AMAZING RACE 37 > AMAZING RACE 37
Re: Racing reports TAR 37, episode #9 is on page 1
maf:
Racing report
Amazing Race Season 37, Episode 4, "There's No Addresses in the Jungle"
Film date: 2024-05-26 - 2024-05-27
The last episode ended at the Konkai Komyo-ji in Kyoto, Japan. For this leg teams are released from Utsubo Park, Osaka, in the following order:
PosTeamTimeDelta 1.Scott & Lori 01:45 2.Carson & Jack 01:48+0:03 3.Jonathan & Ana 02:09+0:24 4.Melinda & Erika 02:35+0:50 5.Brett & Mark 02:36+0:51 6.Pops & Jeff 02:40+0:55 7.Alyssa & Josiah 03:03+1:18 8.Nick & Mike 04:36+2:51 9.Han & Holden 04:56+3:1110.Bernie & Carrigain05:38+3:53
The first clue is a route info which tells teams to fly to Bali, Indonesia.
We can assume that the clue also told teams that they must buy their tickets to Bali at GS Travel because everybody makes their way there. Teams end up on two different flights:
Flight #1 was probably:
GK230 KIX-NRT 07:32 - 08:37 (Scheduled 07:15 - 08:40)
GA881 NRT-DPS 11:00 - 17:27 (Scheduled 11:00 - 17:25)
This carries:
Jonathan & Ana
Carson & Jack
Melinda & Erika
Han & Holden
Brett & Mark
Nick & Mike
Scott & Lori
Alyssa & Josiah
Pops & Jeff
Flight #2 was probably:
SQ619 KIX-SIN 11:09 - 16:06 (Scheduled 10:55 - 16:12)
QZ507 SIN-DPS 18:01 - 20:20 (Scheduled 17:30 - 20:15)
This carries:
Bernie & Carrigain
Once teams land the get into taxis and make their way to Pura Puseh Bali Aga Bayad.
At the temple (44km) teams find a sign "Your clue will arrive with the rising sun" and a board with numbers. Teams reach this in the following order:
1. Jonathan & Ana
2. Nick & Mike
3. Scott & Lori
4. Han & Holden
5. Alyssa & Josiah
6. Pops & Jeff
7. Brett & Mark
8. Melinda & Erika
9. Carson & Jack
10. Bernie & Carrigain
The next morning an ATV arrives and the passenger starts handing out clues. Teams are going on an ATV adventure. They will depart in the order they arrived last night and must drive along a course through the jungle, a cave and when they get to a waterfall they can pick up their next clue. Each team gets one ATV.
"There's no addresses in the jungle", Josiah gets the title
the ATV trip looks wonderful but there is no way of passing so from a race perspective it is kind of meaningless. But it looks very fun.
The next clue tells teams to travel by taxi to the rice fields of Tapaksiring to find their next clue.
Teams reach the clue box at Gabah Ayu (19km) in the following order:
1(+0) Jonathan & Ana
2(+1) Scott & Lori
3(-1) Nick & Mike, just after #2
4(+1) Alyssa & Josiah
5(-1) Han & Holden
6(+3) Carson & Jack, seconds after #5
7(-1) Pops & Jeff
8(+0) Melinda & Erika
9(+1) Bernie & Carrigain
10(-3) Brett & Mark
Road block: Who thinks they can rice to the occasion?
In this road block teams must extract rice from the husks by threshing the plants.
The first team to reach it also encounters the drivers seat. They get to decide how much rice each team has to extract. They have to pick 5 teams which have to do 25lb, 3 teams doing 20lb and 2 teams to do 15lb. Basically it is very hard to do this without making enemies. Jonathan & Ana decide to give 25lb to the teams just behind them to give themselves more time, but then they mess up and also assign 25lb to Bernie & Carrigan. In their podcast Jonathan & Ana tell that production only gave them 5 minutes to think and make their decision here so they got a bit rushed by the end and had to make some snap decisions.
After Jonathan & Ana have selected which team has to do how much rice they take a look at the task. Ana thins this is going to take forever so they decide to use the express pass. To me (sitting in my comfy chair) this feels like a very bad decision, not only are their already in the lead. They have also just assigned the next few teams the most rice so they should already have a cushion. And the express pass might have been handy in future legs. On the other had I later learned that the pass was only valid until the end of leg #5, but this does not really affect the arguments.
When Scott & Lori arrive they do not see Jonathan & Ana and as they know they were not that far behind they realize that Jonathan & Ana must have used the express pass.
"I don't mind being assigned the highest, but it's because it's from them, I'm kind of pissed", Lori thought they were close with Jonathan & Ana
Brett & Mark have bad luck with their taxi. When the dirt track they are following becomes very narrow they realize that this is wrong. They check the drivers phone and see that the place they need to go to is 43 minutes away. They did look up the place on the phone when they got into the taxi but apparently the driver must have picked a different destination.
At this task Scott seems to overplay the age card (the fact that they are older). The other teams do not really buy it as they are constantly in the top.
"I got rice in my eyes", Nick on the unforeseen dangers of this task
Brett & Mark arrive to this task as the 5th team is leaving.
Teams leaves this road block in the following order (* denotes team member doing the roadblock):
1(+0)Jonathan & Ana* (2-2)had to do 15lb but used their express pass 2(+0)Scott & Lori* (2-2)had to do 25lb 3(+0)Nick* & Mike (2-2)had to do 25lb 4(+1)Han* & Holden (2-2)had to do 20lb 5(-1)Alyssa* & Josiah (2-2)had to do 25lb 6(+0)Carson & Jack* (2-2)had to do 20lb 7(+1)Melinda* & Erika (1-3)had to do 15lb 8(-1)Pops & Jeff* (2-2)had to do 25lb 9(+1)Brett & Mark* (2-2)had to do 20lb10(-1)Bernie & Carrigain*(2-2)had to do 25lb
Route info: Make your way by taxi to Penglipuran village.
"I think Bali has been may favorite because we got to do something fun, and I got to see my mom crush a Roadblock", Erika
"Right now, I'm a proud dad", Pops
"Right now? What about all the time?", Jeff
Teams arrive to the clue box in the village (9km) in the following order:
1(+0) Jonathan & Ana
2(+0) Scott & Lori
3(+1) Han & Holden
4(-1) Nick & Mike, just after #3
5(+0) Alyssa & Josiah
6(+0) Carson & Jack
7(+0) Melinda & Erika
8(+1) Brett & Mark
9(-1) Pops & Jeff, just after #8
10(+0) Bernie & Carrigain
Detour: Penjor or Pajegan
In Pejnor teams must decorate a long bamboo pole with leaves, flowers and offerings. Once their Penjor has been approved they must carry it along the main street until they find a marked stand to place it in.
In Pajegan teams must build two traditional Balinese offerings. The tricky part here is that they must find the marked stores and by the fruit and flowers needed there. Once they have everything it seems to be fairly easy to assemble the Pajegan. Once approved they must balance them on their heads (they can use their hands to hold them) and deliver them to a temple.
When they arrive to the field where they get to build the Penjor Jonathan starts complaining that he needs to go to the bathroom. He is more or less useless until Ana relents and lets him go.
Han & Holden are at the detour decision point at the same time as Nick & Mike so they decide to do the Pajegan together.
There is a sign just behind the clue box with arrows pointing in which direction the detours are. But both Alyssa & Josiah and Bernie & Carrigan miss it. Bernie & Carrigan seems to spend quite a lot of time searching for the detour location. In an interview we get to see Carrigan point out that she did see it on the map and though that she knew how to get there, but Bernie said they should go this other way which made them get lost again. So their teamwork is not really working at this moment. When they finally get to the detour location they find four other teams there working on it, this gives them a bit of hope.
Nick & Mike are quicker in assembling their offerings than Han & Holden but as Mike is delivering his he leans a bit too much forward so his offering collapses. They have to reassemble it on the spot and this allows Han & Holden to pass them.
Teams complete the detour in the following order:
1(+0) Jonathan & Ana, penjor
2(+0) Scott & Lori, penjor
3(+3) Carson & Jack, penjor
4(-1) Han & Holden, offering
5(-1) Nick & Mike, offering
6(-1) Alyssa & Josiah, penjor
7(+1) Brett & Mark, penjor
8(-1) Melinda & Erika, penjor
9(+0) Pops & Jeff, penjor
10(+0) Bernie & Carrigain, penjor
Route info: Race to the Pit Stop. Make your way on foot to Pura Dalem Pelapuran, Penglipuran.
Brett & Mark, nick & Mike and Alyssa & Josiah end up running to the Pit Stop together. But they make a left turn too early and end up going in a big circle and end up where they started. On their next attempt they find the Pit Stop. Melinda also wants to turn left at the same place but Erika insists they need to go straight.
Teams reach the mat (750m) in the following order:
1(+0) Jonathan & Ana, win Expedia points for a trip to Croatia and Montenegro
2(+1) Carson & Jack
3(-1) Scott & Lori
4(+4) Melinda & Erika
5(+1) Alyssa & Josiah
6(-2) Han & Holden
7(+0) Brett & Mark
8(-3) Nick & Mike
9(+0) Pops & Jeff, while the previous 5 teams are still on the mat
10(+0) Bernie & Carrigain, are eliminated
Here we end up with 6 teams simultaneously at the mat. Phil talks a bit with them, they talk about how Jonathan & Ana has target on their back after both having finished very strong and also after what they did with the drivers seat. Melinda talk about how Scott & Lori claim to be the slowest team but she is convinced that they are faster than her. It seems all teams agree that Scott & Lori are trying to downplay their own abilities.
"Everything that we saw, everything that we got to do was, like, so magical", Carrigan
maf:
Racing report
Amazing Race Season 37, Episode 5, "It's Not Personal, It's Business"
Film date: probably 2024-05-28
The last episode ended at Pura Dalem Pelapuran, Penglipuran. Teams spent the night in home-stays in Penglipuran village and are then released for the next leg in the following order:
PosTeamTimeDelta1.Jonathan & Ana 04:582.Carson & Jack 05:40+0:423.Scott & Lori 05:41+0:434.Melinda & Erika 05:57+0:595.Alyssa & Josiah 06:00+1:026.Han & Holden 06:01+1:037.Brett & Mark 06:03+1:058.Nick & Mike 06:04+1:069.Pops & Jeff 06:05+1:07
The first clue tells teams to travel to the sacred monkey forest in Ubud. Here as everywhere else during the Bali legs production seems to have arranged waiting taxis. They are all from the same company and look very clean.
We also learn that Jonathan & Ana got pregnant last summer but the pregnancy did not end well, it was a hard time but they got through it together.
In the last leg Nick got a little bit of rice in his eye so it is quite swollen today.
Phil tells us that teams will encounter a double U-turn vote in the monkey forest. Often when there is an U-turn coming up the earlier clues tells teams this, presumably all so that they will have time to conspire with each other. But it seems as if this one comes as a surprise to them.
The drive to the monkey forest teams takes about 40 minutes and once there teams find a sign saying that it will open at 8:00. There is a bit of discussing the Drivers seat from the last leg while they wait.
At 8 teams get to walk up through the monkey forest and eventually they leave their bags and line up in front of Phil. And that is where Phil tells them that two teams will have a monkey on their back after they have completed a live double U-Turn vote.
This time each team get a pack of pictures of all the teams. The contestants are given a short while to confer with their team mates, but not between the teams. Then they gather back with Phil again and reveal their votes.
If you are going to have a U-Turn vote then I think this is the best way to do it. Teams are not given any chance to work together to vote strategically and unlike season 31 teams can not base their vote on what the teams going before them has voted.
"We came in here guilting them a little bit in the hopes that they won't U-Turn us", Scott about Jonathan & Ana
"It's not personal, it's business", Jeff gets the title as they decide
During the vote revealing Scott & Lori play the "we are old and slow" card again. This is not received well by the other teams. They may be old and not be that fast when it comes to running, but they are good at the challenges and have never finished outside the top three.
After some internal team deliberations the votes are revealed to be:
Brett & Mark votes for Scott & Lori
Jonathan & Ana votes for Nick & Mike
Pops & Jeff votes for Jonathan & Ana
Han & Holden votes for Scott & Lori
Melinda & Erika votes for Scott & Lori
Carson & Jack votes for Jonathan & Ana
Nick & Mike votes for Scott & Lori
Alyssa & Josiah votes for Jonathan & Ana
Scott & Lori votes for Jonathan & Ana
So the end result is that Scott & Lori and Jonathan & Ana get four votes each and Nick & Mike gets the last one.
Scott & Lori does not take getting this many votes well.
"I know it's a game and a competition, but some of these teams are our friends. They're not my friends anymore.", Lori
Then Phil gives teams their next clue and restarts the race.
Route info: Travel by taxi to Pantai Pandawa to find your next clue at the Gazebo Pier Segura.
Teams jump into the waiting taxis and make their way to Pantai Pandawa (55km).
Team reach the next clue box in the following order:
1. Han & Holden
2. Brett & Mark
3. Nick & Mike
4. Carson & Jack
5. Alyssa & Josiah
6. Melinda & Erika
7. Jonathan & Ana
8. Pops & Jeff
9. Scott & Lori
Detour: Coconuts or Coral?
In coconut teams must use a bicycle to transport 60 coconuts to a beach cafe along the shoreline (550m). At the destination they must stack 30 of them atop a table and place the rest next to it. Once done they get a receipt they can bring back and exchange for their next clue.
In coral teams must attach 18 pieces of coral belonging to five different species to a frame. Which species of coral they place where matters. Once approved they must get into the water and plant it on the sea floor outside a couple of buoys.
For the coconut detour teams see that the bike is just an ordinary bike, there is no cargo rack or anything. But the coconuts do come in bunches so it possible to hang bunches on the bike. But there is no way of transporting 60 coconuts in one trip so everybody makes multiple trips. It seems teams make between 2 and four trips each. Nick & Mike is the only team which seems to have any issues with the stacking part of the detour, but they on the other hand struggles a lot with it.
"Just be one with the coconut", Holden while stacking
In the coral detour Jonathan & Ana start by just quickly strap 18 pieces of coral to their cage, but this is not approved. It seems they did not stop and realize that the type of coral matters. One additional wrinkle in this task is that the corals only show their colors when they are wet, so if you leave them out of the water for too long it gets a lot harder telling the different kinds from each other.
We learn that Ana almost drowned when she was 5 so she has a big fear of going into open water. But she is race mode so after a false start she does get into the water to help place their coral scaffolding.
"Maybe slow and steady does win this race", Josiah realize they can't run with a bike carrying 30 coconuts
Both the U-turned teams struggle with the second detour. Jonathan is about to shut down from the heat and Scott & Lori just can't get their coral correct. When Jonathan & Ana finish with the coconuts Jonathan is in a bad shape. He complains about headache and makes a point of refusing to move until he has had a little break and drunk some water.
"I had reached my personal limit, as far as sun exposure and heat exposure goes.", Jonathan
Ana tries to get him to start moving again but he is having none of it.
"I'll go when I'm ready", Jonathan
Teams complete the detour in the following order:
1(+3) Carson & Jack, coral reef
2(+0) Brett & Mark, coral reef
3(+2) Alyssa & Josiah, coconuts
----- Jonathan & Ana, coral reef
4(+4) Pops & Jeff, coconuts
----- Scott & Lori, coconuts
5(-4) Han & Holden, coconuts
6(-3) Nick & Mike, coconuts
7(-1) Melinda & Erika, coconuts
8(-1) Jonathan & Ana, coconuts
9(+0) Scott & Lori, coral reef
Route info: Grab a taxi to Nusa Dua Beach, then find your next clue.
Teams reach the clue box at Nusa Dua Beach (11km) in the following order:
1(+0) Carson & Jack
2(+0) Brett & Mark
3(+0) Alyssa & Josiah
4(+0) Pops & Jeff
5(+0) Han & Holden
6(+0) Nick & Mike
7(+0) Melinda & Erika
8(+0) Jonathan & Ana
9(+0) Scott & Lori
Road block: Who wants to meet their match?
In this road block players must choose a surf board from a rack. Then swim out into the surf and search between the marked buoys for a surfer who has the same decal on their board as the player has on theirs. There are a lot of surfers waiting out by the buoys and the constant waves make them shift positions all the time, which just serves to make the task harder.
Jack initially misremembers the task so he just looks for a surfer on a board with the same color as his. But after a while he seems to realize that he should focus on the decal.
While Brett and Mark are out looking Mark and Carson are relaxing in some shade on the beach.
"It feels like we're just on a little gay beach hanging out", Mark
"This challenge was hard hard work", Jack
It is also interesting to see how this segment is filmed. The boards the players use have cameras on them filming them. Then in some shots you see that some surfers are holding up sticks with small cameras on them and then there is the drone.
Josiah is paddling out as Jack is returning and as the task seemed to take a while we can assume that the first two teams have a decent lead.
Holden is very happy about this as she got into surfing two years earlier.
"This was a Roadblock in heaven", Holden
As Holden is going back there is a wave coming so she catches it and actually surfs for a little bit.
Jonathan seems to have recovered a little bit here. And he is the only racer smart enough to actually wear a hat on the surf board (a lot of the surfers out by the buoys do wear something on their heads). But his energy is not enough for the entire task so he takes more and more breaks where he lays down on the surf board. To be fair, he was not the only contestant taking breaks during this grueling task. As Jonathan is out searching the surfboards Scott & Lori arrives and Scott gets into the water.
Jonathan is the first to find his matching surf board. but he is very tired so the trip back to shore is agonizingly slow.
"Oh, I'm tired. Just need a break", Jonathan
You also see that there is another surfer following close behind Jonathan on the way back, I assume this is a life guard.
When Jonathan has received his clue he refuses to let Ana take it while he slowly walks back with his surf board. This feels typical for this team and not a good sign for the future.
Teams leaves this road block in the following order (* denotes team member doing the roadblock):
1(+1)Brett* & Mark (3-2)2(-1)Carson & Jack* (2-3)3(+0)Alyssa & Josiah* (2-3)4(+0)Pops* & Jeff (3-2)5(+0)Han & Holden* (2-3)6(+0)Nick & Mike* (2-3)7(+0)Melinda & Erika* (1-4)8(+0)Jonathan* & Ana (3-2)9(+0)Scott* & Lori (3-2)
Route info: Race to the Pit Stop. Make your way on foot to the Taksu Art Stage and search the perimeter for Phil on the mat.
At the mat Phil has an entire Balinese dance troupe with him.
As they leave the road block Ana gets a hug from Lori. Then the editing tries to make it look like it is a close race between the last two teams. But as usual we do not see both teams in the same shot so we do not know how far apart they actually are. But we know it is not super close as they are not on the mat together.
Teams reach the mat (650m) in the following order:
1(+0) Brett & Mark, win $10,000
2(+0) Carson & Jack
3(+0) Alyssa & Josiah
4(+0) Pops & Jeff
5(+0) Han & Holden
6(+1) Melinda & Erika
7(-1) Nick & Mike, had issues finding the pit stop
8(+0) Jonathan & Ana
9(+0) Scott & Lori, are eliminated
"We had so much fun, and it was such a great adventure that we'll remember forever.", Lori
Maanca:
Lori said on their YouTube recap that she asked how far ahead J&A came in.
6 minutes.
maf:
Racing report
Amazing Race Season 37, Episode 6, "It smells like the desert"
Film date: probably 2024-05-30 - 2024-05-31
The last leg ended at the Taksu Art Stage near Nusa Dua Beach, Bali. For this leg teams are released in the following order:
PosTeamTimeDelta1.Brett & Mark 03:552.Carson & Jack 04:04+0:093.Alyssa & Josiah 04:09+0:144.Pops & Jeff 04:19+0:245.Han & Holden 04:40+0:456.Melinda & Erika 05:08+1:137.Nick & Mike 05:10+1:158.Jonathan & Ana 05:29+1:34
The first clue tells teams to fly to Dubai.
Teams must first go to Abbey Travel and buy tickets to Dubai. Jonathan & Ana are disappointed that Carson & Jack voted for them at the U-turn last leg so we get some awkward interaction at the airport.
All teams end up on the same flight which probably is something like:
TR281 DPS-SIN 10:50 - 13:30
SQ494 SIN-DBX 15:10 - 18:25
Once teams land they must travel by taxi to the Platinum Heritage Desert Gate. Here they will find a Bedouin camp where they must select a coffee cup with a release time for the next morning. There are two times available 5:10 or 5:20 (four each).
"We got to win when we're in the car, 'cause they're a lot younger and faster than us", Erika
"It smells like the desert", Jack gets the title
Teams arrive at the camp (65km) in the following order:
1. Alyssa & Josiah, will depart 5:10
2. Jonathan & Ana, will depart 5:10
3. Han & Holden, will depart 5:10
4. Carson & Jack, will depart 5:10
5. Melinda & Erika, will depart 5:20
6. Pops & Jeff, will depart 5:20
7. Brett & Mark, will depart 5:20
8. Nick & Mike, will depart 5:20
It seems like all teams actually checked all the times before picking one. Which means that none of the do the embarrassing thing, which has happened in the past, where people do not pick the earliest available departure time.
In the camp there is music and dinner and eventually teams get to spend the night in a big tent with lots and lots of carpets in.
"We had dinner, and now we're having desert", Jonathan brings forth the dad jokes
The next morning teams get to ride camels, one camel per team, to the next clue box. This box is located about 13km from where teams spent the night so we can assume they got a car transfer to somewhere closer before they mounted the camels.
Teams dismount from their camels and reach the next clue in the following order.
1. Han & Holden
2. Alyssa & Josiah
3. Carson & Jack
4. Jonathan & Ana
5. Nick & Mike
6. Melinda & Erika
7. Pops & Jeff
8. Brett & Mark
Road block: Who wants to drop into Dubai?
In this road block contestants must perform a tandem skydive. First they must make their way on foot to Skydive Dubai, which is nearby, where they must sign up for one of two flights. By the time teams reach the clue the morning fog has descended so the visibility is rather poor. But teams still have no issues finding the airport.
Teams sign up for the skydiving flights in the following order:
1(+2) Carson & Jack
2(-1) Han & Holden
3(-1) Alyssa & Josiah
4(+0) Jonathan & Ana
5(+3) Brett & Mark
6(-1) Nick & Mike
7(+0) Pops & Jeff
8(-2) Melinda & Erika
This is another one of those tasks where the only way to pass another team is if that player hesitates or refuses. And nobody does so the order they land is the same as they signed up in.
At the landing zone we get to see that Josiah is really worried for Alyssa. Not that she won't be able to complete the task but more an irrational fear for her safety.
"I will be really happy when she lands", Josiah
Teams leaves this road block in the following order (* denotes team member doing the roadblock):
1(+0)Carson & Jack* (2-4)2(+0)Han & Holden* (2-4)3(+0)Alyssa* & Josiah (3-3)4(+0)Jonathan & Ana* (3-3)5(+0)Brett* & Mark (4-2)6(+0)Nick* & Mike (3-3)7(+0)Pops* & Jeff (4-2)8(+0)Melinda* & Erika (2-4)
The next clue contains a fast forward and a route info.
The fast forwarded clue says: "Keep diving. Race by luxury car to Deep Dive Dubai and take a deep scuba dive to retrieve the Fast Forward."
To start the fast forward teams must locate the orange luxury car. Both Carson & Jack and Han & Holden go for it. But it is Carson & Jack who find the car first. It turns out that only one team can even attempt this fast forward.
Route info: Take a taxi to Atlantis The Royal and search for your next clue.
Teams arrive to Atlantis the Royal (13km), which turns out to be a very posh hotel.
1(+1) Alyssa & Josiah
2(+2) Jonathan & Ana
3(-2) Han & Holden
4(+0) Brett & Mark
5(+1) Pops & Jeff
6(+0) Nick & Mike
7(+0) Melinda & Erika
Route info: Prepare an afternoon tea for chef Cristophe to receive your next clue.
In this task teams will need to finish the garnishing of a bunch of sweet and savory treats. The task is not trivial as they are exquisitely garnished and there are lots of small details.
"Today we honed in on being very patient and doing it right the first time", Nick
Teams complete this task in the following order:
1(+0) Alyssa & Josiah, on their 2nd attempt
2(+0) Jonathan & Ana, on their 1st attempt
3(+0) Han & Holden, on their 1st attempt
4(+0) Brett & Mark, on their 1st attempt
5(+2) Melinda & Erika, on their 1st attempt
6(+0) Nick & Mike, on their 1st attempt
7(-2) Pops & Jeff, on their 2nd attempt
The above attempt counts comes from the telecast. I have heard rumors that teams did a lot more attempts and the hardest thing was noticing the small white flowers which should be on one of the cupcakes.
The next clue tells teams to travel by taxi to Burj Al Arab Public Beach.
Meanwhile at the fast forward *27km) Jack & Carson must dive into the deepest diving pool in the world. This pool is built to look like a sunken city and the clue is hidden somewhere in it. The place is huge but they do find the clue standing up on a pool table. Once they get back on dry land they get a new clue which tells them to get back into their luxury car and then the driver will take them directly to the pit stop (15km).
Teams reach the beach (15km) in the following order:
1(+0) Alyssa & Josiah
2(+1) Han & Holden
3(-1) Jonathan & Ana
4(+0) Brett & Mark
5(+0) Melinda & Erika
6(+1) Pops & Jeff
7(-1) Nick & Mike
Road block: Who's ready to ride a wave?
In this road block contestants must learn to ride an eFoil (a motorized surfboard). They must start at one buoy, get to their feet before they pass the second buoy and then travel standing past the third.
It is time for Jeff to do a road block so he goes for this one despite him being very unused to the water. For example he keeps his shoes on when he gets into the water, he soon realizes that it this makes it much harder to swim.
Teams leaves this road block in the following order (* denotes team member doing the roadblock):
1(+1)Han* & Holden (3-4)On her 1st attempt2(-1)Alyssa & Josiah* (3-4)On his 3rd attempt3(+1)Brett & Mark* (4-3)On his 2nd attempt4(+1)Melinda & Erika* (2-5)On her 1st attempt5(-2)Jonathan* & Ana (4-3)On his 2nd attempt6(+0)Pops & Jeff* (4-3)On his 2nd attempt7(+0)Nick* & Mike (4-3)On his 3rd attempt
The next clue is a route info which tells teams to travel by taxi to the Mall of the Emirates Metro Station (4km), then ride the metro to the Museum of the future (17 minutes). The clue also tells teams that they may not run within the metro stations, and that the last team to check in will be eliminated.
Trains depart every 4 minutes.
"Playing with a lead is a lot better than playing from behind", Holden finds it easier to be in the front
This time there is an exciting race for last. Pops & Jeff are in the lead from the road block. But Pops has a bad ankle they are not really able to run that fast so a lot hangs on them managing to get on a train before Nick & Mike. As Pops & Jeff come up to the platform a train is there with the doors open. They are supposed to be on platform #1 but Jeff see a 4 on a screen so they get unsure and hesitates for 2 seconds. As they hesitate the doors to the train closes. Jeff puts his arm in there but the doors keep closing so he yanks it back again. Would they have made the train if they didn't hesitate, maybe but we do not know.
Pops & Jeff have to wait four minutes for the next train (and the time is now 11:15). Three minutes into the wait Nick & Mike arrive so both teams end up on the same train. The race for last ends up as a footrace. Things are even as long as teams are inside and unable to run (or maybe Nick & Mike decided to stay with Pops & Jeff until they saw Phil). But once they are outside there is no contest.
Teams reach Phil at the mat in the following order:
1(+0) Carson & Jack, win Expedia points for a trip on an Alaska cruise
2(+0) Han & Holden
3(+0) Alyssa & Josiah, close after #2
4(+0) Brett & Mark
5(+1) Jonathan & Ana
6(-1) Melinda & Erika, just after #5
7(+1) Nick & Mike, shortly after #6
8(-1) Pops & Jeff, are eliminated
"This is the most challenging and fun thing that we could have possibly done together.", Jeff
maf:
Racing report
Amazing Race Season 37, Episode 7, "Be one with the hay"
Film date: 2024-05-02 - 2024-05-03
The last pit stop was by the museum of the future in Dubai. For this leg teams are release from the same spot in the following order:
PosTeamTimeDelta1.Carson & Jack 12:342.Han & Holden 13:16+0:423.Alyssa & Josiah 13:19+0:454.Brett & Mark 13:27+0:535.Jonathan & Ana 13:35+1:016.Melinda & Erika 13:36+1:027.Nick & Mike 13:37+1:03
The first clue tells teams to fly to Sofia, Bulgaria. It also tells them that they will be self-driving in this leg.
"Oh crap, we're driving", Erika
Teams go directly to the airport and we do not see any of them getting tickets and all of them are on the same flights. So I assume that production provided the tickets for this trip. Teams probably flew:
EK2553 DBX-IST 16:23 - 19:39 (scheduled 15:50 - 19:09)
TK1027 IST-SOF 07:40 - 08:29 (scheduled 07:15 - 08:30)
Once teams arrive in Sofia they are, as is standard operating procedures nowadays, released together and they run out of the airport and into the garage to find their cars.
Route info: Drive to the village square of Negushevo to find your next clue.
The clue also includes a large scale map of Bulgaria.
The cars do have manual transmission but teams are not shown struggling with that. The only thing we see them struggling with is how to put it in reverse. There is a bit of gridlock as they try to exit the parking structure. Han & Holden are blocking the exit and need to reverse to get onto the ramp, Mark comes to the rescue.
"If I tell you what to do will you let us out first?", Mark
"Alyssa's great at navigation, and this is what we practiced, so we're hoping that it pays off.", Josiah
"I am not of a generation that has ever used a map. Give me a phone and I can get you anywhere.", Erika
Carson & Jack get seriously lost on the way here. At one point they are shown asking for directions at a hotel outside Ihtiman which is 65km away from where they need to be. They are not happy about being this lost but realize that they are probably getting eliminated.
"So we're, I think, hours behind", Jack
Teams find the clue in Negushevo (34km) in the following order:
1. Jonathan & Ana
2. Alyssa & Josiah, just after #1
3. Brett & Mark, as the first two teams are leaving
4. Han & Holden
5. Melinda & Erika
6. Nick & Mike
7. Carson & Jack, about 3 hours behind
Here teams must must load two crates of apples into a cart and transport this wile carrying a third crate along a marked path to a nearby garden where they must leave them as an offering to the Kukeri. The scene at the destination is wild. There is music a lot of people in very hairy costumes dancing and generally creating a very big ruckus.
This task is fairly straight forward so teams complete this task in the same order they arrived. The next clue tells teams to drive themselves to the Osoitsa village library where they will find their next clue.
On the way here Carson & Jack talk about how they feel less bad for getting eliminated in such beautiful surroundings.
Teams arrive to the library (8km) in the following order:
1(+0) Jonathan & Ana
2(+0) Alyssa & Josiah, as #1 are leaving
3(+0) Brett & Mark
4(+1) Melinda & Erika
5(-1) Han & Holden
6(+0) Nick & Mike
7(+0) Carson & Jack
The previous clue only said that they will find their next clue in the library and did not specify more exactly how or where. It turns out that the clues are wedged between some of the books, but they do stick out a little so they are fairly easy to find.
Detour: Haystack or Woodstack?
In haystack teams must search through 3 haystacks for a martenitza, a small red and white yarn bracelet. Each team get their own set of three haystacks and it is hidden in one of them.
In woodstack teams must use a wheelbarrow and a backpack to transport 200kg (~440lb) of wood to a home in the neighborhood.
The actual detours take place in the village of Sarantsi (7km) and teams arrive here in the following order:
1(+0) Jonathan & Ana
2(+1) Brett & Mark
3(-1) Alyssa & Josiah
4(+1) Han & Holden
5(-1) Melinda & Erika
6(+0) Nick & Mike
7(+0) Carson & Jack
Production is providing teams with gloves for these tasks.
One thing which adds drama here is that the wood the pick up point is next to the field where they haystacks are so teams can see each other.
Jonathan misses the sign for the designated parking and parks in a ditch around the corner instead, this will soon come back to haunt them. Then he is frustrated that Ana chose the haystack detour.
Brett & Mark have no idea how much 200kg of wood is.
"200 kilos of wood, whatever that is. A hundred pounds?", Brett
Teams doing the wood detour soon realize that 200kg of wood is heavy. Meanwhile most teams doing the hay side realize that they have to be careful so that they do not miss the bracelet as they deconstruct the haystacks.
On their first trip Nick & Mike bring 98.5kg and on the next they bring 100.5 so after two trips they are 1kg short. They do not know it yet but this single piece of wood will turn out to have drastic consequences as it allows Melinda & Erika to pass them.
Teams complete the detour in the following order:
1(+1) Alyssa & Josiah, haystack
2(-1) Jonathan & Ana, haystack, as Brett & Mark are loading up for their second trip
3(-1) Brett & Mark, wood in two trips
4(+1) Melinda & Erika, haystack
----- Nick & Mike, wood in three trips, about 20 seconds after #4
----- Han & Holden, wood in three trips
5(-1) Han & Holden, haystack
6(+1) Carson & Jack, started haystack but quickly switched to wood which they did in three trips
-DNF- Nick & Mike, got eliminated after spending about 6 hours trying to find the bracelet in the hay
The next clue tells teams to make their way on foot to the church in the village or Sarantsi where they will find their next clue. It also tells teams that there is a double U-Turn ahead.
Teams reach the U-turn board at the church in the following order:
1(+0) Alyssa & Josiah
2(+0) Jonathan & Ana
3(+0) Brett & Mark
4(+0) Melinda & Erika, U-Turn Nick & Mike
5(+0) Nick & Mike, U-Turn Han & Holden
6(+0) Han & Holden
7(+0) Carson & Jack
Melinda & Erika feel that they do not have any choice as they think Nick & Mike were the only team behind them. So they are shocked when, after the U-turn, they open the box and there are four clues in there. They are also so stressed that they do the U-Turn wrong, they put their own portrait in the big box and Nick and Mike in the small one. It seems as if nobody cares about this and Nick & Mike follow their lead and do the same mistake. After the U-Turn Melinda & Erika feel really bad.
On their way back from the U-turn board Nick & Mike meet Han & Holden and tell them that they had to U-Turn them. In the end it seems as if none of the U-Turned teams hold any grudge against the team which U-Turned them.
"I think we have better attention to detail than them", Holden when they get to Hay just after Nick & Mike
"Be one with the hay", Holden gets the title
We soon see that Nick & Mike go through their haystacks much faster than Han & Holden. But this means that they are not looking carefully so by the time they have torn down all three haystacks they still have not found their bracelet. They have no choice but start searching the hay on the ground again.
Carson & Jack are shocked when there is still one car here when they turn up. Nick & Mike are discussing if they should give up when they Carson & Jack arrive. This energizes them and they go back to searching the hay. Carson & Jack start searching their hay stacks but quickly realize that they do not want to end up like Nick & Mike so they switch to the wood.
"We saw our futures in Mick & Mike", Carson
Nick & Mike are completely exhausted after having searched for hours out in the sun so they are not able to search very quickly.
"If you don't laugh, you'll cry.", Mike
To make matters worse the cameraperson has found the bracelet and sometimes makes sure it is in the frame.
Once Carson & Jack learn about the U-turn they are convinced that they will be on the board so they are floored when they're not.
Route info: Drive yourself to the village Belopoptsi and go to Snezha's Farm to find your next clue.
This is where Jonathan & Ana realize that their car is seriously stuck. Brett & Mark arrive after having done their detour and they stay and help for a couple of minutes before they leave.
"Hey, you guys, just go", Jonathan to Brett & Mark as they have helped a bit
Also while this is going on Han & Holden, Melinda & Erika and eventually Nick & Mike arrive (but they do not stop to help). Some locals come by and try to help by putting branches under the wheels.
"It seemed like they knew what they were doing, so I was hopeful that maybe that would work. But it didn't", Jonathan
Eventually a local arrive with his car and tows them back up on the road. All in all it took about an hour from when they arrived to the detour until they could drive out of there.
Teams arrive to the clue box at Snezha's Farm (15km) in the following order:
1(+0) Alyssa & Josiah
2(+1) Brett & Mark
3(-1) Jonathan & Ana
4(+2) Han & Holden
5(-1) Melinda & Erika, got lost
6(+0) Carson & Jack
By the time teams get here they are pretty spread out, in fact none of the teams see any others for the rest of this leg.
Road block: Who's ready to fill her up?
In this road block contestants must milk a sheep. Once they go to the judge with half a liter of milk they will be given a bowl of Bulgarian Yogurt and once they have eaten this, no problem as it is good, they will be given their next clue.
Teams will be shown how to milk the sheep and there is a local holding the sheep for them.
Next to the judge sits Nevenka who is 102 years old and comments on some of the racers (in Bulgarian).
"Oh, this time it's going to be a lot", Nevenka when Ana comes
"I'm in Bulgaria milking a sheep on a farm", Alyssa reflects on the absurdity of the situation
"My desire is to pass away from this life without ever having to touch an udder.", Mark
Marks fails in this desire as he has to milk the sheep. But to his credit he does not delay but instead gets at it immediately.
"Good boy or girl", Mark seems to lack some base biology knowledge
Mark also hopes to get done early so when he goes to check his milk the first time he has only gathered about 2dl.
Teams leaves this road block in the following order (* denotes team member doing the roadblock):
1(+0)Alyssa* & Josiah (4-4)2(+0)Brett & Mark* (4-4)3(+0)Jonathan & Ana* (4-4)4(+0)Han & Holden* (3-5)5(+0)Melinda* & Erika (3-5)6(+0)Carson* & Jack (3-4)
The next clue tells teams to make their way to the pit stop in the village of Elin Pelin.
Teams reach Phil at the mat (17km) in the following order:
1(+0) Alyssa & Josiah, win Expedia points for a trip to Marrakesh, Morocco
2(+0) Brett & Mark
3(+0) Jonathan & Ana
4(+0) Han & Holden
5(+0) Melinda & Erika
6(+0) Carson & Jack
"We have become better men because of The Amazing Race", Mike
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