Topic: TAR34 racing reports. Episode #12 is on page 1

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Racing report
Amazing Race Season 34, Episode 1, "Many first but don't be last"
Film date: 2022-05-25

The race is back! This year the starting line is in Munich, Germany. And this year we have 12 teams, they are are:

• Luis & Michelle, married dancer and firefighter
• Derek & Claire, met on Big Brother and are currently dating
• Tim & Rex, former NFL coach and his golf buddy
• Abby & Will, childhood sweethearts
• Quinton & Mattie, former Rams cheerleaders
• Emily & Molly, adopted twin sisters who only met a year ago
• Linton & Sharik, father/daughter, immigrants from Jamaica
• Aubrey & David, ballroom dancers
• Aastha & Nina, engaged
• Marcus & Michael, military brothers
• Glenda & Lumumba, newlyweds (where she is a lot taller than him)
• Rich & Dom, motivational speakers

The starting line is at Nymphenburg palace and teams ride there on a giant raft, or at least that is the way it is portrayed in the episode. In fact the place where they slide down with the raft is at Floßrutsche Mühlthal which is 26k from the palace and according to interviews that segment was filmed the day before the actual start.

After speaking to some of the teams on the starting line Phil tells them that this first leg will be different. They can complete the tasks in any order and this is called a Scramble. He also tells them that there will be no non-elimination legs.

The clue teams get at the starting line only contains the addresses of the three challenges. Teams can then complete them in any order. Each completed challenge gives them a piece of a clue. When they have all three they can put them together and it will direct them to the pit stop.

Teams will need to self drive and there is a map in the car. The first clue lists the challenges as:
Roll at Luitpold park
Saw at Biergarten Seehaus
Smash at Augustiner-Keller Biergarten

At each location racers will find a clue which explains the challenge in detail. From the start we see that teams have different strategies. Marcus & Michael immediately go to the first location they find on the map while Aastha & Nina talk to some locals and figure out where all the locations are and how to get to them before they leave the start.

Emily & Molly have a different strategy. They figure that the pit stop will be in a scenic location so they chose to go to the challenge by the river last.
 "I have no idea where we are, and we are not going in the right direction", Tim
 "Our twin telepathy is not working", Emily when she misheard Molly's directions

Michael has been in Münich multiple times while in the army.
 "But don't know enough about the city to just move about", Michael when they struggle

In Roll teams must roll a beer keg through an slalom course in 55 seconds or less. They need to roll it out and back through the course and each racer rolls it one way. One thing they did not mention in the episode is that if you failed you had to wait 2 minutes before you could try again.
 "I lost 50lb for this race", Rex is still a big man

In Saw they must saw through a log. Teams get a pair of traditional hats, gloves and a two person saw. There are even small starting cuts sawed into the log. There is also a Bavarian band playing and that should have been a hint. The key to doing this task seems to be in keeping a steady rhythm. So this is actually a lot more about technique than brute strength.
 "The secret is rhythm", Sharik figures out what the key to this task is
 "David is more impressed by my sawing skills than how I actually got us there, which was way harder", Aubrey

In Smash one of the racers must smash a block of ice to get to the clue inside. This is actually a road block so in the list below I have marked the racer doing this task with a *. The clue just says "Who wants to chill?". The task is then to get to a clue encased in a block of ice. The racers get a box of tools which they can use. This includes various hammers, a blowtorch and a rubber chicken. The box also contains a pair of gloves and protective glasses. And glasses are good because the ice soon starts to fly in all directions.

Derek starts this task by playing around with the rubber chicken a bit. Then we see Claire pointing at her watch and he moves over to the actual task.

Smash and Roll both seem to be fairly quick challenges while Saw takes a lot longer for most teams.

This format makes it very hard for the racers, and viewers, to figure out how they are doing compared to the other teams they see. Here I am going to list which team we saw complete which challenge in the order we saw it in the telecast (which may or may not correspond to reality). The list will include the team, the challenge and how many challenges that team has completed. The list is in chronological order and the first number is the teams placement number at that time (given the number of completed challenges).

1.	Marcus & Michael	roll	(1/3)	on their 2nd attempt
2.	Derek & Claire	roll	(1/3)	on their 1st attempt
3.	Luis* & Michelle	smash	(1/3)
4.	Molly* & Emily	smash	(1/3)
5.	Abby & Will	roll	(1/3)	on their 2nd attempt
6.	Aubrey & David	roll	(1/3)	on their 2nd attempt
7.	Quinton* & Mattie	smash	(1/3)
8.	Glenda* & Lumumba	smash	(1/3)
9.	Tim* & Rex	smash	(1/3)
10.	Aastha & Nina*	smash	(1/3)
11.	Linton & Sharik	saw	(1/3)
12.	Rich & Dom	saw	(1/3)
1(+0)	Marcus* & Michael	smash	(2/3)
2(+6)	Glenda & Lumumba	roll	(2/3)
3(-1)	Derek & Claire	saw	(2/3)
4(+3)	Quinton & Mattie	roll	(2/3)
5(-1)	Emily & Molly	roll	(2/3)	on their 1st attempt
6(+5)	Linton & Sharik	roll	(2/3)
7(-2)	Abby & Will	saw	(2/3)
1(+2)	Derek* & Claire	smash	(3/3)
2(+0)	Glenda & Lumumba	saw	(3/3)
8(+1)	Tim & Rex	roll	(2/3)	on their 1st attempt
9(-6)	Luis & Michelle	saw	(2/3)
10(+0)	Aastha & Nina	saw	(2/3)
11(-5)	Aubrey & David	saw	(2/3)
3(+1)	Quinton & Mattie	saw	(3/3)
12(+0)	Rich & Dom	roll	(2/3)	on their 4th attempt
4(+2)	Linton* & Sharik	smash	(3/3)
5(-4)	Marcus & Michael	saw	(3/3)
6(+2)	Tim & Rex	saw	(3/3)
7(+2)	Luis & Michelle	roll	(3/3)	on their 1st attempt
8(-1)	Abby & Will	smash	(3/3)
9(+3)	Rich & Dom	smash	(3/3)
10(-5)	Emily & Molly	saw	(3/3)
11(-1)	Aastha & Nina	roll	(3/3)	on their 5th attempt
12(-1)	Aubrey & David*	smash	(3/3)

At each challenge racers get one puzzle piece. The texts on them are:
#1: Park in one of the available marking spaces between
#2: 22 Widenmayerstraße and 25 Widenmayerstraße. To cross Luitpoldbrücke or Prinzregentenstraße, the cross-
#3: walk is located underground

When put together the puzzle pieces form an angel. And Phil can be found at the Friedensengel (Angel of Peace) which is a statue of an angel.

Teams reach the mat in the following order:
  1(+2) Derek & Claire, win $2,500 each
  2(+0) Glenda & Lumumba
  3(+0) Quinton & Mattie
  4(+0) Linton & Sharik
  5(+5) Emily & Molly, just after #4
  6(-1) Marcus & Michael
  7(-1) Tim & Rex
  8(+0) Abby & Will
  9(+0) Rich & Dom, while #6-8 are still on the mat
 10(-3) Luis & Michelle
 11(+1) Aubrey & David
 12(-1) Aastha & Nina, 3 minutes after #11 and are eliminated

At the mat before Phil tells Aubrey & David which place they have he speaks to them a bit about how tough it has been etc. He is clearly implying that they are last so Aubrey is shocked when she spots another team running towards the pit stop. She and David are extremely happy to learn that they are not eliminated.

 "My main rule was to have fun, and I had a blast", Aastha

[maf]

Racing report
Amazing Race Season 34, Episode 2, "Patience is the new me"
Film date: 2022-05-26 - 2022-05-27

The last pit stop was at the Friedensengel in central Münich, Germany. Teams will depart from the same place early the next morning in groups of 3 or 4 teams based on their placement in the previous leg. The groups are:

Group #1 at 08:00:
 1. Derek & Claire
 1. Glenda & Lumumba
 1. Quinton & Mattie

Group #2 at 08:15:
 4. Linton & Sharik
 4. Emily & Molly
 4. Marcus & Michael
 4. Tim & Rex
 
Group #3 at 08:30:
 8. Abby & Will
 8. Rich & Dom
 8. Luis & Michelle
 8. Aubrey & David

The first clue is a route info and it tells teams to drive themselves to Innsbruck, Austria. Then into the alps to Grünwalderhof to find their next clue.

It seems as if teams are given all the needed maps. All still talk to locals to get directions. Quinton & Mattie find a lady who says it is just 10 minutes away in Münich (she probably sent them to the Grünwalder Straße).

Once they got the where they think it is Quinton & Mattie ask another local and she informs them that they are in the wrong country.
 "So we're in for a longer road trip than we thought", Mattie

 "Not an aggressive driver at all, that's the new me patience", Rex kind of gets the title

Luis & Michelle start driving in the wrong direction, and Abby & Will are following them. Abby & Will realize their error and break off and a while after that Luis & Michelle also realize their error.

Teams reach the clue box by Grünwalderhof (175km) in the following order:
  1(+0) Derek & Claire
  2(+2) Marcus & Michael
  3(+1) Tim & Rex
  4(-3) Glenda & Lumumba
  5(-1) Linton & Sharik
  6(-2) Emily & Molly
  7(+1) Rich & Dom
  8(+0) Aubrey & David
  9(-1) Abby & Will
 10(-2) Luis & Michelle
 11(-10) Quinton & Mattie, arrive as the 10th team is leaving

Road block: Who wants to call in the cows?

In this road block players must learn to Yodel. They have to sing three different songs, while doing specific motions for each song. They need to reach a certain quality in their Yodeling to get approved. There are signs with the "lyrics" which they can look at during the performance.

The songs are (contestants must sing the red parts):

    Kuh Melker Jodler

He-iti, hå-iti, he-iti, hå-iti,
he-iti, hå-iti, he-iti, hå-iti he-it-i-a.

hå-iti, he-iti, hå-iti, he-iti,
hå-iti, he-iti, hålarå, hui-di-ri-di-ri.


    Brixentaler Bravour Jodler

Håld-jådl-di håld-jådl-di hå-la-di jå dl-di
Håld-jådl-di håld-jådl-di hå-la-di jå.

Håld-jådl-di håld-jådl-di hå-la-di jå dl-di
Håld-jådl-di håld-jådl-di hå-la-di jå.


    Almrosen Jodler

Håla-re-a hui-di-ri-dl duli-å, håle-re-a-ri, håle-re-a-ri,
håla-re-a hui-di-ri-dl duli-å, håle-re-a-ri, håle-re-a-ri a-hå,.

Håla-re-a hui-di-ri-dl duli-å, håle-re-a-ri, håle-re-a-ri,
håla-re-a hui-di-ri-dl duli-å, håle-re-a-ri, håle-re-a-ri a-hå.

Both team members must dress up here and the clue states that they must wear their costumes for the rest of the leg.
 "I'm tone deaf", Claire
 "Being dyslexic, there are certain challenges", Rex
 "I feel horrible, I feel like I'm letting Derek down.", Claire when other teams start getting approved while she keeps failing
 "I've never been so happy to see people", Quinton when they meet another team as they pull up to the road block

Teams complete this road block in the following order (* denotes team member doing the roadblock):

[ 1(+1) Marcus & Michael* (1-1) On his 2nd attempt 2(+2) Glenda* & Lumumba (2-0) On her 1st attempt 3(+2) Linton* & Sharik (2-0) On his 2nd attempt 4(+2) Emily* & Molly    (1-1) On her 2nd attempt 5(+4) Abby* & Will      (1-1) On her 2nd attempt 6(-3) Tim & Rex*        (1-1) On his 5th attempt 7(+0) Rich & Dom*      (1-1) On her 3rd attempt 8(+2) Luis & Michelle* (1-1) On her 2nd attempt 9(-1) Aubrey* & David  (1-1) On her 3rd attempt 10(-9) Derek & Claire*  (1-1) On her 6th attempt 11(+0) Quinton & Mattie* (1-1) On her 2nd attempt Route info: Drive yourselves to the city center of Innsbruck. Then search for your next clue along the river next to Marktplatz. Teams were also told to park in Markthallengarage (220m away) and take all their belongings with them.  "I think a strength of ours is reading maps", Claire  "I guess we are just not very good with directions", Tim while he is trying to fold his map Teams reach the clue box in Innsbruck (12km) in the following order:   1(+0) Marcus & Michael   2(+0) Glenda & Lumumba   3(+0) Linton & Sharik   4(+1) Abby & Will   5(-1) Emily & Molly   6(+1) Rich & Dom   7(+3) Derek & Claire   8(+0) Luis & Michelle   9(-3) Tim & Rex  10(-1) Aubrey & David  11(+0) Quinton & Mattie Detour: Bells ringing or Partner swinging In Bells Ringing teams must make their way to Stiftskeller Restaurant (350m) where they must learn to play a melody by rattling different bells. They are given a sheet of music and must ring out the different notes. In Swing your partner teams must travel to Maria-Theresien Straße (450m). Here they must learn and perform a wedding dance. We learn that both Marcus & Michael did play instruments growing up. But apparently Michael did not know that about his older brother.  "This is going to be interesting 'cause we are 7 inches apart", Glenda realize it is hard for her husband to spin her when he is a lot shorter  "I'm actually a professional dancer, so whether he wants it to or not, anytime there is a dance challenge, we're doing it", Michelle One thing which tricks teams in the bells detour is that there is a guy playing the accordion at the actual performance area. They do not see this from the practice room.  "Sorry guys... this is a very perfect performance", the dance judge plays with the contestants   Teams complete the detour in the following order:   1(+0) Marcus & Michael, bells on their 5th attempt (before anybody else arrives)   2(+0) Glenda & Lumumba, dancing on their 3rd attempt   3(+0) Linton & Sharik, dancing o their 3rd attempt   4(+3) Derek & Claire bells on their 1st attempt   5(+3) Luis & Michelle, dance on their 2nd attempt   6(-2) Abby & Will, dance on their 3rd attempt   7(-2) Emily & Molly, dancing on their 4th attempt   8(-2) Rich & Dom, bells on their 5th attempt   9(+1) Aubrey & David, dancing on their 2nd attempt  10(+1) Quinton & Mattie, dance on their 1 attempt  11(-2) Tim & Rex, bells on their 10th attempt Route info: Race on foot to Hofburg Imperial Palace and find Phil in the giant hall. The clue also tells them that the last team to check in will be eliminated. Rich & Dom get turned away at the mat as Dom is missing her hat. She tries to argue that they do not know where it is as they may have dropped it while running. Phil does not care, rules are rules. They realize it may be in the car so they run back there. And fortunately for them the hat is in there so they can run back to the pit stop again. Teams reach Phil and the mat in the following order:   1(+0) Marcus & Michael, win Expedia points good for a trip to Lima, Peru   2(+0) Glenda & Lumumba   3(+0) Linton & Sharik   4(+0) Derek & Claire, not long after #2   5(+0) Luis & Michelle   6(+0) Abby & Will   7(+0) Emily & Molly   ----- Rich & Dom, are sent back as Dom is missing her hat   8(+1) Aubrey & David   9(-1) Rich & Dom  10(+0) Quinton & Mattie, just after #9  11(+0) Tim & Rex, are eliminated  "This made our friendship definitely like the next level", Tim

[maf]

Racing report
Amazing Race Season 34, Episode 3, "It's all in the details"
Film date: 2022-05-28 and 2022-05-29

The last pit stop was at the Hofburg Imperial Palace in Innsbruck, Austria. During the pit stop teams are flown to Bologna Italy. Phil then tells us that this will be a Mega Leg, two detours, two road blocks and two cities.
Teams flew to Italy on the 28th but if we can rely on the start times shown in the episode the actual leg must have been run on the 29th.

Teams are released in groups from Sanctuary of the Madonna di San Luca in Bologna:

Group #1 departs at 09:30:
  1. Marcus & Michael
  1. Glenda & Lumumba

Group #2 departs at 09:45:
  3. Linton & Sharik
  3. Derek & Claire
  3. Luis & Michelle
  3. Abby & Will

Group #3 departs at 10:00:
  7. Quinton & Mattie
  7. Emily & Molly
  7. Aubrey & David
  7. Rich & Dom

The first clue tells them that this will be a Mega Leg and that they should drive themselves to Arco del Meloncello where they can find their next clue. It seems that wherever the teams drive during this leg there is reserved parking for them, which means that they do not need to drive around looking for a free spot to park.

When teams get to their cars the realize that they have a manual transmission. And we know that some teams will have a hard time with this.
 "I'm don't feeling great about stick shifting skills", Glenda, who them promptly stalls their car

Luis & Michelle has the classic problem of not being able to put the car in reverse. In the end she goes out and pushes the car.
 "We couldn't figure out how to reverse, classic Amazing Race", Michelle (at least she has seen the show before)

Rich also seem to have a very hard time driving stick. And to make matters worse Dom has trouble navigating.
 "I'm not understanding were we are", Dom

Teams reach the clue box at Arco del Meloncello (1.9km) in the following order:
  1(+0) Marcus & Michael
  2(-1) Glenda & Lumumba
  3(+0) Luis & Michelle
  4(-1) Linton & Sharik
  5(-2) Abby & Will
  6(-3) Derek & Claire
  7(+0) Aubrey & David
  8(-1) Quinton & Mattie
  9(-2) Emily & Molly
 10(-3) Rich & Dom

Detour: Head of the class or The Big Cheese

In Head of the class teams must make their way to Teatro Anatomico in the oldest university in the western world. Here they must listen to an 8 minute lecture about the human anatomy. After the lecture they are taken to a courtyard where they must correctly label 16 bones and organs in 90 seconds. There are more than 16 labels to choose from. If they fail they have to go back and listen to the lecture again before they can make another attempt.

In The Big Cheese teams must pick up an 88lb wheel of cheese from Barbieri Cheese shop. They must then load in on a cart and bring it to restaurant Daiana (600m) where it will be split in two by a professional cheese-cutter. The restaurant will take one half and they must bring the other half to Osteria del Cappello (600m). Finally they must bring back the two receipts to the start location (550m).

The clue also states that for both detours teams should start by driving themselves to Piazza Franklin Delano Roosevelt (3.4km) and then make their way form there on foot. Glenda & Lumumba misread and start going on foot from the clue box location. They get quite a bit before they reread their clue and realize they have to go back and pick up their car. Buy this time they are very last.
 "Why are you stopping to ask somebody directions if you know where you're going?", Glenda is not happy

The cheese route is 1.7km long. The cheese is heavy but they have a cart so I get the feeling that this was more of a navigational task than a physical one. But teams seem to have a map so it does not seem that difficult if you know how to read one.

 "Choosing head of the class was a terrible decision", Sharik
 "Normally our strategy is to do the physical challenges. But I took Anatomy in College, it was one of my strongest classes, Mattie
 "I worked in the medical field for so many years", Emily already knew the anatomy details
 "We bombed at the head of the class", Glenda

Glenda & Lumumba had a hard time understanding the professor teaching the class. He had a bit of an accent and when he said "Humerus" they heard "Emerus".

The judge at the anatomy task also has a bit of fun with the teams. When the last two teams both get it he asks them to stand in a line. He then hands a clue to Rich & Dom, who are standing first, and asks them to give it to the other couple. Then he gives them a clue as well.

Teams complete the detour in the following order:
  1(+0) Marcus & Michael, cheese
  2(+1) Luis & Michelle, cheese
  3(+3) Derek & Claire, cheese
  4(+4) Quinton & Mattie, anatomy on their 1st attempt
  5(+4) Emily & Molly, anatomy on their 1st attempt
  6(-1) Abby & Will, anatomy on their 2nd attempt
  7(+0) Aubrey & David, anatomy on their 3rd attempt
  8(-4) Linton & Sharik, anatomy on their 4th attempt
  9(+1) Rich & Dom, anatomy on their 4th attempt
 10(-8) Glenda & Lumumba, anatomy on their 5th attempt

Route info: Drive to the Ducati factory to find your next clue.

On the way to the Ducati factory Molly is having a mini meltdown while struggling with the manual transmission. And here the fact that these twin sisters do not really know each other come into play as Emily does not really know how to calm her down.

Teams arrive at the Ducati factory (9km) in the following order:
  1(+0) Marcus & Michael
  2(+1) Derek & Claire
  3(+1) Quinton & Mattie
  4(-2) Luis & Michelle, had a minor navigational snafu
  5(+1) Abby & Will
  6(+1) Aubrey & David
  7(+1) Linton & Sharik
  8(-3) Emily & Molly
  9(+1) Glenda & Lumumba, just as team #2 get their clue after completing the task
 10(-1) Rich & Dom, just after #9

Road block: Who's ready for a brake?

Inside the clue it says: Complete the build of a Ducati Panigale V4 motorcycle to receive your next clue.

In practice they must assemble the wheels and brakes on the motorcycle. Once that has been approved they must install the body panels. There is a silent demonstration they can watch.

The shots of this task are interspersed with footage from motorcycles racing down a track. You get the impression this happens next to the racers but in reality there is no racing track nearby. So this is just a bit of product placement.

It turns out that Marcus has exactly this model of bike at home. But he does not tinker with it so it would not have helped him. And besides Michael is the one doing the task.

Claire is nervous, she does not want to let Derek down again as she did in the previous Yodeling road block. But alas, she runs into trouble here as well. Her wrench is set to loosen not tighten.
 "Is it something obvious I am missing?", Claire
Eventually she spots the demo guy changing the direction of his wrench and it dawns on her what she has been doing wrong.

 "I saw the mechanic put it in neutral, to spin the wheel", Michael spots a detail
A bunch of racers have trouble getting their back wheel to spin freely.
 "Is there a brake on? Am I being dumb? This isn't rocket science, it is motorcycle science."", Luis

 "I do mechanical work for a living. I grew up on fast and furious.", David feels he should ace this

Emily interviews that she is a single mom so she builds all their toys, lots of Lego and IKEA furniture.
 "I was kinda concerned because I felt that everybody else was struggling and I thought it was kind of easy. So I felt that maybe I did something wrong", Emily was just quietly acing this task
 "The road block was really really painful and not fun at all", Claire
 "I'm sending to you energy honey, it's from the universe and I'm sending it to you", Dom is trying to help Rich

Teams complete this road block in the following order (* denotes team member doing the roadblock):

[ 1(+0) Marcus & Michael* (1-2) 2(+6) Emily* & Molly    (2-1) 3(+3) Aubrey & David*  (1-2) 4(+0) Luis* & Michelle (2-1) 5(+2) Linton* & Sharik (3-0) 6(-4) Derek & Claire*  (1-2) 7(-2) Abby & Will*      (1-2) 8(-5) Quinton* & Mattie (2-1) 9(+1) Rich* & Dom      (2-1) -- Glenda & Lumumba* (2-1) Route info: The Mega Leg continues. Drive to the city of Florens and find the Villa Bardini... for your next road block clue. As the episode ends Glenda & Lumumba are still at the road block and all the other teams are on their way to Florens. The Mega Leg will continue next week.

[maf]

Racing report
Amazing Race Season 34, Episode 4, "Everyone's an artist"
Film date: 2022-05-30

The last episode was the first half of a mega leg so teams are still racing when this episode starts. Glenda & Lumumba are still at the Ducati road block and the others are driving towards Florence. Apparently teams got a 45 minute lunch break once they were done with the Ducati challenge and before they left for Florence. Once in Florence teams must find Villa Bardini where they will find their next road block clue. Teams did not get a map showing the way to Florence but instead the clue included step by step directions. Also the telecast shows a map which says it is 125 miles from Bologna to Florence. In reality it is more like 125km.

During the ride we hear Sharik explain that her father has done all the road blocks so far because she has anxiety.
 "I'm kind of using my senses to head towards the general direction", Rich is driving and navigating

Teams arrive at Villa Bardini (114km) in the following order:
  1(+0) Marcus & Michael
  2(+0) Emily & Molly
  3(+1) Luis & Michelle
  4(+1) Linton & Sharik
  5(+2) Abby & Will
  6(+2) Quinton & Mattie
  7(-4) Aubrey & David
  8(-2) Derek & Claire
  9(+1) Glenda & Lumumba
 10(-1) Rich & Dom, as the first team is leaving

Road block: Who wants a chiseled body?

In this road blocks racers must use the tools provided to chisel out a block to reveal the sculpture hidden inside.
There is an example of what the final sculpture should look like and given that this is fairly detailed and all the racers get is a big block of plaster this task looks impossible. But after chipping away for a bit racers realize that the sculpture is actually embedded in their block. It has just been covered with plaster. So their task is to chisel away all the excess plaster and then repair any damage they have made to the embedded sculpture in the process.

 "I have to make this look like that?", Marcus have a hard time believing his eyes
 "There is no way that this is happening", Marcus about the detailed sculpture he needs to create
 "It's underneath", Molly is the first to realize that the sculpture is in there and it has only been covered in plaster
 
 "You guys have it too perfect, I know it's in there", Michelle when she sees that Marcus & Molly are almost done
 "I mean, I was a sculpting major", Molly trolls her

 "After that drive, this is a really great feeling", Aubrey is happy to be allowed to hit something
 "It was much harder than it looked", Sharik

 "Honestly, Rich, I'd rather risk it and take a penalty... This is not what I do", Dom wants to take the penalty (4h)
Rich realizes that the penalty means automatic elimination so he convinces her to try for 15 minutes.
 "Ain't that a bitch?", Dom after rereading the clue and realizing the sculpture is inside the block

 "I'm not gonna lie Claire. He's got some bullet holes", Dom after removing the plaster
 
From their discussions it seemed as if teams were free to select which team member should do this road block but they all selected the person who did not do the motorcycle task.

Teams complete this road block in the following order (* denotes team member doing the roadblock):

1(+1)	Emily & Molly*	(2-2)
2(-1)	Marcus* & Michael	(2-2)
3(+4)	Aubrey* & David	(2-2)
4(-1)	Luis & Michelle*	(2-2)
5(+0)	Abby* & Will	(2-2)
6(+0)	Quinton & Mattie*	(2-2)
7(+1)	Derek* & Claire	(2-2)
8(-4)	Linton & Sharik*	(3-1)	Spent about 1.5h on the task
9(+0)	Glenda & Lumumba*	(2-2)
10(+0)	Rich & Dom*	(2-2)

Detour: Eye for fashion or Window of opportunity

In eye for fashion teams must visit three locations scattered around town. At each location there is a fashion shoot in progress and they memorize what the models are wearing. At the end they must match sketches of the models to the locations where they were being photographed. Total distance for this task is 2.9km and the photo shoots take place at Piazza della Signoria, Piazza della Repubblica and Piazza del Duomo. At each shoot there is 2-3 models.

In window of opportunity teams must visit three delivery windows of local restaurants. At each place they must pick up one item of food (soup, meat and biscotti) and everything has to be delivered to a waiting couple. Total distance for this detour is 3.8km. The windows were originally used during the Bubonic plague but also saw use during the height of Covid.

Both detours end at the same place, on the riverbank next to Piazza dei Giudici with a great view of Ponte Vecchio.

Emily & Molly sit down on a bench just outside the road block to mark the locations they need to visit on the map. Marcus & Michael take the opportunity to pass them.

Luis & Michelle and Quinton & Mattie decide to do the task together. Luis interviews that they were exhausted.
 "Four heads are better than one", Luis
 "Maybe one because we're at half a head each", Luis realizes what he said when Michelle holds up two fingers

The food looks good.
 "Can I eat this?", Luis
 
Marcus & Michael are surprised when they come to the judging part of the detour and they realize that they needed to remember what the piazzas looked like as well. They have to do a bit of trial and error before they get it. In the meantime Emily & Molly arrives just after them and Molly did remember what the piazzas looked like. There are also extra sketches of models differing in small details (like there were three sketches of a model in the same gold dress but with different shoes).

During the detour we see that Sharik is in a bad place mentally.
 "I want to go home", Sharik

Rich & Dom struggle with matching the sketches with the places at the end of the detour so they decide to go back and look at the places again. And when they are back working with the sketches we see Linton & Sharik complete their detour in the background.

Teams complete the detour in the following order:
  1(+0) Emily & Molly, fashion
  2(+0) Marcus & Michael, fashion
  3(+2) Abby & Will, food
  4(+2) Quinton & Mattie, food
  5(-1) Luis & Michelle, food, just after #4
  6(-3) Aubrey & David, fashion
  7(+0) Derek & Claire, food
  8(+1) Glenda & Lumumba, food
  9(-1) Linton & Sharik, food
 10(+0) Rich & Dom, fashion

Route info: Race on foot to your next Pit Stop at Piazza Ognissanti.

Marcus & Michael are determined to beat the girls in a footrace to the pit stop. As they run up to the Pit Stop Derek says "12 hours later", so we can assume that is how long the leg took them.

Linton & Sharik are next to last but still they seem to walk to the Pit Stop while Rich & Dom are seen running, but the latter do seem lost (or the producers are playing tricks with the editing).

Teams reach Phil (1.5km) in the following order:
  1(+0) Emily & Molly win Expedia points good for a trip to Sydney, Australia
  2(+0) Marcus & Michael
  3(+0) Abby & Will
  4(+1) Luis & Michelle, at 20:30
  5(-1) Quinton & Mattie, jumped onto the mat together with #4 but as Luis & Michelle has a better position in the last leg they got #4
  6(+0) Aubrey & David, while the previous two teams are still on the mat
  7(+0) Derek & Claire
  8(+0) Glenda & Lumumba
  9(+0) Linton & Sharik
 10(+0) Rich & Dom, are eliminated

Linton & Sharik have a moment on the mat.
 "My arms hurt, it is not worth it, I want to go home. Please send me back to New York.", Sharik
Phil tells them that they are team #9 so they are still in the race. But he also tells them that they have a choice. They can leave the race and go home or they can keep on racing.
 "My arms hurt so much. Phil, have you ever chiseled anything?", Sharik looks for sympathy
 "I have", But Phil is not giving any
Eventually she relents and agrees to keep racing with her father.

 "It is incredible what this race really does give you, if you allow it to. Memories and truths which will stay with us for the rest of our lives", Dom

[maf]

Racing report
Amazing Race Season 34, Episode 5, "The Amazing Race of Arabia"
Film date: 2022-06-02

The last episode ended in Florence, Italy. This one starts at the airport where Phil tells the teams that they are going to the kingdom of Jordan. We then get a scene where teams ride an old steam train in the Wadi Rum dessert. Then a bunch of riders on horses and camels arrive and everything looks like an epic film. Towards the end each team get a clue from one of the riders.

Teams depart in three groups in the following order:
Group #1 departs at 08:00 and contains
 1. Emily & Molly
 1. Marcus & Michael

Group #2 departs at 08:15 and contains
 3. Luis & Michelle
 3. Abby & Will
 3. Quinton & Mattie

Group #3 departs at 08:30 and contains
 6. Glenda & Lumumba
 6. Derek & Claire
 6. Linton & Sharik
 6. Aubrey & David

Route info: Welcome to the Wadi Rum desert in the kingdom of Jordan. You have just experienced a scene reminiscent of the 1963 Oscar winning film Lawrence of Arabia. Now head into the desert to experience this otherworldly landscape. Chose an available Bedouin driver who will drive you through the desert to find your next clue.

Teams do not get to self drive in this leg. Instead they must choose a driver who will then drive them to the next location. During the drive Marcus & Michael talk about the acronym they came up with before the race. It is CAR, Complacent, Adversity and Resilience. This feels very military and not at all that useful.

Louis & Michelle interviews that they see this as their last crazy adventure before they will start a family.

Eventually the cars stop and teams see a clue box a bit up on a hill which they get to run to (through deep sand). When they start running Emily realizes that something is wrong with her leg.
 "I must have pulled a muscle in my tight", Emily

Teams reach the clue box here in the following order:
 1(+0) Marcus & Michael
 2(-1) Emily & Molly
 3(+0) Quinton & Mattie
 4(-1) Luis & Michelle
 5(-2) Abby & Will
 6(+0) Aubrey & David
 7(-1) Derek & Claire
 8(-2) Glenda & Lumumba
 9(-3) Linton & Sharik

Road block: Who wants to test their metal?

Teams must search a crash site for a piece of space ship debris. That is they must use a metal detector to find a piece of metal buried in the sand. And the place they do it is looks like a movie set depicting the crash site of an alien ship.

 "My husband is shoveling right now, this is hot watching road blocks", Michelle is admiring the view

Derek is very aware of the fact that this task only gets harder with time as there are fewer and fewer clues to find. So he runs across the search area with his metal detector as opposed to the other teams who are more careful. His strategy pays off though.

 "I found an orange can", Lumumba finds a bunch of stuff which is not the clue

Linton and David have a strategy which differs from the others. They concentrate on the areas were less people have walked and search outside the circle formed by the wreckage. This is a bad idea
 "Everybody is looking in the middle, there's got to be an outlier", Linton on why he is searching away from the others
 "The hardest part is no being able to help them", Aubrey

Teams complete this road block in the following order (* denotes team member doing the roadblock):

1(+0)	Marcus* & Michael	(3-2)
2(+0)	Emily & Molly*	(2-3)	Spent just over 15 minutes (as group 2 have just arrived)
3(+0)	Quinton* & Mattie	(3-2)
4(+0)	Luis* & Michelle	(3-2)
5(+0)	Abby* & Will	(3-2)	Finds it just as group #3 arrive
6(+1)	Derek* & Claire	(3-2)
7(-1)	Aubrey & David*	(2-3)
8(+0)	Glenda & Lumumba*	(2-3)
9(+0)	Linton* & Sharik	(4-1)

Teams must now be driven 1.5h to Petra where they will find their next clue.

Emily & Molly catch up with Marcus & Michael on the way to Petra.

At Petra the next shown clue is located outside The Treasury (which probably is the most well known structure here). This is a good 2km from the entrance to the site so it is a bit of a run to get there. Teams reach the clue box here in the following order:
 1(+6) Derek & Claire
 2(-1) Marcus & Michael
 3(+1) Luis & Michelle
 4(-2) Emily & Molly
 5(+0) Abby & Will
 6(+1) Aubrey & David
 7(-4) Quinton & Mattie
 8(+0) Glenda & Lumumba
 9(+0) Linton & Sharik

This does not really make sense. The order is very shuffled as compared to the other they left the road block. And they had chauffeurs driving them here so nobody should have gotten lost along the way. I suspect that there was an unaired task here. After the road block teams were told to go to the main entrance of Petra, but the shown clue box is at the Treasury which is 2km from the entrance. Also a comment by Mattie as Aubrey & David pass them indicates that there may have been a task there.
 "Did they do that lick[?] so fast?", Mattie

{EDIT} I have to correct myself here. We have now heard from racers that there was no unaired task. Instead it was the drivers who caused the shuffling of places (some with a lead foot and some who went the wrong way). With the clue teams got a ticket to Petra which said "The Treasury" on it.

In any case the clue box by the Treasury contains a detour: Camel Caravan or Palace Puzzle

In Camel Caravan teams must fetch four bags of hay for the camels. And carry water in jugs to fill a small through. Once they are done they must lead three camels there and feed them.

In Palace Puzzle teams must complete a 4x3 slide puzzle. The catch here is that it is not obvious which piece goes next to which. And once a team has solved the puzzle it is covered up so you can not look at any completed puzzles.

Both detours takes place in front of the Palace Tomb (1km). The Camel Caravan is a physical challenge and as it is very hot here it is even harder.

Emily & Molly take a wrong turn on the way to the Palace tomb so they loose some time.

 "I know the strategy", Claire is not fazed by the slide puzzle
 "This will take forever", Marcus & Michael realize how many trips of water they are going to have to make

Abby & Will arrive to the detour as the first team is leaving and before Emily & Molly.
 "The challenge is just figuring out kind of where they go, so that you can follow the algorithm", Abby knows how to solve slide puzzles

Glenda & Lumumba initially decides to do the Camel Caravan but when they see the completed example and how much water they have to carry they decide to switch. And they are elated when they see that two teams are still working on the puzzles when they get there. They thought they were way behind everybody else.

Linton & Sharik do the camel side of the detour. It is not shown in the episode but apparently they did try switching to the puzzle but made no progress on it so they switched back.

 "Why is this so hard?", Aubrey when their puzzle gets rejected

As Linton & Sharik pick up their hay they hesitate and wonder if they need three or four bags. Sharik is certain they only need three.
 "Let's take four just in case", Linton
As they in fact need four it is very good Linton brought an extra one.
 
Teams complete the detour in the following order:
 1(+2) Luis & Michelle, puzzle
 2(-1) Derek & Claire, puzzle
 3(-1) Marcus & Michael, camels
 4(+1) Abby & Will, puzzle
 5(-1) Emily & Molly, puzzle
 6(+1) Quinton & Mattie, puzzle
 7(+1) Glenda & Lumumba, puzzle
 8(-2) Aubrey & David, puzzles
 9(+0) Linton & Sharik, camels, about 30 minutes after #8

Route info: Race to the Great Temple and search for Phil among the ruins.

The first two teams completed the detour more or less simultaneously so there is a footrace, in the dessert heat to the Great Temple which is about 1km away.

One strange thing at the pit stop is that production moves the mat so that the last two teams check in to a different place than the previous ones. It is still within the Great Temple but definitely a different location. I have no idea why they did this.

Teams reach Phil in the following order:
 1(+0) Luis & Michelle, win $5,000
 2(+0) Derek & Claire, just after #1
 3(+0) Marcus & Michael
 4(+0) Abby & Will
 5(+0) Emily & Molly, as #3 and #4 are still on the mat
 6(+0) Quinton & Mattie
 7(+0) Glenda & Lumumba
 8(+0) Aubrey & David
 9(+0) Linton & Sharik, are eliminated

 "This experience has brought us closer, even though I didn't know we could get any closer", Sharik

Next week the race continues in Jordan and somebody tests positive for Covid.

[maf]

I have updated the report above as there apparently was no unaired task at Petra. Instead it was the drivers who caused the shuffling of places (some with a lead foot and some who went the wrong way). With the clue teams got a ticket to Petra which said "The Treasury" on it.

[maf]

Racing report
Amazing Race Season 34, Episode 6, "Step by step"
Film date: 2022-06-03 or 2022-06-04

The last leg ended in Petra. During the Pit Stop teams are transported to Amman, the capital of Jordan. This leg starts at The Citadel on a hill in Amman. Seven of the remaining teams are limed up in front of Phil.
 "Whenever you see Phil before the leg starts, that is not good", Luis
Abby & Will are missing. Phil points this out to the teams and the proceeds to call Abby & Will on his phone. He tells them that they have tested positive for Covid (actually only Will was positive) and that this means that they are eliminated from the race. We are all very very sad to see them go this way.
 "It's definitely heartbreaking, but we've loved every single minute of it", Abby about the race (and she manages to keep herself together)

Phil then tells the remaining teams that they will all start at the same time. And there will be no elimination at the end of this leg. But to motivate them he tells them that in the next leg they will start in four groups and the last team in this leg will be the only team in the last group starting the next leg. He points out that this team will start 45 minutes after the first teams (and at the same time we realize that they will start 15 minutes after the two teams in the next to last group).

The first clue is inside the Citadel. It is a route info: "You will be exploring this historic city entirely on foot. Race to the Maktabat Khazanet al-Jahith bookstore to find your next clue. You have $10 for this leg of the race."

Teams must now race to a bookstore. This turns out to be tricky to find, most locals do not understand what they are looking for and Google Maps does not know it either. And when teams borrow a local's cellphone they quickly realize they they are set to Arabic so it is very hard for them to use. And all the local signs are in Arabic letters.

 "I think that I strained my quad muscle in Italy", Emily does not look forward to a leg entirely on foot

Teams eventually reach the book store (1.6km) in the following order:
 1. Marcus & Michael
 2. Emily & Molly, just after #1
 3. Derek & Claire
 4. Aubrey & David, just after #3
 5. Glenda & Lumumba
 6. Quinton & Mattie, as #5 are outside reading their clue
 7. Luis & Michelle, just after #6

Detour: Step by Step or Letter by Letter

In Step by Step teams must make their way to the Roman Theater (900m). Here they must choose an instructor who will teach them a traditional Flirt dance. They must then get into costume and perform the dance to music in front of the judge. The judging of this turns out to be fairly strict. Teams must not only master the steps but they must also show the correct attitude.

In Letter by Letter teams must make their way to The Odeon Theater (950m). Here teams must choose an instructor who will help the learn the 28 letters in the Arabic alphabet. They must the correctly pronounce all of them in front of a judge.

The detour locations are next to each other.

Emily & Molly note that the Arabic letters are very similar to Hebrew letters, and they both learned the latter as they were raised in Jewish families.

Marcus is struggling with some letters. As he rereads the instructions he realizes that it only says that as a team they have to go through the entire alphabet. So they just learn 14 letters each and Michael can take the ones Marcus is struggling with.

On their way to the detour Quinton & Mattie and Luis & Michelle stumble upon the Pit Stop. It is actually kind of on the way so they are not that far away from where they need to be.
 "Classic Amazing Race mistake, run in a direction without knowing where you are going", Luis

Glenda & Lumumba feel good about the dancing. They are the second team to reach the challenge and they hope to get it done before any more teams turn up. But not only are their hopes for that dashed. The other three teams which turn up for the challenge all all professional dancers (well Luis is not but something has probably rubbed off from his wife). In the end all the other teams leave the challenge before Glenda & Lumumba even make their first attempt.

 "I can not roll my Rs", Derek struggles with the alphabet challenge
Derek & Claire do not realize that there is no requirement that both can pronounce all the letters

Teams complete the detour in the following order:
 1(+0) Marcus & Michael, letters on their 3rd attempt
 2(+0) Emily & Molly, letters  on their 2nd attempt
 3(+1) Aubrey & David, dance  on their 2nd attempt
 4(+3) Luis & Michelle, dance on their 2nd attempt
 5(-2) Derek & Claire, letters on their 2nd attempt
 6(+0) Quinton & Mattie, dance on their 1st attempt
 7(-2) Glenda & Lumumba, dance on their 8th attempt

Road block: Who's feeling broken-carted?

In this road block contestants must build a push cart. They each get a half built one and must complete it. After getting it approved they must load it with a bunch of stuff and roll it to the Pit Stop.

This task takes place about 250m from the detours. The stuff they need to load into it lies next to it. it looks like a bunch of ball pit balls in a net. They must also bring the tools as well as the mat everything is standing on.

Emily wants Molly to do it in case it involves a lot of running as she wants to rest her leg.

Marcus & Michael overshoots the park. And then when Michael does the task he overthinks it and spends way to much time looking at exactly where the nails are placed in the sample etc.

 "I'll pick the one closest to the sample", Luis arrives first and is smart
 "This is definitely no IKEA", Luis realize this may be hard to build
 
 "I have no experience building anything, I build software", Claire
 "You built a Ducati Claire", Molly
 "We all know how building a Ducati went", Claire remembers that the motorcycle challenge did not go well

 "I hate building things", Claire is struggling
 
Glenda & Lumumba left the Detour in last position but are happy to find all the other teams when they get to the Road Block location. They are however way behind and the others leave before Glenda is done. Glenda gets discouraged when this happens and Lumumba sees this and give her a good pep talk.

Teams complete this road block in the following order (* denotes team member doing the roadblock):

1(+3)	Luis* & Michelle	(4-2)
2(+1)	Aubrey & David*	(2-4)
3(+3)	Quinton* & Mattie	(4-2)
4(+1)	Derek & Claire*	(3-3)
5(-3)	Emily & Molly*	(2-4)
6(-5)	Marcus & Michael*	(3-3)
7(+0)	Glenda* & Lumumba	(3-3)

Route info: Race to the Roman Nymphaeum. Take proper care of your cart and use it to bring your items to Phil on the mat.

Luis & Michael load all their stuff and Luis starts pushing their cart. One wheel soon falls off and when they try to carry the cart it falls to pieces. Luckily for them the tools used to build the cart are among the things they had to load so Luis can rebuild the cart on the spot. But it takes time and while they are rebuilding their cart Aubrey & David completes their cart. Luis & Michelle still have an advantage, they know where the Pit Stop is.

Teams reach Phil in the following order:
 1(+0) Luis & Michelle, win Expedia points for a trip to Barcelona
 2(+0) Aubrey & David
 3(+0) Quinton & Mattie
 4(+0) Derek & Claire
 5(+1) Marcus & Michael
 6(-1) Emily & Molly
 7(+0) Glenda & Lumumba, will depart last in the next leg

 "Well, it's been a while guys, but you made it", Phil greets Glenda and Lumumba who probably are way behind the other teams

[maf]

Racing report
Amazing Race Season 34, Episode 7, "It's simply medieval"
Film date: sometime between 2022-05-06 and 2022-05-08

After the last leg teams are flown to the Dordogne region in the south of France. Teams leave from Chateau de Beynac in four groups.

Group #1 departs at 08:45:
 1. Luis & Michelle
 1. Aubrey & David

Group #2 departs at 09:00:
 3. Quinton & Mattie
 3. Derek & Claire
 
Group #3 departs at 09:15:
 5. Marcus & Michael
 5. Emily & Molly

Group #4 departs at 09:30:
 7. Glenda & Lumumba

Teams start with a short sprint to a knight who gives them their first clue.
Route info: Welcome to France. Drive yourselves to Chateau de Commarque to find your next clue.

The cars seem to be automatic (at least we do not see anybody struggle with driving them) and teams also get a large scale map of the region.
The first two teams seem to have different strategies. Aubrey & David just jump into their car and drive off. Then they start arguing about navigation. Luis & Michelle make sure to look at the map before they get into their car. The former team stops to look at the map and when the latter turns up they agree to work together.

 "Stay cool, calm, stay cute and stay collected", Quinton wants to stay in 3rd or advance

Later on the first group is asking for directions in a village when Derek & Claire drives past them. Derek tells then to follow him as he knows where they are heading.
 "Follow them? I don't think so", Luis wants to go their own way
 "We get lost, we bring them with us", Derek explains his motive to Claire (who does not seem thrilled with the idea)

During the drive we get to hear that Emily & Molly are learning a lot about each other, and they find that they are very similar in some very random ways.

Glenda & Lumumba takes what they think is a short cut but turns out to be somebody's long driveway. The road gets smaller and smaller and eventually it is just a narrow dirt track. Glenda decides to turn around but the bushes next to the road turns out to mask a very deep ditch. This ditch seems to just wait for a car to swallow and happily engulfs theirs. This so bad, that we get to see some footage of Roddy Bainton who works with security for the race. He gets there to help them get out of the car. After they have calmed down they start think about how to get the car back onto the road again. One of the local asks if if he should call the neighbor who has a tractor. This turns out to be a good offer and 5 minutes later an old lady comes with her tractor and they get the car back on the road. And luckily it was not damaged so they can drive on. The whole incident apparently cost them around 45 minutes.

Teams reach the clue box at Chateau de Commarque (17km) in the following order:
 1(+0) Luis & Michelle
 2(+1) Quinton & Mattie
 3(+2) Marcus & Michael
 4(+1) Emily & Molly
 5(-2) Derek & Claire
 6(-5) Aubrey & David
 7(+0) Glenda & Lumumba, after the other teams have left

Road block: Who wants to climb the family tree?

In this road block contestants are presented with a 22 generation deep family tree of the Commarque family. The tree includes the crests of all of them. Commarque crest dominates but we see different crests for their spouses. The players must then go to the top of the tower and rappel 131ft down. Once back on Terra firma they will have to answer some questions about the tree. If they answer wrong they have to go back and study some more and do the rappel again.
In the question area there are five big crests hanging from the wall. They are also given five name plates containing women names. They must match the names to the crests.

Michelle starts learning the names but the she realizes that this the wrong way to attack this task. Instead she climbs to the top to do the rappel and see what the questions are. She feels comfortable doing this as she is the only one there at this time.

 "Jeanne d'Aumar de la Brousse, so Jean loves her brows", Michelle builds associations to the names to help her remember them

When Michelle gets back to the family tree Mattie is there. Michelle wants to help her so she tells her to just do the rappel once to see the actual questions. Michelle could have helper Mattie a lot more by telling her the names and crests she needed to memorize but she did not. I am very happy for that as IMHO the race gets boring when teams help each other too much.
 "Okay, yeah. There's no way I can do this", Mattie realize that learning over a hundred names and crests is a bit much

 "My leg is feeling pretty crummy but I'm not gonna let that stop me", Emily is still not 100%
Emily feels that she must do this road block so their road block count does not get too unbalanced. She is afraid that her leg will hinder her and is happy when it turns out the task is rappelling rather than climbing.
 "Oh wow, really?", Emily when she sees the family tree

Eventually everybody realizes they just need to see the questions to figure out what they need to learn. That is everybody except Michael. He seems to misunderstand the family tree so he hopes he will get to see crests and names while rappelling. But he does not. Once down he walk over so he can see the questions area, he sees the crests on the names but not the name plates. So on his next go he memorizes the men marrying the women with the crests. But this does not help him very much so he has to go a third time.

 "I need him protected because we are trying for a baby as we speak", Glenda is worried about the tight harness Lumumba is wearing
 "All is incorrect", The judge when Lumumba makes a wild guess after his first rappel
 
Teams complete this road block in the following order (* denotes team member doing the roadblock):

1(+0)	Luis & Michelle*	(4-3)	On her 2nd attempt
2(+0)	Quinton & Mattie*	(4-3)	On her 2nd attempt
3(+1)	Emily* & Molly	(3-4)	On her 2nd attempt
4(+1)	Derek* & Claire	(4-3)	On his 2nd attempt
5(-2)	Marcus & Michael*	(3-4)	On his 3rd attempt
6(+0)	Aubrey & David*	(2-5)	On his 3rd attempt (switched 2 names on his 2nd attempt)
7(+0)	Glenda & Lumumba*	(3-3)	On his 3rd attempt

Route info: Drive to La Ferme de Turnac to find your next clue.

It was a bit of a walk/run from the clue box to the actual road block in Chateau de Commarque. This becomes a factor when Michael realizes he left the car keys back where they put on the harnesses up in the castle. They have to run all the way back up into the castle and fetch them.

 "As a tank commander I am not a stranger to a map", Marcus explains why they are so good at navigating
 "There's nobody here. interesting", Michael when they arrive first to the next route marker
 
Teams arrive to La Ferme de Turnac (33km) in the following order:
 1(+4) Marcus & Michael
 2(-1) Luis & Michelle
 3(+0) Emily & Molly
 4(+2) Aubrey & David
 5(-1) Derek & Claire
 6(-4) Quinton & Mattie
 7(+0) Glenda & Lumumba, after the other teams have left

Detour: Walnut cracker or Medieval gamer

In walnut cracker teams must collect, crack, press and grind walnuts to produce enough walnut oil to fill a given container. The task is straightforward and does not seem particularly difficult, it just takes some time.

In Medieval gamer teams must complete three medieval games to get their next clue. The games are:
- Move a ball past all the holes to the top of a board. The difficulty is that the ball is locate din a cradle which is controlled by two strings which goes to the back of the board. So one person stands behind it and can not see what is happening and the other gives instructions.
- Balance rocks on a hanging board
- Toss bags up onto a platform

The detours takes place next to each other.

 "What does a walnut grove look like", Marcus, while in a cluster of walnut trees
Marcus & Michael spend some time looking for the walnuts before they realize that there are lots of them just lying on the ground under the trees.

Luis & Michelle try one of the games for a few times. After realize they are not really making much progress they switch to the walnut detour.

 "If we want to pass other people we have to do the other one", Claire
Derek & Claire initially go for the walnuts but as they see that everybody else is there they switch to the other detour in the hope of passing some teams.

The first 6 teams are all at the detour at the same time.

Teams complete the detour in the following order:
 1(+0) Marcus & Michael, walnuts
 2(+3) Derek & Claire, games
 3(+0) Emily & Molly, walnuts
 4(-2) Luis & Michelle, starts games but switches to walnuts
 5(-1) Aubrey & David, walnuts
 6(+0) Quinton & Mattie, walnuts
 7(+0) Glenda & Lumumba, games

Route info: Drive yourselves to the Panorama Lookout in the village of Domme and run to Phil on the mat. Warning, the last teams to check in will be eliminated.

It turns out to be hard to find Domme. There is one obvious road to get there but this turns out to be closed.

 "I feel like the lack of communication and the increasing frustration became a bit overwhelming", David & Aubrey are having a hard time navigating and communicating

As expected we get to see a montage where the next to last team is struggling with the  navigation while the last team seems to breeze through everything. All designed to build suspense.

Teams reach Panorama (10km) in the following order:
 1(+0) Marcus & Michael, win $7,500 each
 2(+1) Emily & Molly, as #1 are leaving the mat
 3(-1) Derek & Claire, just after #2
 4(+0) Luis & Michelle, as the previous two teams are about to leave the mat
 5(+1) Quinton & Mattie
 6(-1) Aubrey & David
 7(+0) Glenda & Lumumba, are eliminated

 "We are more in love with each other, we are more appreciative of each other", Glenda

[maf]

Racing report
Amazing Race Season 34, Episode 8, "La Ville Rose"
Film date:

The last Pit Stop was in Domme, France. This episode starts with some product placement where racers may choose which hotel they are staying at by booking it in the Expedia app.

The next leg starts exactly where the last Pit Stop was, a lookout called Panorama in Domme. Teams depart in three groups:

Group #1: 08:00
 1. Marcus & Michael
 1. Emily & Molly

Group #2: 08:15
 3. Derek & Claire
 3. Luis & Michelle

Group #3: 08:30
 5. Quinton & Mattie
 5. Aubrey & David

Route info: Drive to Toulouse, France. Once there find the Stade Toulousain for your next clue.

In an interview we hear Marcus & Michael talk about how they are good at navigation but can improve on the tasks.
 "Mistake free", Marcus on how they want to run this leg

Getting to Toulouse seems to fairly straightforward, there is a large freeway (A20) going there so the only question is how to get to it the quickest. But then once you get to Toulouse you need to find the Stade Toulousain, which is a bit trickier. Specially since there is a lot of traffic on some routes.

In a later interview we also learn that on their way to Toulouse Quinton & Mattie got pulled over by the police.

Louis & Michelle decide to work with Derek & Claire to get to the next route marker quicker.
 "Louis and Derek have a bromance going on", Michelle

Derek & Claire have clearly talked about their navigation so now we see Claire giving Derek notes with the next destination written on it.

Aubrey & David start out as usual with David driving and Aubrey navigating, but that combination has failed to work in previous legs as navigating does not seem to be Aubrey's strong point. But this leg they realize that this is a bad idea and switch positions so David gets to navigate.
 "Why did we not do this sooner?", Aubrey is happy driving

Marcus & Michel take the wrong exit when they get to Toulouse and get stuck in traffic.
 "We could probably get to the stadium walking rather than this", Marcus as they are stuck in traffic

Team arrive to the stadium (167km) in the following order:
 1(+0) Emily & Molly
 2(+1) Luis & Michelle
 3(+0) Derek & Claire
 4(-3) Marcus & Michael
 5(+0) Aubrey & David, as #4 are driving away
 6(-1) Quinton & Mattie, as #5 are leaving

Road block: Who's ready to take one for the team?

In this challenge racers must complete a Rugby drill. They must hit a dummy, roll on the ground, pick up a ball, push a simulated opponent, pass the ball, receive the ball and score a drop kick. The only hard part of this is the final kick. There seems to be some confusion about the rules for the kick. The instructor is show telling at least one team that the ball must bounce from the ground before they may kick it. And this is how must teams kick it. But we see Luis kick the ball before the bounce. So we do not really know what the rules said.

Emily's leg is still not 100% so they let Molly do this one.

Teams complete this road block in the following order (* denotes team member doing the roadblock):

1(+0)	Emily & Molly*	(3-5)	On her 6th attempt
2(+0)	Luis* & Michelle	(5-3)	On his 1st attempt
3(+0)	Derek & Claire*	(4-4)	On her 1st attempt
4(+0)	Marcus* & Michael	(4-4)	On his 7th attempt
5(+0)	Aubrey* & David	(3-5)	On her 4th attempt
6(+0)	Quinton* & Mattie	(5-3)	On his 1st attempt

Route info: Drive to Couvent des Jacobins and find the musician playing the French Horn in the Cloister to receive your next clue.

On their way to the cloister Molly & Emily make a wrong turn so they end up in a parking garage. They have trouble getting out as the exit gate expects people to pay with a credit card, which they do not have.

Quinton & Mattie have an even harder time. They end up in a pedestrian zone and seem to be trapped behind some poles. Fortunately for them there is an intercom so they can call a nice attendant who lowers the barrier and lets them out.

Teams reach the Cloister (5km) in the following order:
 1(+2) Derek & Claire
 2(+0) Luis & Michelle, just after #1
 3(-2) Emily & Molly
 4(+0) Marcus & Michael
 5(+0) Aubrey & David
 6(+0) Quinton & Mattie

Detour: Say Six or Lay Bricks

In Say Six teams must memorize six lines from a famous French poem, in French, which they can find two at a time in three locations around the basilica. Once they have learned it all they must perform it in front of the judge to get their next clue.

  J'irai par forêt, j'irai a[r la montagne.
  Je ne puis demeurer loin de toi plus longtemps,
  Je marcherai les yeux fixés sur mes pensées,
  Sans rien voir au dehors, san entendre aucun bruit,
  Seui, inconnu, le dos courbé, les mains croisées,
  Triste, et le jours pour moi sera comme la nuit.

The poem is by Victor Hugo and for each pair of lines the actor holding them can teach the racers how to pronounce them.

In Lay Bricks teams must lay bricks in a pattern on the ground. The task is a bit physical but the biggest hurdle seems to be  that teams need to figure out that there are two different lengths of bricks.

 "I took like four years of High School French", Derek is sure he can do the poem

When Luis & Michelle reach the second location they realize they have already forgotten the first two lines. They decide to switch detours. At the bricks they soon realize that there are two sizes so Michelle sorts the bricks according to size and Luis lays them down.

 "I do not do construction, I do not even build Legos', Luis feels unqualified for this task
 "It was hard", David had a hard time pronouncing the French words
 "Memorizing the words was really easy. Pronouncing them correctly was a whole different story", Marcus & Michael
 
Teams complete the detour in the following order:
 1(+0) Derek & Claire, poetry on their 2nd attempt
 2(+0) Luis & Michelle, bricks
 3(+0) Emily & Molly, bricks
 4(+0) Marcus & Michael, poetry on their 2nd attempt
 5(+0) Aubrey & David, poetry on their 2nd attempt
 6(+0) Quinton & Mattie, poetry on their 1st attempt

 "I would have kissed you if it wasn't Covid", Quinton to the poetry judge after they get approved
 
The next clue tells teams to make their way on foot to the Pit Stop aboard the boat Pays D'Oc which is moored in Canal de Brienne.

 "Alright, we have a 30 minute run", Aubrey after getting directions

Teams reach the Pit Stop in the following order:
 1(+0) Derek & Claire, win Expedia points for a trip to Bangkok
 2(+0) Luis & Michelle
 3(+0) Emily & Molly, shortly after #2
 4(+0) Marcus & Michael
 5(+0) Aubrey & David
 6(+0) Quinton & Mattie, are eliminated

 "We are both competitors and very upset that we are not going to be in that final leg racing for $1,000,000", Mattie

[maf]

Racing report
Amazing Race Season 34, Episode 9, "Vamos a la Playa"
Film date: 2022-06-11 or 2022-06-12

The last leg ended in Toulouse, France. During the Pit Stop teams are flown to Málaga, Spain. They are released from the top of a tower of Castillo de Gibralfaro.

Group #1 at 08:00:
 1. Derek & Claire
 1. Luis & Michelle

Group #2 at 08:15:
 3. Emily & Molly
 3. Marcus & Michael
 3. Aubrey & David

The first clue welcomes them to another Mega leg and tells them to make their way on foot to Plaza de la Merced, the birthplace of Pablo Picasso. It also says that they have €0 for this leg of the race.

It is a long steep path down from the starting line and, unsurprisingly, Emily suffers with her bad leg.
 "This is killing me", Emily

Teams arrive to the plaza (1.4km) in the following order:
 1(+0) Derek & Claire
 2(-1) Luis & Michelle, just after #1
 3(+0) Aubrey & David
 4(-1) Marcus & Michael
 5(-2) Emily & Molly, before any teams have left

Road block: Who will be the master of pieces?

In this road block contestants must recreate on of Pablo Picasso's paintings known as the Three Musicians. This is a cubist painting where the original is more than 2x2m. Teams will piece together a slightly smaller replica of it from 6 panels of painted glass. The panels needs to be placed in a frame in the correct order and orientation. There is a small replica of the actual painting they can look at. Each contestant also gets an assistant who can help them handle the panels.

It seems the panels are made of Plexiglass and not real glass. Which is probably a good idea. Real glass panes of that size would have been very heavy and would probably shatter if dropped.

Claire and Michelle did not see the example painting when they choose their stations so they end up with the station furthest from the example. Which just means a lot of running for them.

 "This brown blob goes in front of the blue blob which is in front of the black blob", Claire descries the task
 "It was hot out", Aubrey feels that the heat makes the task harder
 "I just don't want her to feel, that if we go out today, that it is her fault, Molly with tears in her eyes as Emily with her bad leg is doing the task

It seems as if their helpers at least understand English so this makes things a lot easier as the racers can tell them what to do.

Marcus is having a hard time. After a while his only problem is that he has flipped his back piece. But it takes him a long time to figure that out.

Michelle gets really flustered when team #2 leaves. But she realizes this and manages to pull herself together. Then she spots her mistake and gets approved.

We see that once a team is done their station is covered up so you can not study the completed ones. There is also at least one extra station so even Molly & Emily, who got here last, have at least two stations to choose between.

Teams complete this road block in the following order (* denotes team member doing the roadblock):

1(+0)	Derek & Claire*	(4-5)
2(+1)	Aubrey* & David	(4-5)
3(-1)	Luis & Michelle*	(5-4)
4(+1)	Emily* & Molly	(4-5)
5(-1)	Marcus* & Michael	(5-4)	Quite a while after #5

Route info: Travel by bicycle to El Cubo in the port of Málaga to find your next clue.

For some reason the bicycles are parked next to a cathedral about 500m away from the road block location.

 "Did you see El Cubo?, Molly as they are passing the big glass cube
The girls continue past El Cubo but soon realize that they have overshot it and turn around.
 
Teams find the clue by El Cubo by Centre Pompidou Mälaga (1km) in the following order:
 1(+0) Derek & Claire
 2(+0) Aubrey & David
 3(+0) Luis & Michelle
 4(+0) Emily & Molly
 5(+0) Marcus & Michael

Detour: Fish fry or Sailboat supply

In Fish Fry teams need to spear, grill and serve 18 small fish.

In Sailboat Supply teams will have to inflate a stand up paddle-board and then transport a cooler full of ice and 8 life wests to a yacht anchored off shore. The tricky part with this detour is that there are choppy waves so getting started on the paddle-board is tricky. The rules here also say that if you spill too much ice you have to go back and get more. And everything has to be delivered in one go.

The actual detours take place by Playa des Palo (5.8km). The fish grilling happens on the beach by Canta el Gallo. The clue seems to include directions for how to get there.

 "I don't know how to go fast on this thing, I'm scared", Derek has crashed on a bicycle before

 "When I was not vegan I never cooked a fish, in my life", Claire, who has been vegan for the last 5 years, has no fish experience
 "I did not touch, really the fish at all", Claire interviews after the detour
 "We're from Miami, we've done paddle-boarding. The crazy part is that we practiced paddle-boarding before went on the race", Louis on why they did the paddle-boarding

The tricky part with the fish frying is that you have to be careful when skewering the fish. If you are not careful they will fall off eventually. This happens to a number of teams.

Aubrey turns out to have had traumatic experiences with Sardines when her Grandma used to eat them when she was small.
 "I don't eat fish because of that", Aubrey

 "We're just get an extra skewer going, just in case", Claire is smart
 "As a dancer I present, and he does the work", Michelle as Louis frantically pumps their paddle-board

Derek helps Aubrey & David with a bunch of tips on how to grill their fish.
 "We're willing to help you up until it's not helpful for us", Claire
I get the impression that Derek & Claire would rather race against Aubrey & David in the finale than any of the other remaining teams.

Emily & Molly arrive to the fish frying as the first team is leaving.
 "Oh god, I love you", Emily is grossed out by the fish so she is happy that Molly does the skewering
But after a while we she that she also starts skewering, which is good as that is a time consuming step.

Luis & Michelle almost loose the cooler of ice in the choppy waves, but they manage to catch it just in time and eventually get out of the choppy section. When they reach the sailboat we see that the crew is a bit bizarre. The captain is a bearded guy in shorts and he is accompanied by two young pretty girls in bikinis. There is a camera crew there as well but they do their best to stay out of sight.

Molly & Emily struggle with the fish grilling. Molly interviews that she has trouble with perfectionism and they could probably have been done faster if she did not insist the fish should look perfect. Even so on their first judging the judge rejects one of their plates as the fishes have not being sufficiently grilled.

By now Marcus & Michael have arrived. Both remaining teams are smart and are grilling more fish than they will need (good if you drop some for example).

Teams complete the detour in the following order:
 1(+0) Derek & Claire, Fish
 2(+0) Aubrey & David, Fish
 3(+0) Luis & Michelle, Paddle-board
 ?(+?) Emily & Molly, Fish
 ?(+?) Marcus & Michael, Fish

The next clue seems to just be a postcard with the text "Welcome to Megaleg" on it. On the back it says "Find the tour guide here for your next clue".

Teams get into convertibles and drive on to the next task.

And this where the first half of this mega leg ends. Three teams are driving towards their next destination and the two trailing teams are still at the first detour.

[maf]

Racing report
Amazing Race Season 34, Episode 10, "Don't look down"
Film date: 2022-06-12

This is the second part of a mega leg which started in Málaga, Spain. The previous episode ended with three teams in their cars on the way to their next destination and two teams left at the detour.
This is actually a bit of deceptive editing. Once teams were done with the detour they had a 45 minute break. I guess that they got lunch and a check up and the camera teams got a chance to rest.
We also know that Marcus & Michael had a production issue earlier in the mega leg and due to that they got a time credit and thus they had a shorter break.

This episode starts just before the front teams get into their cars. The clue they got after the detour was a postcard. This shows a bridge and the text "Welcome to Mega Leg". On the back it says "Find the tour guide here for your next clue". An interesting detail is that the cards the racers get differ from the one we are shown.

For this leg teams are driving convertibles so for a change they both get to sit in the front seats. The camera team follow in a separate van.

 "Watching fish cook by this method is like watching paint dry, it's just taking forever", Michael

Teams will eventually leave the previous road block in the following order:
 1. Derek & Claire
 2. Aubrey & David
 3. Luis & Michelle
 4. Emily & Molly
 5. Marcus & Michael

Any local seem to be able to tell the teams that the bridge featured on the post card is in Ronda.

Derek & Claire start in the lead but soon make a wrong turn and end up on a small street. The street gets smaller and smaller and eventually Derek decided to turn around. Here we learn that he is not a good driver. We we get to see him starting to turn and then a sign '5 minutes later' and then he completes the turn and they are able to drive back.

 "It's not over until Phil says it's over", Michael hope they can catch up
 
Teams arrive in Ronda (114km) in the following order:
 1(+2) Luis & Michelle
 2(-1) Derek & Claire
 3(-1) Aubrey & David, just after #2
 4(+0) Emily & Molly
 5(+0) Marcus & Michael, a bit but not that far behind team #4 (according to the shadows)

Teams leave their cars at the valet at Parador de Ronda. Which incidentally makes it so that teams can not see how many teams are in front by counting the cars.

The tour guide is easy to find. She stands on the bridge holding an Andalusian flag (which will become important later in the leg).

Detour: Bend over Backwards or Dress for Success

In Bend over Backwards teams will have to build a brick arch. In practice they get a wooden support and must place bricks on it. The outer side of the bricks needs to be separated by small pebbles. There is a judge checking their work and once he approves the wooden support is removed and the bricks are supposed to stay in place.

In Dress for Success teams must put the correct accessories on a Flamenco dancer. They first get to watch a performance and must study her costume. They must then dress another dancer to match. There are a couple of catches in this. First they seem to not be allowed to go too near the example. The second catch is that the actual accessories can be picked up in a shop a block away. The shop carries a number of nearly identical shawls and other accessories, of which only one is correct. Finally they do not get told what is wrong if they make an error. In total teams must correctly match five different accessories.

The Dress for Success detour takes place in a restaurant called El Casino (350m). The shop is about 70m away and teams do not need to pay for any of the accessories they pick up.

 "She's moving so much", Michelle find it hard to see what the dancer is wearing

Aubrey & David and Derek & Claire arrive at the detour as Louis & Michelle are still doing it. The latter have been there for a while and are close to getting it, they only need to figure out that they have picked the wrong shawl. We also see that once a team has gotten their dancer approved the dancer gets "reset", that is all the accessories are removed.

Aubrey & David feel grateful for Derek & Claire helping them at the fish grilling earlier in the leg so the two teams work together during this detour.

Molly & Emily get directions to the detour just as Aubrey & David are leaving. They then promptly overshoots the location but eventually they get there.
 "This running's gonna kill me", Emily is still having a lot of issues with her knee

Marcus & Michael seem to have a hard time with the bricks task. Their arch is shown being rejected once as they have forgotten to put pebbles between a couple of bricks.

Teams complete the detour in the following order:
 1(+0) Luis & Michelle, dress
 2(+1) Aubrey & David, dress, probably not long after 15:12
 3(-1) Derek & Claire, dress
 4(+0) Emily & Molly, dress, do 3 trips to the shop
 5(+0) Marcus & Michael, bricks

Once done Aubrey & David stay and help Derek & Claire to spot what their error is (they have the wrong castanets).

Route info: Make your way to Paseo de Kazunori Yamauchi and find the wood carver to receive your next clue.

Teams must now make their way on foot to an area next to the big gorge spanned by the bridge in the postcard they got earlier. Teams reach the wood carver in the following order:
 1(+0) Luis & Michelle
 2(+0) Aubrey & David
 3(+0) Derek & Claire
 4(+0) Emily & Molly
 5(+0) Marcus & Michael

Road block: Who's been paying attention?

In this road block racers must walk a tightrope below the Puente Nuevo bridge. Once they get to the other side they see five clues and a sign: "Choose one clue with the Andalusian flag on it". They must pick the right clue and bring it back to their partner where they may open it. If they pick the wrong one they have to go back and try again.

Actually walking the tightrope is not that hard as they have two guide ropes to hold on to and the distance is not that far. But it is far above the bottom of the ravine. Also there are two parallel ropes so two teams can go simultaneously.
 "I love heights, I'm so excited", Michelle is happy when she finds out what she has to do
 "This is the best thing that's ever happened to me", Michelle sings as she is walking the tightrope

 "I'm really scared of heights", Aubrey does not look forward to the task
 "I really don't like heights at all", Claire is also not comfortable
 "Just don't look down", Aubrey gets the title

Aubrey and Claire are really not the right choice for this task. They do it at the same time so they can help each other.
 "Claire, how're you doing mama?", Aubrey
 "Please don't talk to me. I'm sorry", Claire is very focused
 "Talking was actually helping me", Aubrey is trying to distract herself
In both teams their partners think the girls have better memory and that is why they are doing this task. But when they reach the clues neither of them is certain. Aubrey thinks it is the green flag so they both pick it. Both teams are very relieved when it turns out to be the correct clue and they do not have to do the walking again.

Claire has a small breakdown when she reaches Derek, she really had a hard time with the height.

Emily has her bad knee but no fear of heights and slightly better memory so it is not that bad that she does this road block. Plus it lets them choose who will do the road block in the next leg. If Molly had done this then Emily had to do the next one.
 "Are you kidding me?", Emily when she see the question
Emily did study flags before coming on the race but not regional ones (and who can blame her) and the only one she recognize is the Spanish flag. But she picks the right clue and does not have to redo the task.

Michael also has no fear of heights and picks the correct flag so it seems he completes this task very quickly.

Teams complete this road block in the following order (* denotes team member doing the roadblock):

1(+0)	Luis & Michelle*	(5-5)
2(+0)	Aubrey* & David	(5-5)
3(+0)	Derek & Claire*	(4-6)
4(+0)	Emily* & Molly	(5-5)
5(+0)	Marcus & Michael*	(5-5)

Route info: Race to your your next Pit Stop. Find Phil on the terrace between Ernest and Orson. Warning! the last team to check in will be eliminated.

The clue leads racers to Mirador de Ronda where the entrance contains plaques honoring Ernest Hemingway and Orson Welles.

Teams reach Phil and the mat (~300m) in the following order:
 1(+0) Luis & Michelle, win Expedia points for a trip to Tokyo
 2(+0) Aubrey & David
 3(+0) Derek & Claire, shortly after #2
 4(+0) Emily & Molly
 5(+0) Marcus & Michael, are eliminated

Poor Marcus & Michael are not having a good day. They have not seen any other teams since the fish grilling at the start of this episode. And by the shadows we see that they are way behind the other teams when they reach the pit stop. It seems as if the brick detour took a really long time for them.

In a post race interview we learn that Marcus & Michael left the Picasso detour (in the first half of the Mega leg) 45 minutes after Emily & Molly. This implies that the fish frying detour took more than 45 minutes which is longer than I expected. Marcus also said that when they arrived in Ronda they spotted the Wood Carver before they found the tour guide. He just had one clue left and when they looked down they saw Emily doing the Road Block. So they knew their fate was sealed.


 "It was a blessing to be here, it has been great", Michael

[maf]

I added this to the leg #10 report as this is info we learned in the exit interviews. It seems as if it was the Picasso task which did them in.

In a post race interview we learn that Marcus & Michael left the Picasso detour (in the first half of the Mega leg) 45 minutes after Emily & Molly. This implies that the fish frying detour took more than 45 minutes which is longer than I expected. Marcus also said that when they arrived in Ronda they spotted the Wood Carver before they found the tour guide. He just had one clue left and when they looked down they saw Emily doing the Road Block. So they knew their fate was sealed.

[cbacbacba1]

I added this to the leg #10 report as this is info we learned in the exit interviews. It seems as if it was the Picasso task which did them in.

In a post race interview we learn that Marcus & Michael left the Picasso detour (in the first half of the Mega leg) 45 minutes after Emily & Molly. This implies that the fish frying detour took more than 45 minutes which is longer than I expected. Marcus also said that when they arrived in Ronda they spotted the Wood Carver before they found the tour guide. He just had one clue left and when they looked down they saw Emily doing the Road Block. So they knew their fate was sealed.

In the same exit interview, Marcus revealed they took more than an hour to complete the bricks building detour and Michael did NOT complete the tightrope in one go.

[maf]

Racing report
Amazing Race Season 34, Episode 11, "How am I going to survive this?"
Film date: 2022-06-14

The last leg ended in Ronda, Spain and during the Pit Stop teams are transported to Iceland. Here teams are flown in helicopters to the starting line by Sólheimajökull (a glacier). The flight looks, as expected, magical and the landscape is very dramatic. We only see two helicopters and each seem to only hold one team so there might have been two trips.

 "It literally felt like I was James bond", Derek
 "I was your Bond girl, right?", Claire (and Derek hesitates before answering)

We also see that the racers have been given winter clothes in their team colors.

Teams are released in two groups:

Group #1 at 13:00:
 1. Luis & Michelle
 1. Aubrey & David
 
Group #2 at 13:15:
 3. Derek & Claire
 3. Emily & Molly

The first task will be to do an ice climb on the Sólheimajökull glacier. That is they must walk a short distance and then each team member must use Crampons and Ice axes to climb a steep ice wall to pick up a flag at the top. The task does not seem to take long as the first two teams are gone when the second group arrives.

Teams complete the climb in the following order:
 1(+0) Luis & Michelle
 2(-1) Aubrey & David
 3(+0) Derek & Claire
 4(-1) Emily & Molly

Route info: Drive to Fljótshlíðarfoss to find your next clue.

There is a bit of a walk to the car park from the ice climb location (at least 600m). Here teams find big hulking Land Rovers. These are clearly made to drive over rough terrain rather than city streets as they are fitted with large tires and snorkels. They turn out to be stick shift and have two sticks (the second one controls the 4x4 system).

 "Wow, I feel so manly right now", Luis when driving away

Emily's knee is still in a bad shape so Molly does her best to talk about other things.
 "Distraction technique is a really great pain management strategy", Molly

 "That was not a car... that was like a spaceship", Derek found the car hard to manage

David & Aubrey have reverted to having Aubrey navigate because this car has a manual transmission.

There are some issues navigating to Fljótshlíðarfoss. Luis & Michelle think they have missed their exit and turn around. This causes Aubrey & David, who are driving just in front of them, to also turn.
 "We shouldn't take them out of our sight... they are really good with directions", Aubrey on why they should follow Luis & Michelle
Shortly thereafter they pass Derek & Claire who are driving in the other direction.
 "They're also really good with directions", Aubrey
In the end both teams who turned around turn around again and follow Derek & Claire

Teams arrive to Fljótshlíðarfoss (60km) in the following order:
 1(+2) Derek & Claire
 2(+0) Aubrey & David
 3(-2) Luis & Michelle
 4(+0) Emily & Molly

Road block: Who's feeling misty-eyed?

The clue also states that Derek must do this road block (as they are the only team with a mismatched road block count).

In this road block contestants must abseil 100ft into a cave, pick up a clue, and then jump, swim and slide the rest of a canyoning course in order to get back to their partner.

The abseiling part of the task ends in a water filled cave and teams must look around to find their next clue, which is easy to spot.
 "I'm not afraid of heights... but it was when I saw that there was water involved that I was like, Crap", David
Here we learn that David's Achilles heel is water.
 "I don't swim", David
So David is the only racer not having the presence of mind to look around for the clue first. Instead he immediately makes for the other end, which was the wrong thing to do. He is still looking for the clue over there when Luis is lowered into the pool. Luis immediately spots the clues, which are close to him. David also see where Luis pick up his clue but he has to make his way over there, which he does by following the edge to avoid having to swim.

Molly is also not really thrilled about this task but she doesn't hesitate and goes as fast as she can. She catches up to David towards the end but is not fast enough to pass him.

Teams complete this road block in the following order (* denotes team member doing the roadblock):

1(+0)	Derek* & Claire	(5-6)
2(+1)	Luis* & Michelle	(6-5)
3(-1)	Aubrey & David*	(5-6)
4(+0)	Emily & Molly*	(5-6)

Route info: Drive to the Silfra Fissure in the Thingvellir National Park to find your next clue.

Teams arrive at Silfra (119km) in the following order:
 1(+0) Derek & Claire
 2(+0) Luis & Michelle, seconds after #1
 3(+0) Aubrey & David, just as the first team has gotten into their dry suits and are about to start their swim
 4(+0) Emily & Molly, a minute or so after #3

Route info: It's time for an Expedia experience. Swim the Silfra fissure where the Eurasia and North America tectonic plates collide.

Teams will now go snorkeling in the frigid cold water of the Silfra fissure. They will be wearing dry suits but it is still very cold. While swimming they must spot signs lying on the bottom containing names of different volcanoes and which year they last erupted. After the swim they must place markers with the volcano names next to pre-printed years on a big board. There seems to be no extra markers. Once they are correct the judge will remove a plug and a bunch of sand will pour out and reveal their next clue: "Drive to Gullfoss". There are 14 signs (but the racers are not told that).

The correct order is:
2021: Fagradalsfjall
2011: Grímsvötn
2010: Eyjafjallajökull
2004: Grímsvötn
1991: Hekla
2973: Eldfell
1963: Surtsey
1875: Askja
1823: Katla
1766: Hekla
1625: Katla
1477: Torfajökull
1104: Hekla
934: Eldgjá

The clue also says: "If you're incorrect, you must swim the fissure again".

 "I can see my lips turning blue and my mouth is hard to move, it was freezing", Luis about the water

This task is something as unusual as one where Luis & Michelle do not communicate well. She is eager and presses on and does not see that he is falling behind as he tries to memorize the names and after a while he gets confused about which names he should learn and which ones she is handling. And it turns out that you may not go back.

 "It's gorgeous, way better than the city pool", Claire

Emily notices that the signs in the water are in chronological order from newest to oldest so all you need to do is memorize the order.

On their first attempt Luis & Michelle have 2 names wrong. Emily & Molly have also switched two names on their first attempt.
Aubrey & David have 10 errors after their first swim and during their next swim David runs into problems. His goggles keep fogging up and he couldn't catch his breath due to the cold water. On their second check they have 8 names wrong. In true Amazing race style teams are only told if they are correct or not, but the viewers get to see a graphic highlighting their errors.

Aubrey & David have a hard time with this task. They do the snorkeling two times and the second go seems to be even more difficult for David than the first one. When they get back from that one all the other teams have already left. They make one more guess and when they hear that this is incorrect they give up and decide to take the penalty.
 "It wasn't worth it, for us to do it again", Aubrey
This decision was probably made easier by the fact that they knew they were last and that there was a high probability that the next stop was the pit stop.

Teams complete this task in the following order
 1(+0) Derek & Claire, on their 1st attempt
 2(+0) Luis & Michelle, on their 2nd attempt
 3(+1) Emily & Molly, on their 2nd attempt
 DNF(-1) Aubrey & David, took the penalty after making two attempts

At Gullfoss (68km) teams find Phil and the mat. They reach him in the following order:
 1(+0) Derek & Claire, win Expedia points for a trip to London
 2(+0) Luis & Michelle
 3(+0) Emily & Molly
 4(+0) Aubrey & David, are eliminated

This time we get to see Phil introduce the greeter as famous actor Ólafur Ólafsson (who has been in a bunch of American TV series).

 "It was a honor and a pleasure', David

Next week the finale takes place in Nashville, TN.

[maf]

Racing report
Amazing Race Season 34, Episode 12, "The only leg that matters"
Film date: 2022-06-16

The last leg ended in Iceland and during the Pit Stop teams are flown to Nashville, TN. They are then transported to Lynchburg, just outside the city, where the leg will start in front of the Jack Daniel's distillery. The three remaining teams start together in this leg.

 "We want to start a family, having that money would do so much for us", Michelle
 "Fate definitely brought us here, we're meant to win this", Emily
 "This is the only leg that matters", Claire gets the title

It seems the start was around 18:00.

The first clue sends teams into the Jack Daniel's distillery where they must properly label and pack 30 bottles of single barrel whiskey to receive their next clue. One person will do the labeling and one the packing.

The bottles are traveling on a conveyor belt and the labelers are all standing at one station. They must put on one small label at the neck of the bottle as well as a tag indicating which team it belongs to. The next station on the conveyor belt is a checking station where an employee checks their label, and if it is not perfectly straight they will reject the bottle and put it to the side. Finally the conveyor belt reaches the packer and they can box all the bottles from their labeler which reaches them.

It is a nice twist that the checking of the labels happens away from the racers so it is not immediately obvious if a bottle is rejected or not. The racers are free to walk between the stations and look at the rejected bottles.
 "Michelle, they're not getting approved", Luis warns his partner

All the teams get to wear hair nets, and Luis also gets to wear one over his beard.

Teams complete this task in the following order:
 1. Emily & Molly, at 18:29, Emily applied the labels
 2. Derek & Claire, at ~18:31, Claire applied the labels
 3. Luis & Michelle, at 18:34, Michelle applied the labels

Route info: Drive to the Korean Veterans memorial bridge in Nashville to find your next clue.

Teams are not provided with a map for this leg so they have to ask people for directions. Both the first two teams stop at the same gas station and eventually ask the same person for directions to the bridge. Team #3 arrives as the first two teams are leaving the gas station.

 "So we're the shortest team in the final. We're the oldest team in the final and we're the most femalest", Molly sums it up

When they arrive to the bridge Emily misses the small sign pointing to the parking so they have to cross the bridge and find a place to turn around. This lets the other two teams pass them.

Teams arrive to the clue box on the bridge (116km) in the following order:
 1(+1) Derek & Claire
 2(+1) Luis & Michelle
 3(-2) Emily & Molly, within five minutes of #1

Road block: Climb and rappel

In this road block contestants must first climb to the top of the bridge, find their clue and then rappel down. At the top they will find a guitar case tethered to the railings and inside they will find a guitar pick bearing the text "Gibson Garage", this is their next clue. The task is set up so they all can perform it simultaneously without having to wait for each other.

The clue also specifies which racer in each team have to do the task. This is the racer who has so far only done five road blocks.

At the start of the climb it is pretty steep (like 50°). racers have two ropes. One safety rope which they are tethered to and one which they can pull themselves forward by. The trick is to just walk up while dragging your upper body along with the rope. Every now and then racers must stop and move their safety clip past one of the hooks holding the safety rope.

Michelle uses the wrong technique and pulls herself up by upper body strength. She arrives, exhausted, to the top after Emily and is happy to wait for Emily to complete her descent. It is only then Michelle realizes that she did not need to wait.

Teams got here at sunset and the bridge is also lit up in red and yellow so it looked really nice.

Teams complete this road block in the following order (* denotes team member doing the roadblock):

1(+0)	Derek* & Claire	(6-6)
2(+1)	Emily* & Molly	(6-6)
3(-1)	Luis & Michelle*	(6-6)	Probably less than 10 minutes after #1

The next clue is a guitar pick bearing the text "Nashville Gibson Garage". As Emily & Molly make their way to their car they read some text about parking so I assume they got some additional information at some point.

Emily & Molly have a hard time finding somebody to ask for directions, probably because they do not seem to go toward the city form the bridge as the other teams do.
 "We went the wrong direction at the bridge and now we need to go back", Emily

Teams reach the Gibson Garage (1.5km) in the following order:
 1(+0) Derek & Claire
 2(+1) Luis & Michelle, as team #1 are leaving
 3(-1) Emily & Molly

Gibson Garage turns out to be a guitar shop. And on a small stage racers find Caroline & Jennifer (from seasons 22 & 24) who have their next clue.

Luis & Michelle get very excited as they recognize Caroline & Jennifer and they even sing their song back from season 22 thus proving that they really do know they race history.

The next clue is a route info and it tells team to deliver three guitar from this store to three different Honkey Tonks on Lower Broadway. The venues they need to visit are: Whiskey Bent, Wildhorse and Tootsies.

The clue also says: "Carefully remove one electric and two acoustics from the wall of guitars and place them in your cases".
There are nine guitars hanging on the wall in this area. This is a strange one. If any team makes a mistake and grabs the wrong kinds of guitars then the following teams will not be able to complete the task. Nobody seems to make any errors even though some teams say they do not know the difference.
 "Is this an acoustic?", Luis (holding an electric guitar)
 
I can see a few different scenarios:
* It was physically impossible to put the wrong kind of guitar in the case
* Somebody had to approve their packing before they could leave
* Production stepped in if they picked the wrong guitars

 "I'm very conscious about me being a very bad runner", Claire
 "I was already exhausted from the bridge, just one guitar was so heavy", Michelle

An unexpected difficulty in this task is that Broadway is packed with tourists in various states of inebriation.

For what I assume is Covid reasons the actual deliveries is made to people just outside the bars. All teams seem to hit the bars in the same order: Tootsie (1km), Whiskey Bent and finally Wildhorse.

Teams complete their deliveries
 1(+0) Derek & Claire
 2(+0) Luis & Michelle
 3(+0) Emily & Molly

Once teams have delivered all their guitars they get tickets to the Nashville Municipal Auditorium. They have to ask around for directions.
 "How do I spell Municipal?", Derek

One detail we learned in interviews is that when Derek shouted for help with directions he also shouted, as they tend to do, that he was in a race for a million dollars. One guy tried to sell him directions for $1,000...

Teams reach the auditorium (1km) In the following order:
 1(+0) Derek & Claire
 2(+0) Luis & Michelle
 3(+0) Emily & Molly

In the auditorium teams encounter a symphony orchestra playing the Amazing Race theme.
 "This is the most recognizable piece of music on The Amazing Race. Composed by John Keane in 2001", Phil

Here teams find a "memory" task. Teams each have a giant screen and a floor piano with 48 keys. The screen is one side of the podium where the orchestra sits. They remain silent most of the time and only play the theme when a team enters or completes the task. When the racers press any of the keys of the floor piano the screen shows a corresponding picture. Teams need to figure out which keys correspond to images of things they actually encountered during the race and press them in chronological order. The racers are only allowed to use their feet to press the keys and they may not take any notes or mark the keys in any way.

The clue then tells them to press the black floor pedal to lock in their answers. What the clue does not say is that this activates a countdown timer on the screen and they then only have 11 seconds to press the correct keys in the correct order. To make the task a little easier the screen lets them know immediately when they make an error when the timer is running.

This task tests not only their memory but also their dexterity. There are of course 37 pictures which are not of things they encountered during the race. They are slightly tricky, like a picture of generic red motorcycle which is wrong because there is also one of the Ducati they actually worked on etc. But no team seem to struggle with figuring out which pictures to select. The tricky part is pressing the buttons quickly and in the correct order.

This takes a while so Emily & Molly arrive before the first team is done so for a while we have all three teams doing the task next to each other. This adds to the excitement.

Derek plays the piano so he knows the names of the keys and they use that to memorize which ones to press. Their plan is to have Derek do the first pictures and then Claire do the last. That plan goes out the window when they realize they only have 11 seconds to press all of them. One of them has to take the right half and the other the left half of the keyboard.

 "When we got there I knew it was a memory challenge and I was like, I'm ready for this", Michelle felt ready
 "We're not musicians", Michelle after having worked the task a bit
 "Can we just focus", Claire is getting frantic

 "Baby, hold on, there's more keys", After a while Luis discovers the black keys
So Luis & Michelle started putting this together using just the white keys. These probably held plausible looking pictures for all legs, just not the correct ones.
 "I know there's black keys but I just forgot to press them", Luis

The teams have one side each of the podium as their screens so they can see each other, but not each others screens. Which means that once the first team completes this challenge the others immediately know they did. This must feel very demoralizing.

Teams complete this task in the following order:
 1(+0) Derek & Claire, spent more than 25 minutes but less than 45
 2(+1) Emily & Molly, did it in 8.9s after 25 minutes
 3(-1) Luis & Michelle, did it in 10s after 45 minutes

Route info: Race to the finish line. Make your way to the mother church of country music. Go, go, go!

Teams must figure out that the finish line is at the Ryman auditorium. This does not seem to difficult, just find somebody with a phone and they can look it up in their search engine of choice.
 "This may be a footrace Em", Molly

Rymans Auditorium is in fact located just behind Tootsies so they passed it earlier in the leg.

Teams reach the mat in the Ryman Auditorium (1km) in the following order:
 1(+0) Derek & Claire at 21:52, win the $1,000,000
 2(+0) Emily & Molly at 22:08
 3(+0) Luis & Michelle at 22:23

 "23 days, 8 countries, 16 cities", Phil sums it up

At the mat Derek has a bit of fun.
 "You know, there's something I've been wanting to...", Derek fakes starting to propose
 "I packed the bag, I know there's no ring there", Claire

As Emily & Molly reaches the stage Molly turns around and waits for Emily so they can step on the mat together holding hands. After the race we learn what actually happened to Emily's legs. In leg #5 (Jordan) she tore some muscle fibers in her quad. The race medics took good care of her but she overcompensated by putting too much wight on her other leg and thus hurt her that knee as well. She ended up with bilateral tibial fractures. Which just makes her even more badass.

 "I think this gives a little feeling of validation of our relationship", Derek alluding to the fact that they have only been dating for 8 months
 "Our relationship has only grown stronger and stronger", Michelle
 "We got time together that we otherwise never would have had", Emily

[georgiapeach]

  for these maf! They are AMAZING gems and much appreciated!