truck. It seems the clue includes basic directions to where the tires need to be delivered. One tire is an ordinary car tire but the other fits a tractor and is therefore a lot bigger and heavier.

Kristi & Jen arrive to the tire detour just ahead of Lucas & Brittany. They decide to work together. As they reach Cameron Hardware, their destination, Kristi & Jen spot a set of stairs leading up. They try to shout at Lucas & Brittney but the latter do not hear, so Jen & Kristi make their way up the stairs.
 "Kristi, let's just go. They're not waiting for us", Jen
At the top of the stairs they find the marked delivery truck where they should leave their tires. As Kristi & Jen run back the stairs they encounter Lucas & Brittany who are backtracking. They tell the latter where the truck is.

On their way back Kristi & Jen also meet Henry & Evan. Jen blurts out where the delivery truck is as they pass. She immediately regrets this:
 "Me and my big mouth, stupid idiot", Jen

Alex & Conor struggle with the tires. They have a hard time to find Cameron Hardware. Eventually they get directions and find a flatbed truck where they promptly load their tires. The problem is that this is not the right truck. They realize this when the driver doesn't have a clue for them.
 "Gosh, we look stupid", Alex

When Henry & Evan reach the truck the driver does not give them the next clue.
 "And I'm sorry... I don't have anything for you",
I.e. production has briefed him to not give them their next clue since they have to do the other detour.

When Henry & Evan reach the mall and start delivering they meet Eric & Daniel who are just about to finish their delivery.
 "Is there a map or anything", Evan asks a very good question
The firefighters does their best to tell team Yale where various businesses are located.

Cody & Jessica do something similar when they arrive at the tire detour. They see Alex & Conor about to leave so they rush over and ask for hints, which they get.

Teams complete the detour in the following order:
 1(+2) Kristi & Jen, tires
 2(-1) Lucas & Brittany, tires
 ----- Henry & Evan, tires
 ----- Cody & Jessica, mail
 3(-1) Alex & Conor, tires
 4(+1) Eric & Daniel, mail
 5(+1) Henry & Evan, mail
 6(-2) Cody & Jessica, tires

Route info: "Take your car to the city's largest park, Harare Gardens, and search for your next clue."

Teams find the clue at the park in the following order:
 1(+0) Kristi & Jen
 2(+0) Lucas & Brittany
 3(+0) Alex & Conor
 4(+0) Eric & Daniel
 5(+0) Henry & Evan
 6(+0) Cody & Jessica

Route info: "Check out the Zimbab-way"
In this task teams must learn a popular song in a native language and perform it together with a band in front of a live audience. Teams will be judged on pronunciation and showmanship.

They are given sheets with the lyrics. These also say which portions should be sung by the band, racer1, racer2 or all together. These two lines are typical of the stuff they had to sing:
Quote
E'yay yoi-ye e-yay ho-ye ba-bá.
Pasi pā-no ka'ni pa-né zee-edzó

Most of the racers are not happy about this task.
 "They don't pronounce things they way that we do", Kristi
 "This is my one fear, dancing and singing in front of a live audience", Lucas is not happy
 "I love performing", Jen (but that was with skiing, which she was very good at)
 "My biggest concern about this entire trip around the world that we're taking was always the music aspect of it", Alex
 "We're never gonna get through this", Conor

Funnily enough it turns out that the hardest part of this challenge is not the pronunciations but keeping the pace and to show enough showmanship. As this task is hard, we get to see lots of teams failing and lots of footage at band members laughing. It also ends up taking a while so all teams have time to arrive before any of them manage to get approved.

 "You're not following the pace of the beat", Kristi & Jen's instructor
 "I don't speak music", Kristi

 "We both speak some other languages and we got the pronunciations down very quickly", Evan
 "I want to apologize to my kids for when they get old enough to understand what's about to take place here", Daniel

 "So, what's left for you guys is for you to move. You have to put the papers down, start shaking", Lucas & Brittany's instructor
 "This is kind of a show. They are also testing your confidence", Kristi & Jen's instructor
 "Don't worry about looking like an ass, man", Jen to Kristi

Cody is getting frustrated here. He doesn't want to rehearse instead he wants to try and try again.
 "I mean, what else can I rehearse?", Cody (and the answer is keeping the rhythm)

Teams get approved in the following order:
 1(+1) Lucas & Brittany, on their 5th attempt
 2(-1) Kristi & Jen, on their 6th attempt
 3(+0) Alex & Conor, on their 3rd attempt
 4(+1) Henry & Evan, on their 2nd shown attempt
 5(+1) Cody & Jessica, on their 3rd attempt
 6(-2) Eric & Daniel, on their 3rd attempt

The next clue is a route info which tells teams to make their way, on foot, to the pit stop at First Street Pedestrian mall.

Things get just a little tense at the mat when Henry & Evan arrive as Alex & Conor are already standing there. But Henry & Evan take the high road and do not seem upset abut having been U-turned.

As usual the episode is cut to make it look like an exciting race between the last two teams. And it was not too far between them since Cody & Jessica are still on the mat as Eric & Daniel arrive.

Teams reach Phil in the following order:
 1(+0) Lucas & Brittany, win a trip to St Lucia (no mini-golf though)
 2(+0) Kristi & Jen
 3(+0) Alex & Conor
 4(+0) Henry & Evan
 5(+0) Cody & Jessica
 6(+0) Eric & Daniel

 "We went down dancing", Daniel when they reach the mat
 "Just a great experience", Daniel

Offline maf

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Re: Racing report: TAR30 episode 9
« Reply #18 on: February 18, 2018, 02:21:21 PM »
Racing report
Amazing Race Season 30, Episode 9, "The first rule of the Amazing Race club"
Film date: 2017-10-18 - 2017-10-19

All driving times and distances are from Google and should be taken with a big helping of salt. Specially as it seems teams took very indirect routes. The lesson is that it is much easier to navigate if you have internet access (which the racers do not).

Before this leg starts for real we get to see Jess & Cody going shopping. Jessica lost her sneakers after the pit stop in the last leg so they go back to the Eastgate mall and buy a couple of new ones. This is strange since it means production let them out to do stuff during the pit stop. We have later learned that editing played a trick on us here. Their shopping trip took place after the leg started while they were waiting for their flight.

The last pit stop was on the First Street Pedestrian mall in  Harare, Zimbabwe. Teams are released after a rest day in the following order:

1.Lucas & Brittany08:41
2.Kristi & Jen    08:46+0:05
3.Alex & Conor    09:05+0:24
4.Henry & Evan    09:24+0:43
5.Cody & Jessica  09:35+0:54

The first clue tells teams to fly to the Kingdom of Bahrain. Once they land they must pick up cars outside the airport and drive themselves to the capital and port city of Manama.

It seems as if as usual teams are give flight reservations but are free to take better flights if they can find any. Teams pick up their tickets at the Phileas Fogg travel agency. From interviews we learn that all teams manage to find a flight which arrives 1h earlier than the provided one. The flight all teams find is:
  ET873  HRE - LUN 13:46   - 15:08   (scheduled 13:30   - 14:35)
  ET873  LUN - ADD 16:02   - 21:05   (scheduled 15:35   - 20:35)
  ET600  ADD - DXB 22:05   - 03:04+1 (scheduled 22:00   - 03:00+1)
  FZ23   DXB - BAH 07:30+1 - 07:19+1 (scheduled 07:15+1 - 07:30)


We do get some unexpected airport drama in this leg. When Lucas & Brittany try to get their boarding passes for their connecting flight in Dubai they realize that Lucas no longer have his passport. He must have left it on the last flight. They scramble to have people search for it (they are not allowed back onto the plane).
 "I just feel bad for her because I do stuff like that all the time", Lucas takes the blame
 "That's not how you want anybody to go out.", Kristie
 "Sounds like the Karma was kicking in way earlier than I anticipated", Jessica
 "I believe the first rule of the Amazing Race club is to always have your travel documents aka passport with you", Conor gets the title

Unfortunately for Lucas & Brittany his passport fails to materialize so they miss the next flight. Instead they find themselves in the Dubai airport without a passport. They are let into the country and go to the American embassy which actually is able to issue a temporary passport quickly and since there are plenty of flights they manage to reach Bahrain later that night. But who are they trying to kid? This team has doomed written all over them. They probably fly on:
  FZ27   DXB - BAH 17:36 - 17:26 (scheduled 17:10-17:25)


The other teams land in Bahrain without any issues and find their cars
outside the airport.
 "It's hot", Kristi upon exiting the airport

Their next clue lies on the car: "Drive to a Dhow Shipyard at the Muharrak fisherman port and search for your next clue".

In the car Evan interviews that they do not feel safe even if Lucas & Brittany was not on the plane as they could have found their passport and gotten on the next flight an hour later.

Cody & Jessica has a hard time finding the shipyard. Most people they ask do not know where it is.
 "I think that's an indication on how this is gonna go", Cody is prescient

Teams reach the shipyard (6km 8min) in the following order
 1. Alex & Conor
 2. Kristi & Jen, just after #1
 3. Henry & Evan
 4. Cody & Jessica
 5. Lucas & Brittany, about 12h after the others

Route info: "It's time to haul some timber"
Teams must now haul timber from a big pile to a set of scales on the other side of the shipyard and weight out 300lb. this is a very physical task, and there is no shade so it is also very hot. The only upside is that production seem to have provided work-gloves for everybody.

 "My biggest stress is just keeping up with Cody, not disappointing him, not holding him back, I don't want t be the reason we loose $1,000,000", Jessica

Teams have slightly different strategies here. Alex & Conor carry all their pieces of wood while Kristie & Jen just drag theirs. The latter strategy seem to work better because the girls manage to get ahead of the boys.

Teams complete this task in the following order:
 1(+1) Kristi & Jen
 2(-1) Alex & Conor
 3(+0) Henry & Evan
 4(+0) Cody & Jessica, after the other teams have left

The next clue is a route info which directs teams to Showaiter Sweets. Here teams must sample the king of Haluwa, a local treat, to receive their next clue. AT least that is what the telecast looks like.

In reality there was an additional task in between, "Who knows your partner best?". For this task teams had to go to a nearby boat. One team member had to stand on a plank over the water while both team members were asked questions about their team. The questions were:
* Who has carried the most weight in the race?
* Who is the first to quit on a task?
* Who knows their partner best?
It did not matter what the answer was as long as they both gave the same answer. If not the person on the plank had to jump into the water, and then they could start over. This entire task was cut from the telecast.

Instead we get to see teams struggle to drive to Showaiter Sweets. This turns out to be very hard to find, even for those teams who have a local map.

Alex & Conor arrive to the area at the same time as Kristi & Jen. They both start looking and asking around. Alex & Conor find somebody who knows where they need to go and instead of rushing off they tell the girls.

Eventually the all make their way to the sweets store (2.5km 7km) in the following order:
 1(+0) Kristi & Jen
 2(+0) Alex & Conor, a second after #1
 3(+1) Cody & Jessica
 4(-1) Henry & Evan

Route info: "Drive yourselves to Delmon Pottery Industry in the village of A'ali and search for your next clue.

On their way here teams really start to experience how bad the traffic is and how hard this place is to navigate. Everybody gets lost.
 "It is just really difficult to get yourself in the right place", Conor
 "I'm not happy", Jen does not like being lost

Teams arrive to the pottery place (22km 23min) in the following order:
 1(+2) Cody & Jessica
 2(-1) Kristi & Jen
 3(+1) Henry & Evan
 4(-2) Alex & Conor

Route info: "Make a match". Each team must choose a small pouch which contains 10 small trinkets. They must then look inside the hundreds of pots covering the grounds for a match for each of the trinkets. Each pot contains one trinket, but there seems to be only one exact match for each of the 10 trinkets.

 "Oh, my gosh. She's got a cat again", Cody when Jessica picks up a cat

This task is tedious and takes a long time. So long that all teams arrive before any of them are done. So we have four teams running around trying to remember what their trinkets looked like and which pots they have already looked in.

For a while it looks like Henry is going to pass out from the heat, but he recovers.

Teams complete this challenge in the following order:
 1(+0) Cody & Jessica
 2(+0) Kristi & Jen
 3(+1) Alex & Conor
 4(-1) Henry & Evan

Once teams are done the shop owner give them a pot. They have to smash this to find the clue inside.

Route info: Drive yourselves to the Bahrain Endurance Village in Zallaq and search for your next clue."

This is another hard to find place (as are they all) but Alex has an edge this time. He has been racing in Bahrain and he recognizes this place as being close to the race track, and he knows how to get there.

 "So far we're really enjoying ourselves here, apart from the lost factor", Kristi doesn't like being lost

Teams reach the endurance village (25km 26min) in the following order:
 1(+2) Alex & Conor
 2(+0) Kristi & Jen, just as team #1 is leaving
 3(+1) Henry & Evan, after team #2 have left
 4(-3) Cody & Jessica, as team #3 is finishing the task

Route info: "Milk a camel".
Teams have to milk a camel to get at least 4dl of milk. Unlike the last time the race milked camels (season 12) this cup has high edges and nobody is shown spilling any milk.
 "These hands were made for milking", Conor
 "I just was really excited to have face time with animals", Jen is excited
 "This is so cool", Evan
 "Oh my god, this is gross", Jessica is not quite as excited as the others have been

Cody is the only one who actually drinks the milk afterwards. Also, in the secret scenes we get to see Cody hit a traffic sign as they pull into the parking spot so before they can leave he has to change one of their tires as it is going flat.

Teams complete this task in the following order:
 1(+0) Alex & Conor
 2(+0) Kristi & Jen
 3(+0) Henry & Evan
 4(+0) Cody & Jessica

The next clue tells teams to drive themselves to the next pit stop at the Tree of life. This is a magnificent old tree in the middle of the dessert.

Teams arrive to the tree (27km 35min) and are greeted by Phil and a falconer in the following order:
 1(+0) Alex & Conor, win $7,500 each
 2(+0) Kristi & Jen
 3(+0) Henry & Evan
 4(+0) Cody & Jessica

Lucas & Brittany do not give up even though the have lost a passport. They manage to go to the American embassy and get a new one, as well as a visa to Bahrain. They get onto another flight to Bahrain,. All of this is actually kind of impressive. But it is all in vain, it is dark when they land and when they get to the shipyard they find Phil, who eliminates them on the spot.
 "We got some amazing experiences and we're going to be able to spend the rest of our lives with each other now", Lucas
« Last Edit: February 20, 2018, 11:33:40 AM by maf »

Offline maf

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Re: Racing report: TAR30 episode 10
« Reply #19 on: February 20, 2018, 03:40:39 PM »
Racing report
Amazing Race Season 30, Episode 10, "The first rule of the Amazing Race club"
Film date: 2017-10-20 - 2017-10-21

All driving times and distances are from Google and should be taken with a big helping of salt.

The last pit stop was at the Tree of life in Bahrain. Teams are released near the Muharraq's Falcon Monument in the following order:
1.Alex & Conor    10:18
2.Kristi & Jen    10:40+0:22
3.Henry & Evan    11:25+1:07
4.Cody & Jessica  12:05+1:47

Route info: Fly to Chiang Mai, Thailand Once teams land they must jump into Songthaws and make their way to Royal Park Rajapruek where they will find their next clue hidden among a herd of elephant statues.
 "What's a Songthaw? Is it like a spaceship?", Conor

At the airport we get to see Henry & Evan keep to themselves searching for flights while the other teams sit down and talk about how they want to be the final three.

In the end they are all on the same set of flights:
  EK840 BAH - DXB  17:35   - 19:49     (scheduled 17:50 - 20:00)
  EK374 DXB - BKK  22:30   - 08:11+1   (scheduled 22:30 - 08:00+1)
  PG270 BKK - CNX  10:00+1 - 11:23+1   (scheduled 10:00 - 11:15)


At the airport teams find four Songtaws, basically a small covered truck with benches in the back, waiting outside. The drivers have marginal English skills.
 "Unfortunately communication with the driver in one of these Songtaws is not easy", Kristi

While going to the first location the road passes through the mountains. The landscape here is simply gorgeous:
 "This may be my favorite spot of all of them so far", Jessica likes this place
 "I still think I like the American trees and hills better", Cody has a different opinion

The elephant status are located in the middle of a pretty large park so there is some running involved in getting to them. Teams reach them (11km 21min) in the following order:
 1. Alex & Conor
 2. Cody & Jessica
 3. Henry & Evan
 4. Kristi & Jen

Among the elephants each team find a garland and a note hanging from it. The note tells them to give the garland to one of four ladies in exchange for their next clue. The ladies can be found in the area around the royal pavilion.

 "This isn't not like awesome", Conor is awed by the place
 
Each lady only have one clue so finding one with a clue gets harder for the later teams. Teams get the next clue from one of the ladies in the following order:
 1(+0) Alex & Conor
 2(+1) Henry & Evan
 3(+1) Kristi & Jen
 4(-2) Cody & Jessica

Detour: Size it or Seize it

In Size it teams make their way to Patara Elephant farm (21km 34min). Here they must measure an elephant and calculate its weight.

In Seize it teams must travel to a marked rice paddy (17km 26min) and catch 20 bullfrogs.

Both detours are located along the same road, and teams going to the elephant detour would pass the frog detour on their way there.

Kristie & Jen initially decide to go for the elephants. En-route there they bicker a bit about which detour to take and when Jen sees that the frog place is closer they change and go for it.
 "I would love to play with elephants, but we do need to choose what is fastest", Jen

Catching frogs turns out to not be difficult. And to taunt the racers production have put a bunch of kids in the adjacent rice paddy. These kids have lots of frogs they are playing with.
 "Not only do we get to play with frogs. We get to play with frogs in the mud", Jessica, with a hint of sarcasm in her voice
 "This is disgusting", Jessica when entering the rice paddy
As you might guess from the comments above this is not Jessica's favorite task. She refuses to catch any frogs so Cody has to do all the catching for their team.

Kristi & Jen figure catching frogs is hard and that the other teams does not seem to make any progress. They decide to switch task immediately. Also Jen hops in front with the driver to avoid miscommunication and improve navigation. However we later learn that the map they have has a very liberal relationship to spatial geometry.

According to Jen the editing in section which follows is kind of deceptive. But the end result is that team Yale beat team Extreme to the elephant detour.

At the elephant detour teams are led to an elephant mother and her baby. The baby is only there for distraction as it is the mother they have to measure. Before they can do any measurements they have to get to know the elephant by giving her some fruit. Some of the measurements require that one team member get up on the elephants back. Nobody complains about his.

There is some math involved in calculating the weight of the elephant. Basically they have to calculate (girth_length*2.11)-4.425, and teams are not allowed to use calculators. The tricky part of this detour is getting all the measurements right. It's especially hard to measure the foot when the elephant keep moving it all the time.

Kristi & Jen get the foot circumference to 34cm and since the height of the elephant is supposed to be this times 2 their elephant should be 68cm high. They look at this value and realize that something is wrong. They redo the measurement and find that the circumference is actually 134cm.

Once teams get their measurements approved both team members get to ride the elephant down a trail. At the end of the trail they have to feed it a few pieces of fruit before they get their next clue.
 "I get to ride an elephant?", Jen can hardly believe her ears

After a while the teams doing the frog hunting figure out how to do it and they start catching the jumpy critters.
 "It was definitely impressive to see Cody in there like a swam rat", Conor
 "This is a boys detour", Jessica does not want to touch the frogs

Teams complete the detour in the following order:
 1(+3) Cody & Jessica, frog
 2(-1) Alex & Conor, frog
 3(+0) Kristi & Jen, elephant
 4(-2) Henry & Evan, elephant

Route info: "Make your way to the Original Khumkhantoke restaurant and search outside for your next clue."

Teams reach the restaurant in the following order:
 1(+1) Alex & Conor
 2(-1) Cody & Jessica, while Alex is still eating
 3(+0) Kristi & Jen, after the first two teams have left
 4(+0) Henry & Evan, after all other teams have left

Road block: "Who wants to Thai something new?"

In this road block players must eat three scorpions, a bunch of crickets and finally a frog (all seem to be stir-fried). And to increase their motivation live scorpions are placed on their teammate while they eat.

 "You sit down in this circle with these local people and they have like normal looking food.", Alex thinks this task is going to be great
 "I think this is a scorpion, I'm not that thrilled to be eating these", Jen
 "I know that Evan does not like bugs", Henry

The contestants getting the scorpions placed on them have different reactions. The reactions vary between Jessica who looks like she wants to scream, but is too scared to do it, to Henry who wants to pet them.

Henry seems to turn away so that Evan does not see his scorpions. She does not seem to enjoy her meal but she soldiers through it and get it done without complaining.

Teams complete this road block in the following order (* denotes team member doing the roadblock):
1(+0)Alex* & Conor    (4-3)
2(+0)Cody* & Jessica  (4-3)
3(+0)Kristi & Jen*    (3-4)
4(+0)Henry & Evan*    (3-4)

Quote
ROUTE INFO

Make your way to your
next Pit Stop at Wat
Ched Luangm known
locally as
วัดเจดีย์หลวง, and search
the grounds for Phil.

Warning: The last team
to check in may be
eliminated.

 "Remember how I said this was my favorite place? I'm kind of taking that back", Jessica did not enjoy the scorpions
 "Third place is fine when there's like 9 teams. Third place when there's 4 teams is stressful", Jen
 "We're still in it until we're not", Evan probably suspects a non-elimination leg

The extra info tells teams that Watt Ched Luang is a temple and running is not allowed on the temple grounds. So we get a slow race to the pit stop.

Teams reach Phil in the following order:
 1(+0) Alex & Conor, win a trip to Curacao
 2(+0) Cody & Jessica, a few seconds after #1
 3(+0) Kristi & Jen
 4(+0) Henry & Evan, are saved by a non-elimination

 "I contributed nothing to this leg of the race", Jessica
 "You have not finished lower than third on any leg of the race", Phil to Kristie & Jen
 "We had a good last few legs and this is the time to really step on the throttle", Conor
 "There has only been three all-female teams to win the Amazing race and we want to be the fourth team to accomplish that", Jen
 "I always had the expectation that we would do extremely well on this race", Cody
 "Henry and I stack up against these teams really really well, even when we're at a disadvantage", Evan


Offline maf

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Re: Racing report: TAR30 episode 11
« Reply #20 on: March 01, 2018, 10:57:09 AM »
Racing report
Amazing Race Season 30, Episode 11, "It’s just a million dollars, no pressure”
Film date: 2017-10-22


The last pit stop was at Wat Ched Luangm in Chiang Mai, Thailand. And this is where teams are released the next day in the following order:
1.Alex & Conor    06:45
2.Cody & Jessica  06:47+0:02
3.Kristi & Jen    07:15+0:30
4.Henry & Evan    07:44+0:59

Route info: "Fly to the Pearl of the Orient, Hong Kong." Once in Hong Kong teams must head to Victoria Peak where they must find a photography kiosk to get their next clue.

 "Even though we're all arriving at the same time at least Yale has a speed bump because we want them to go out this leg", Cody
 "I wish yesterday was an elim... so bad", Alex

All teams are on the same set of flights:[/i]]
  PG224  CNX - BKK  12:03 - 13:32  (scheduled 12:00 - 13:20)
  CX654  BKK - HKG  15:41 - 19:32  (scheduled 14:55 - 18:45)
[/tt]

When teams arrive in Hong Kong there is the customary mad dash through the airport to the taxis. Teams then make their way to the Lions Pavilion lookout point on Victoria Peak.

In the taxi we learn that Henry speaks a little bit of Mandarin. Which helps a bit but in Hong Kong most people speak Cantonese.

Kristi & Jen's taxi drive to the wrong spot and end up going the wrong way on a small road a little bit lower down on the mountain. In the end they ask the driver to turn around while they run up to the pavilion (the sign says it is a 8 minutes walk).

Teams arrive to the photo kiosk on Victoria Peak in the following order:
 1. Alex & Conor
 -  Henry & Evan, find their speed bump
 2. Cody & Jessica
 3. Kristi & Jen
 4. Henry & Evan

Here Henry & Evan find their speed bump: "Light the way by turning on all the lanterns to receive your next clue". They must now illuminate and hang 40 Chinese lanterns. This task is not difficult, it just takes some time to complete.
 "Our taxi driver Henry is here cheering us on", Henry (& Evan) have a good relationship with their driver, who is also named Henry

At the photography kiosk they guy running it ask if teams want to have a picture taken. He does not take no for an answer and takes and prints a picture of each team with Hong Kong in the background. When he hands over the printout he also adds the next clue.

Route info: "Travel by taxi to Aberdeen and search the waterfront for your next clue".

 "I feel like the other three teams have agreed to freeze us out", Evan (and she is right)

The clue box at the waterfront is elusive. Partly because production has placed some nets and other fishing stuff in front of it. Nevertheless, teams find it in the following order:
 1(+2) Kristi & Jen
 2(-1) Alex & Conor
 3(-1) Cody & Jessica
 4(+0) Henry & Evan

Detour: Hairy Crab or Grub Grab

In Hairy crab teams must do as the local fishermen and secure a basket of hairy crabs for transport. That is they must take 50 crabs and wrap each up in string so it can not move. To make the task a little bit more difficult they must do this outside on a boat in a simulated typhoon, that is a rain machine and a fan.

In Grub Grab teams must make their way to Jin Bao Seafood Restaurant. Here one team member must act as the waiter and take the orders of 8 customers, all speaking Cantonese. They must then relay this order to their partner in the kitchen. In the kitchen there are trays of food with labels. The labels have the dish name in Cantonese and English. The person in the kitchen must figure out which dish the partner say the customer is ordering and prepare the food (i.e. place some of it on plates) and hand over to the serving team member.

The detours take place at different locations and teams must travel there on marked boats.

 "I don't like crabs, I don't like seafood", Jessica

The crab detour takes place on a boat and teams are given rain coats. The crabs are lively and use their pincers.
 "I would love your cooperation my friend", Jen talks to a crab
 "The crabs were vicious killers", Conor

Alex & Conor have a very hard time with the crabs so they decide to switch. They arrive to the restaurant just before Henry & Evan.
 "The crab thing was horrible", Alex to Evan as they wait in the kitchen

The restaurant side also seems hard. To increase the noise level production has places a guy playing Erhu (a string instrument) in the corner. And the customers are talking softly and quickly.
 "This is impossible", Conor comes into the kitchen to vent
 "We have to do this one, we can't switch", Alex
 "That was so hard, they speak so fast", Henry also thinks it is hard

Some of the orders they have to fetch are (thanks to cbacbacba1):
  豉汁帶子蒸豆腐 Si Zap Daai Zi Zing Dau Fu (Steam tofu with Scallop in Black Bean Sauce)
  蒜蓉開邊蒸蝦 Syun Jung Hoi Bin Zing Haa (Steam prawn in garlic sauce)
  薑蔥霸王雞 (Chicken with Ginger & Scallions)
  金菇紅燒豆腐 Gun Go Hong Siu Dau Fu (Braised Tofu with Mushrooms)
  金銀蛋浸時蔬 Gam Ngan Daan Zam Si So (Golden and Silver Eggs with Amaranth)
  蒜蓉粉絲蒸鮮魷 Syun Jung Fun Si Zing Sin Yau (Steam Squid with clear noodle in garlic sauce)

Meanwhile the teams at the crab detour are complaining that it takes a long time.
 "This challenge sucks and I hate it", Jessica

Alex soon figures out a strategy and start do deliver some food. When he is done the Maitre d'or asks if everybody got what they ordered, and three of them shakes their heads. This means that the racers are told which orders they got wrong and this makes the task a lot easier.

Teams complete the detour in the following order:
 1(+3) Henry & Evan, restaurant
 2(+0) Alex & Conor, started crab but switched to restaurant
 3(+0) Cody & Jessica, crab
 4(-3) Kristi & Jen, crab

Route info: "Make your way back by taxi to the roof of central pier no 4 and search for your next clue."

Teams arrive to the clue box on the pier in the following order:
 1(+0) Henry & Evan
 2(+0) Alex & Conor, arrive as Henry is still smashing
 3(+0) Cody & Jessica, arrive as Conor seems to be finishing up
 4(+0) Kristi & Jen, arrive as Cody is smashing stuff

Road block: Who wants to get smashed?

In this road block one team member get to put on protection and must then smash a bunch of electronics (old school TV's computers etc) and a couple of vases with a baseball bat. They must find two halves of a clue hidden inside some of the pieces. Once they are done they must throw a bucket of paint over the wreckage to create an art installation.

While they do this their partner gets a briefcase handcuffed to their wrist.

The old TV's and other electronics is surprisingly tough so it is quite hard to break them. Each team managed to break at least one bat in the process. No worries though, production has brought a bunch of them so they get free replacements.

 "It felt pretty awesome to be smashing all that stuff", Henry got some aggression's out of his system
 "Cody is smashing the crap out of some stuff", Jessica
 "Ouch, that was really painful", Kristi after her first swing bounces back

Kristi & Jen are feeling the pressure here. They need to be in front of at least one team and in this case the closes team is Cody & Jessica. But Cody is in cyborg mode and smashing stuff like a terminator. That is hard to beat.

 "This is so hard to watch", Jen watches as Kristi is in pain

Teams complete this road block in the following order (* denotes team member doing the roadblock):
1(+0)Henry* & Evan    (4-4)
2(+0)Alex & Conor*    (4-4)
3(+0)Cody* & Jessica  (5-3)
4(+0)Kristi* & Jen    (4-4)13 minutes after the previous team

Route info: Travel by taxi to Lan Kwai Fong...

Teams must now make their way to Lan Kwai Fong, described by Phil as the heart of Hong Kong nightlife. Here they must search for signs representing three of the race legs. The signs they need to find are:
* a green/white happy hour sign with a picture of the arch from Washington Square park representing leg 1
* a yellow and red neon fez representing Morocco in leg 3
* a red and yellow bull representing Provence in leg 5

These leg numbers are the digits of the code which opens the briefcase they got at the road block. They just have to try the various combinations. As an added twist each briefcase has a different order.

On their way to Lan Kwai Fong Henry & Evan make list of the legs and which numbers they had, this is a good idea. Afterwards we learn that at least Kristi & Jen also made such a list. The girls also started an exhaustive search of all combinations to their briefcase and if the taxi trip had been a bit longer they might have gotten it open before even arriving.

Lan Kwai Fong turns out to be a crowded chaotic street. And there are tons of signs here.

The arch sign is the hardest one. Not only is it hard to spot since it is not in race colors but once teams spot it their first guess is that it depicts the Arc'd Triumphe in Paris, which this race did not visit. The fact that numerous more or less drunk locals point teams to it does not help at all. Specially since some other residents are fans of Cody & Jessica and actively try to misdirect the other teams.

Henry & Evan is the first team to get it and they leave before Kristi & Jen arrive to the street. This just adds pressure on the remaining teams since they know that one of them is going home.

As Henry & Evan rush down the street to find a taxi they pass Alex & Conor. Henry can not help himself but blurts out that they are too far down on the street (which they are). Evan is not happy about him helping another team here. Later in the taxi she explains:
 "I like Indy car but it is way too tight to help them", Evan

Later we learn that Kristi & Jen thinks the same:
 "We have a close relationship with Cody & Jessica, but it was like an us or them scenario today", Jen

Both Kristi & Jen and Cody & Jessica separately arrive at a situation where they are pretty sure they have two numbers so they just try to guess the last digit by brute forcing. It also helps that the briefcase has two locks with the same combination so they can both work independently.

Teams opens their briefcases in the following order:
 1(+0) Henry & Evan
 2(+1) Cody & Jessica
 3(+1) Kristi & Jen

Inside the briefcase they find two road signs for "Johnston Road" and "Wan Chai Road" and a key to the handcuffs which is attaching the briefcase to one of the team members.

Teams quickly realize that they have to make their way to this intersection, and once there they find Phil and the mat.

As Henry & Evan catch sight of the pit stop they start rushing across the street and are nearly hit by a tram.
 "Let's not get killed", Evan

Teams check with Phil in the following order:
 1(+0) Henry & Evan
 2(+0) Cody & Jessica
 3(+0) Kristi & Jen

At the mat Phil tells Henry & Evan that they have made history as they are the third team to ever complete a speed bump and win the leg.

Phil also tells teams that the last leg will take place in San Francisco and that teams will get to fly business class on their way there.

Cody & Jessica arrive at the mat as Phil is chatting with Henry & Evan. Jessica is visibly sad at the mat.
 "Losing people gets harder because we're friends at this point", Jessica
Later in interviews they spell it out that they are every unhappy that Henry & Evan is one of the three teams going to the final.

It seems as if Kristi & Jen checked in around 01:00 and at about 03:30 Phil goes to Lan Kwai Fong where Alex & Conor are still trying to find the signs.
 "Shoot", Alex reaction upon seeing Phil
Phil eliminates them on the spot.

 "It was an honor to meet these people and race with them", Alex about the other teams

Offline maf

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Re: Racing report: TAR30 episode 12
« Reply #21 on: March 05, 2018, 11:21:22 AM »
Racing report
Amazing Race Season 30, Episode 11, "It’s just a million dollars, no pressure”
Film date: 2017-10-23 - 2017-10-24

The last pt stop was in Hong Kong at night. Teams only get a few hours of rest before the next leg starts in the morning. We do not get to see the start but instead find teams at the airport. The first two teams, Henry & Evan and Cody & Jessica are waiting to see which third team made it into the finals.

 "I want the win more than the money, I just want to win it", Cody
 "I want the money", Jessica

The last destination is San Francisco and this time production has provided flights. They have even been nice and given the teams business class seats on the log leg from Taipei to San Francisco. All teams fly:
  CI916  HKG - TPE  18:06 - 19:45  (scheduled 17:35 - 19:30)
  CI004  TPE - SFO  23:47 - 20:01  (scheduled 23:35 - 20:00)

Note that since it crosses the international dateline this flight lands before it starts according to the local time at the destination.

 "Just a million dollars, no pressure", Jessica gets the title

Henry & Evan check their bags and then do not pick them up in San Francisco. Kristi & Jen just left their bags on the plane (they were eventually able to get them back, but there was some fuss). Cody is the only once racing with a backpack on this last leg.

Once teams land in San Francisco they must make their way to AT&T Park where they must find the "Hey kid" statue of Willie Howard Mays.

There is the customary rush through the airport and into the taxis.

 "It smells like America, this is my place", Cody is glad to be back

Teams arrive at the statue in the following order:
 1. Cody & Jessica
 2. Kristi & Jen
 3. Henry & Evan

Route info: "Pull some balls from the drink" "Find three numbered baseballs to represent the career home runs Willie Mays hit during his stellar baseball career." In this task teams must make their way to pier 40 (500m) and get into kayaks and paddle to the McCovey cove outside AT&T park. Here they must search among hundreds of baseballs for ones with digits printed on them.

The number they need to make up is 660 and can be found on the statue of Willie May behind the clue box. But nobody thinks about looking here.
 "Should we ask someone?", Jessica
 "No, let's just go", Cody

In fact the only teams which checks which number they need to get before they get into the water is Kristi & Jen who ask a local to google it.

 "What are the numbers we are looking for?", Evan realizes they are missing something when they start picking up balls
 "It doesn't say what numbers they are", Henry (the clue does not say)

The two teams who did not look up the number beforehand apparently think that only balls with the correct digits are going to be in the water and it's all about finding the order. But after they find four different numbers they realize this is not the case. Cody & Jessica paddle to the shore and ask one of the onlookers to google the answer. Henry & Evan see this and paddle close so that they can hear the response.

Apparently it took a while to paddle from pier 40 to the landing zone. So the teams which did not look up the number beforehand are very lucky that there is a helpful bystander who can look it up for them.

To add to the action we have Lou Seal, the giants mascot, throwing additional balls into the water.

Eventually teams complete this task in the following order:
 1(+1) Kristi & Jen
 2(-1) Cody & Jessica
 3(+0) Henry & Evan

The umpire hands them their next clue and tells them to go to their team zodiac.

Road block: "Who brought an extra pair of underwear?"

In this task one team member must use a mechanical ascender to climb over 200 feet up the anchorage of the Bay Bridge. Once at the top they will go inside the structure and do a free fall jump, with a descender, into the black abyss. Once back at the bottom they will get their next clue and can reunite with their partner.

Kristi & Jen are a bit confused here so they waste some time before they realize they have to get into the zodiac as well. So one team passes them on their way to the bridge.

Once at the bridge the participating players sit up in safety gear and start climbing up on the outside of the anchorage.

 "Your butt looks great from down here babe", Jessica to Cody
 "Your butt looks great too Evan", Jessica fills in for Henry

Once at the top there is some more rigging, including putting on a bunch of lights. Once rigged players can walk out on a plank and into the abyss. They are held up by a rope going to a descender which will slow their fall as they close in on the bottom for a fairly soft landing.

 "I hate tall buildings", Kristi is about to drop down

Teams complete this road block in the following order (* denotes team member doing the roadblock):
1(+1)Cody* & Jessica  (6-3)
2(-1)Kristi* & Jen    (5-4)2.5 min after #1
3(+0)Henry & Evan*    (4-5)14 min after #1

The next clue is a picture puzzle which when solved leads teams to the Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory.

In the boat en-route to the shore Jessica tells the camera that they are not sure of what kind of factory they are going to, only that it is named "Golden gate" something.
 "We are at the Golden Gate bridge so we know it's going to be somewhere close", Jessica as production put up a sign that the bridge behind them is in fact the Bay Bridge.

Once back on land teams talk to people and with some googling teams figure out where they are going. The first two teams run there while Henry & Evan take a taxi.

They arrive at the cookie factory in the following order:
1(+0) Cody & Jessica
2(+0) Kristi & Jen
3(+0) Henry & Evan, while the first two teams are still doing the task

Here each team member must make 51 perfect fortune cookies. There is a machine making the patties so "all" the racers need to do is grab them as they come out of the oven, i.e. they are hot, and put a piece of paper in them and fold. All of this has to be done fairly quickly before the patties set.
 "These are really hot", Cody

There are gloves the racers can use, but those make it harder to grab the papers they have to put inside so it is a trade off.

There is a special tray where the racers place the cookies in small holes. Once they are done the master baker inspects the tray and throws out any cookies which are not up to his standards.

Teams complete this task in the following order:
 1(+1) Kristi & Jen
 2(-1) Cody & Jessica
 3(+0) Henry & Evan, did close the gap to the team in front of them

Once teams are done they get a giant fortune cookie with a race clue inside. In the telecast it sounds as if this clue sends teams to the USS Hornet. But in reality it sent them to City Hall. City Hall was lit up in red and yellow, we get to see a short shot of this in the telecast, and here they find the clue sending them to the USS Hornet.

Teams reach the USS Hornet in the following order
 1(+0) Kristi & Jen
 2(+1) Henry & Evan
 3(-1) Cody & Jessica

Route info: “This is It! Search the U.S.S. Hornet to find 12 airplane parts. Then, ONE of you must assemble your plane to show one image from each leg of the race. When you think your plane is “properly assembled,” ask the Captain to check your work. If it’s correct, he’ll clear you for takeoff.”

They must assemble the plane at one end of the flight deck. Phil and the eliminated teams wait at the finish line at the other end. So teams can see the finish line from where they do the assembling part of this task.

The plane they must assemble is more like a large toy. The body is there but they have to search the ship for 12 parts (wings, propeller etc). The planes and parts are color coded. The plane only needs 6 parts but the racers have to pick the right 6 parts.

 "This place is like a maze", Cody
 
It is not show explicitly but the person assembling the plane must be the person who did not do the road block.

Teams find all their pieces and start to assemble their planes in the following order (* denotes the person assembling the plane)
 1(+0) Kristi & Jen* (spent 1h 11min searching for parts)
 2(+1) Cody & Jessica*
 3(-1) Henry* & Evan

The following table (done by Neobie) lists the parts the different
teams got:
White (Jessica)Red (Jen)Blue (Henry)
Helmet (Iceland, 1)/Fish (Tangiers, 3)Left wingPropellerWing
Fries (Antwerp, 2)/Elephant (Chiang Mai, 10)Left wingTailplaneTail fin
Pontoon (Imire, 7)/Scales (Bahrain, 9)PropellerLeft wingTailplane
Magnifying glass (Prague, 6)/Paddle (San Francisco, 12)Tail finLeft wingPropeller
Rudder (St-Tropez, 4)/Handcuffs (Hong Kong, 11)TailplaneTail finTailplane
Knight (Arles, 5)/Microphone (Harare, 8 )TailplaneTailplaneLeft wing
Map of Geneva?/Train (Imire, 7)PropellerRight wingTailplane
Drinking horn (Iceland, 1)/Rope ladder (Antwerp, 2)Right wingTailplanePropeller
Fish (Tangiers, 3)/Fortune cookie (San Francisco, 12)Right wingPropellerTailplane
Tyre (Harare, 8 )/Scorpion (Chiang Mai, 10)Tail finTailplaneWing
Helmet (Iceland, 1)/Falcon (Bahrain, 9)TailplaneTail finRight wing
Beer spa (Prague, 6)/Baseball bats (Hong Kong, 11)TailplaneRight wingTail fin
Bold denotes correct answer.

The wings, although toy-like, have leading edges on them so there are clearly left and right wings. However the "correct" solution required teams to put the two left wings on the plane. I.e. one of them was facing backwards. There are quite a few viewers who think this was a very poor decision of the producers. It means that the task favored teams who used the brute-force approach rather than the logical think-it-through method.

The task is time consuming so for a long time we have all three teams working side by side within sight of the pit stop. This makes it fairly exciting.

Evan is nervous here which makes her yell a lot of encouragements to Henry.
 "Come on Hen, you've got this", Evan
 "Oh my god, tell her to shut up", Jessica is not happy about Evans talking

This is a hard puzzle and all players doing it are more or less frustrated. There are many calls for the judge to check and many cases of "This plane is not cleared for takeoff".

The puzzle part of this task takes more than a hour to solve.

At one point the graphic on the screen show that Henry actually have the right solution. but he switches one part before asking for a check so that chance is lost.

In the end teams get the planes approved in the following order:
 1(+1) Cody & Jessica, on their 10th check
 2(+1) Henry & Evan, about 10 minutes after #1
 3(-2) Kristi & Jen, more than 1h later

Once the plane is approved they can roll it over to their team mate and run together to the finish line. This is hard to miss since they can see it so teams reach the finish line in the following order:
 1(+0) Cody & Jessica, win the $1,000,000
 2(+0) Henry & Evan
 3(+0) Kristi & Jen

 "9 countries, 21 cities, more than 29,000 miles", Phil tells the distance they have traveled

 "It was truly an amazing experience to run this race", Jen
 "I think the best thing we got out of the race was just a set of really incredible experiences", Evan
 "My daughter gets to see this, and she gets to see her dad win", Cody

Offline Marionete

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Re: Racing report: TAR30 episode 11 is on page 1
« Reply #22 on: March 05, 2018, 04:15:54 PM »
Great reports, as always, maf!

I love these because they're so in-depth and document most, if not all of the relevant information for each episode.

Offline BourkieBoy

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Re: Racing report: TAR30 episode 11 is on page 1
« Reply #23 on: March 05, 2018, 11:01:14 PM »
Thank you so muck (again), for these absolutely wonderful reports!

They are so good to refer to, if I'm not sure about what's gone on in those episodes!

Offline claude_24hrs

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Re: Racing report: TAR30 episode 11 is on page 1
« Reply #24 on: March 06, 2018, 12:10:15 AM »
Delete as mistaken info. See Neobie's updated post in TAR Maps thread.
« Last Edit: March 06, 2018, 10:42:36 AM by claude_24hrs »