Episode #1202

ON TO AMSTERDAM
Departing the Pit Stop in first place at 12:00am, siblings Azaria & Hendekea opened their clue instructing them to fly almost 600 miles to Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Once there, they must travel by train to Centraal Station and search the city’s canals for the Melkmeisjesbrug bridge to find their next clue.

At Shannon Airport, Teams discovered that everyone could make it onto the 7am flight to Dublin, but the connecting flight to Amsterdam arriving at 12:15pm could only take six of the Teams. Siblings Azaria & Hendekea, dating couples TK & Rachel, Lorena & Jason, and Kynt & Vyxsin, and friends Shana & Jennifer all booked seats on the earlier flight to Amsterdam. Grandfather and grandson Nicolas & Donald would have been a sure bet for the earlier flight, but a flat tire slowed them down on the way to the airport. At the counter, the duo battled against dating couple Nathan & Jennifer for the last pair of tickets and lost because their agent was slower on the keyboard. Nate breathed a sigh of relief, saying, “Gosh, we are so lucky.” This put Nicolas & Donald on the second flight to Amsterdam landing with father and daughter Ronald & Christina and married ministers Kate & Pat. However, once they landed in Dublin, a chance to get standby tickets was a possibility. The only Team not taking the 7am flight to Dublin were sisters Marianna & Julia who took a slow route to the airport putting them alone on the 8:30am flight. The worried sisters said, “Anything you do at this point could cost you the race. One wrong turn and we’re in last place.”

AIR WARS
In Dublin, Nicolas & Donald beat Ronald & Christina in a footrace to the standby counter and put their names into consideration ahead of the father and daughter. However, Nick’s nervous insistence and pushy attitude about making sure they would get on the flight drew the attention of their agent who called him rude. While the two Teams waited on pins and needles for tickets, Ron stormed up to the young Nicolas and said, “You got a mouth that basically starts with bad energy.” When Nicolas tried to explain, Ron retorted, “I don’t need to talk about it. I have my version. I have maybe some problems with interpretation, but the words that come through my ear [are] very clear, because I cleared all the wax yesterday.” After Ron’s tirade, his morning got worse when Nicolas & Donald received the only standby tickets on the earlier flight to Dublin leaving Ron & Christina on the second flight to Amsterdam with Kate & Pat and the relieved sisters Marianna & Julia, who caught up after taking the later flight from Shannon.

HEAVE HO
Landing in Amsterdam, siblings Azaria & Hendekea took an early lead by jumping alone onto the 12:32pm train to Centraal Station. Arriving at Melkmeisjesbrug bridge, the pair opened their clue to find the first Detour of the race. They had to choose between Hoist It and Hunt It. In Hoist It, Teams had to use a traditional rope and pulley system to hoist five pieces of furniture up a typical Amsterdam residence. The task required brains and brawn, but the buildings were just a few feet away so Teams did not need to travel far. In Hunt It, Teams made their way on foot several blocks to a parking lot to search through thousands of bicycles, the most common form of transportation in Amsterdam, and find the two bikes tagged with a specific color designated in their clue. After finding their bikes, Teams had to ride them five miles to an attendant who would give them their next clue. The task was not terribly physical, but required tremendous attention to detail.

Not wanting to deal with tying the knots to secure the furniture, Azaria & Hendekea ran off to search for bicycles. Dating couples Lorena & Jason, Nathan & Jennifer, Kynt & Vyxsin, and TK & Rachel along with friends Shana & Jennifer all chose Hoist It. While Vyxsin opted to start with the much lighter baby carriage to learn the knot system, Jason and TK both chose to start with the heaviest object, the television set. Jason managed to knot and pull his television to the second story window where Lorena dragged it in while TK floundered with his ropes unable to secure the large item. In fact, Jason cruised through all five items before most Teams had even hoisted a single piece of furniture. Opening their clue, Lorena & Jason learned they needed to travel by bus to the rural village of Ransdorp.

TROUBLED TK
As Vyxsin, Nathan, and even Shana pulled item after item to the second floor, TK continued to be flummoxed by the knots. By the time all three Teams had completed the task, TK still hadn’t hoisted up the television. TK made matters worse by not listening to the advice of Rachel who tried to help from above. Later, Rachel commented, “It’s a crappy feeling knowing that Teams are passing you when you feel like you’re trying so hard and then it just starts slowly slipping away.” With Teams from the second plane headed towards Centraal Station, TK waved the white flag, saying, “Babe, I don’t know what to do. I hit a wall.” The couple decided to switch positions with Rachel now taking control below. Within minutes, she managed to do what TK couldn’t by securing the television and using all her strength to lift it up. With the most difficult item taken care of, Rachel continued to impress her boyfriend by completing the task before the other Teams arrived.

TAKE A LEAP
After taking the first bus to Ransdorp, friends Shana & Jennifer and dating couples Lorena & Jason and Nathan & Jennifer ran through the green fields of Amsterdam to the cluebox where a Roadblock awaited. In this Roadblock, one Team member had to complete a single vault over a watery, muddy ditch and successfully touch both feet to the marshy grass on the opposite side in a regional sport known as ditch vaulting. Once across, they could retrieve their next clue, then return to their partner in any muddy way they liked.

With the same ease he displayed in lifting furniture, Jason took a running leap, grabbed the wood pole and sailed clear across the muddy ditch in one attempt while Shana and Jennifer each prepared for their first jump. After returning to Lorena with another successful jump, Jason opened the clue to discover they had to ride a Dutch cargo bike, known as a bakfiets, through the countryside while searching for the marked drop-off point at the Durgerdam Yacht Club, a picturesque waterfront at the edge of the second largest lake in Europe and the Pit Stop for this leg of the Race.

As Lorena & Jason snagged first place along with a pair of sport bikes, Jennifer slammed into the bank of the ditch making a huge splash in her failure. Meanwhile, in her first attempt, Shana gracefully catapulted over, prompting Nate to say, “Jen, she fricking made it!” This observation did nothing to win over Jen who snapped, “Nate, do not do that right now!” Jen soon had a playmate in the mud when Shana took a dip of her own on the return trip with the clue, becoming covered head to toe. After Jen finally cleared the ditch, the two Teams raced neck and neck in the bakfiets to the Pit Stop where Nate & Jen narrowly beat Shana & Jennifer for second place.

FAMILY MATTERS
With the threat of elimination looming over them, sisters Marianna & Julia, married ministers Kate & Pat, and father and daughter Ron & Christina all chose to hunt for bikes, although a pessimistic Ron needed to be persuaded by a somewhat unsure Christina to select it over tying knots. While the sisters quickly located both bikes and cruised to the bus stop to wait for the next bus to Ransdorp, Ron & Christina battled against Kate & Pat looking through the endless sea of bicycles. As the search through the bikes continued, Ron shouted at Christina, “I told you this is an ocean of things! This is very frustrating!” Once they found the bikes, Ron’s behavior continued as he said that Christina always wants a rosy picture from him but he’s “optimistic with a real truth flavor.”

Christina made her father quit his ranting until they reached the bus stop where it continued once again with Ron dissecting their decisions in the Detour. Ron said, “I let you loose on this thing and you basically disappointed me.” This prompted Christina to fight back, crying, “You’re hard on me. Do you know that? It’s like punch after punch after punch. You really need to change that about yourself.” Ron promised to change his behavior towards her and they boarded the bus with sisters Marianna & Julia as both Teams now held a lead over married ministers Kate & Pat.

DON’S BIG SHOW
The second bus to Ransdorp held dating couples Kynt & Vyxsin and TK & Rachel along with siblings Azaria & Hendekea and grandfather and grandson Nicolas & Donald. Rachel took one leap over the ditch and successfully hit the grass on the other side, but her trouble finding the marked dropoff of the bakfiets with TK allowed Kynt & Vyxsin and Azaria & Hendekea to pass them for fourth and fifth place respectively.

Very leery of performing the vault, Nick decided to let his 68-year old grandfather rise up to the challenge. Unfortunately, Don struggled with vault after vault as he landed squarely in the muddy water. Soon, he stripped down to his skivvies and completed the vault successfully just as Marianna & Julia and Ron & Christina appeared on the third bus. However, Marianna’s skill as a pole vaulter in track and field allowed her to sail across the ditch and pass Nick & Don for seventh place at the mat.

ON THE MEND
With Kate & Pat bearing down on a bus, the opportunity to stay in the race rested on Christina’s shoulders. Ron began giving his daughter an endless stream of advice but this caused her to lose concentration instead of helping her. Once Christina told her father to be quiet, she took a moment and made it across the ditch. As he waited for Christina to return, Ron quipped, “I think I could have done it better.” After stepping onto the mat in ninth place, the duo talked about the problems of the relationship. Christina noted, “We don’t know each other’s work styles yet and it’s really hard.” Ron added, “The key is the communication skills. I’m a little bit crass in how I treat my daughter. I’ve become the Archie Bunker of the home.”

Stepping on the mat in last place, married ministers Kate & Pat received the bad news from Phil that they had been eliminated from the Race. On the experience, Pat reflected, “I think what came out of this for both of us is the realization that we can still have a lot of fun together.” Kate added, “We just wish we could have lasted so much longer and more of a chance to show people who we are.”