Another bang-up episode for The Amazing Race.
The teams, now at eleven with Ari & Staella eliminated, leave Shannon, Ireland and head for Amsterdam by plane. Once there, they will take a train to Amsterdam Centraal Station and walk on foot to find the Melchmeljesbrug Bridge where they will find their next clue. Each team gets $59 for this leg of the race.
The teams leave the pitstop and head to the airport to find flights to Amsterdam. Grandfather/Grandson team Nicholas & Donald are delayed due to a flat tire. In the meantime, teams are arriving at the airport and arranging for a flight to Dublin where they’ll make a connection to Amsterdam.
Ronald/Christina and Kate/Pat decide to stop at an inn with an internet connection to find flights. While there, Ronald gets impatient with Christina and this is a sign of things to come. Kate and Pat, married ministers were hoping that Christina was not having a miserable time.
In the meantime, Nathan & Jennifer who started in last place manage to jump ahead into 6th as the two aforementioned teams were late on their way to the airport and sisters Marianna/Julia took a different route to the terminal.
Everyone can get on the same plane from Shannon to Dublin, but as Hendekea reports, only half of the teams can get on the connection to Amsterdam. So those teams arriving late are going to fight for standby. Nicolas & Donald are shut out of guaranteed seats as are Ronald & Christina, Kate & Pat and the sisters.
There is a second flight to Amsterdam so they’ll definitely be on that flight, but the key is trying to get on that first flight out of Dublin.
Marianna & Julia finally arrive at Shannon Airport at 6:50 a.m. and aren’t allowed on the same flight as the 9 other teams.
In Dublin, Nicolas & Donald race to the standby counter with Ronald & Christina. This is where the bad Ronald comes out. While Nicolas was a bit pushy, Ronald & Christina were polite to the ticket agents, however, Ronald decides to lecture Nicolas about his pushiness. Christina tries to calm him down, but Ronald will have none of it
Ronald just walks away, but not before saying his peace and alienating Nicolas & Donald in the process.
So Kynt/Vyxsin, Nathan/Jennifer, TK/Rachel, Lorena/Jason, Shana/Jennifer and Azaria/Hendekea are on the first flight. Nicolas/Donald and Ronald/Christina are hoping to get on as well. Donald/Nicolas despite being pushy get on.
So Ronald/Christina are on the second flight out to Amsterdam with Kate/Pat and Marianna/Julia who arrive in Dublin and are happy to see the two teams. All three teams make up the bottom of the pack in Amsterdam. The question is, who will be eliminated?
The first flight arrives at 12:15 p.m.
Az/Hend get onto the train without paying while the others do the honorable thing and get their tickets. Azaria/Hendekea have a 10 minute lead on the others getting to the bridge. They find that they’ll have to do a Detour, Hoist It or Hunt It.
In Hoist It, teams will use ropes and a pully to hoist five pieces of furniture up a building and through a window. When all of the furniture is moved inside, teams will get their next clue. This task was the one to do as it was located right next to the bridge.
In Hunt It, teams make their way on foot to a parking lot where they’ll have to look through thousands of bikes to find the correct pair of bikes with the colors designated in their clue. Once they find their bikes, they’ll ride them five miles to an attendant who will hand them their next clue.
At Hoist It, this was where the women shined. Vyxsin, Shana, Jennifer (that little girl made me proud!) and Rachel showed their muscle. And Jennifer yelled at Nathan as usual.
Leaving this detour first was Lorena/Jason. They had to travel by bus to Ransdorp, a rural section of Amsterdam and a field where the teams will find their next clue. Kynt/Vyxsin really rocked this challenge and left second.
Over at the parking garage, Azaria/Hendekea found their bikes and left.
Shana/Jennifer completed the Hoist It challenge (quite well, I might add) and while I don’t like this team per se, I have to give credit where credit is due and they rocked it. And Shana laid on the ground and said, “I need a chiropractor.” They left in 3rd place.
Thanks to Jennifer hauling the TV, she and Nathan left for the bus in 4th.
So at the bus stop, you had Lorena/Jason, Shana/Jennifer and Nathan/Jennifer while Kynt/Vyxsin went off the beaten path looking for the proper bus. The three got on while Kynt/Vyxsin missed it.
Azaria/Hendekea were the 5th team to get their clue after biking five miles and went to the bus stop to wait for the transport to Ransdorp.
Back at Hoist It, TK was having trouble tying the TV to the ropes. Rachel was getting very frustrated. TK snapped at Rachel several times which didn’t help matters.
At the airport, the last three teams arrived at 1:55 p.m.
Rachel decided to take matters into her own hands and tied the furniture to the ropes. She hoisted the furniture up and got the job done. Sometimes, the women can do the physical tasks by thinking them out and getting it done better than the men and it was prove
d in this task. Rachel hoisted a baby carriage, a TV, an easy chair, a table and then a grandfather clock while TK just stood in the window and hauled them inside. Bad job, TK and they left in 6th place after several teams had passed them.
In Ransdorp, teams found themselves having to do a Roadblock, Ditch Vaulting, basically pole vaulting over a small, muddy bog. This has become a regional sport according to Phil. In fact, I like the picture of Phil standing at the bog while people are vaulting. I think I would have fun doing this. It’s quite a mess, but I would have fun.
Once teams get across to the other side of the water, they’ll be able to get their clue. Then they’ll return to their partner anyway they can.
Jason had no trouble and got over in his first try.
He and Lorena were to take a bakfiet, a bicycle with a wooden basket attached to the front and ride it to the drop off point and run to the pitstop, the Durgerdam Yacht Club.
Jennifer was next and she splashed into the water.
In the meantime, Nicolas/Donald got their clue and went to the bus stop to find other teams waiting. Kynt/Vyxsin, TK/Rachel and Nicolas/Donald all made in on board.
The last three teams made it to the bridge and Marianna/Julia, Ronald/Christina and Kate/Pat all decided to find the bikes. Ronald/Christina did try the Hoist It challenge first, but decided it was too complicated and went to the bikes, but not after Ronald got on Christina for being indecisive.
Back at the Ditch Vaulting, Shana got over the bog. Nathan yelled at Jennifer. Jennifer yelled back at Nathan.
Ronald told Christina it would be difficult to find the two bikes among the “oceans and oceans” of bicycles. Christina tried to tell him to be confident, but he was impatient.
Shana got muddy trying to get back to her partner, Jennifer. Finally, Jennifer of Nathan/Jennifer made it across, but just barely.
Lorena/Jason finally made it to the pitstop where they finished first. Both won three wheeled, all terrain sport bikes.
Marianna/Julia found their bikes and got out to get their clue. Kate/Pat then arrived at the parking garage to attempt to find the matching pair. Soon afterwards, Ronald/Christina got there.
Back at the pitstop, Nathan/Jennifer and Shana/Jennifer arrived on the mat seconds apart for 2nd and 3rd respectively.
Back at the garage, it was a race to see who would leave first. Kate/Pat went slowly while Ronald was very intense. Marianna/Julia finally got their clue and were 8th to Ransdorp.
Ronald was yelling at Christina at the bikes wondering what side she was looking at. Finally, they found their bikes, but Ronald was frustrated and yelled at Christina throughout. She was a saint putting up with it, but having grown up in a similar situation as Christina, this was hitting a bit too close to home for me.
We cut to a scene where the second bus arrived at Ransdorp. The teams all tried to decipher the Roadblock. Kynt thought it had to do with a sheep so he said he would do it, but soon found out it was Ditch Vaulting. Nicolas/Donald decided to hang back to see who would do the Roadblock.
Hendekea tried and immediately went into the muddy water. Azaria wasn’t too helpful by saying, “Let’s go. Get up. Let’s do this. Do it again” Rachel made it across, but got a little muddy. She got the clue. Seeing Rachel, Donald said he could make it across.
Kynt tried and he went right into the water. Donald was then convinced he could do it and Nicolas said, “I think that that may be a costly decision.”
Kate/Pat found their second bike right around the time Ronald/Christina made it to the attendant and got their clue. At the bus stop, Ronald really laid into Christina. He said, “You are vacillating! Vacillation does robs us time.” Christina was trying to talk to Ronald, but he wasn’t letting her get a word in edgewise. He then told her she disappointed him. This was after last week when Ronald said he didn’t want to disappoint Christina. All Marianna/Julia could do was look on.
Christina finally told Ronald that he was really being hard on her. He realized what he was doing, but said it was difficult to change. But Christina told him he had to make an improvement almost overnight. He said ok. It was a tough scene to watch.
Kate/Pat finally got their clue. Marianna/Julia and Ronald/Christina made it on the bus, but Pat/Kate missed it and that was their undoing.
Back at the Ditch Vaulting, Kynt finally made it over. TK/Rachel got on their bakfiet and went on their way to the pitstop. Donald laughingly made an attempt to make it over the water and he immediately went in.
Kate/Pat missed the last scheduled bus so they had to take a minibus the Roadblock.
Hendekea was the 6th to make it over to the other side.
Donald decided the only way to make it was to strip down to his skivvies. Nicolas was speechless at this point.
TK/Rachel missed the dropoff point and the pitstop altogether and just kept riding. Because of that, Kynt and Vyxsin were able to get 4th place at the pitstop.
Az/Hendekea somehow caught up with TK/Rachel and they went to the pitstop together. Donald and his mostly-nekkid body kept trying to make it over the other side at the Ditch Vaulting and it was really comical.
At the mat, Az/Hend and TK/Rachel were 5th and 6th, respectively as they finished together.
Donald must have been trying the vault for a long time because the 3rd bus carrying Marianna/Julia and Ronald/Christina was arriving on site. Donald finally made it, but just barely, I think the judges took pity on him and they gave him the ok to get the next clue.
Marianna showed her experience in pole vaulting and she made it across rather easily. Christina’s first attempt was unsuccessful and wet.
Nicolas/Donald just like TK/Rachel completely missed the pitstop. That allowed Marianna/Julia to get 7th. And finally Nicolas/Donald turned around to get 8th.
Ronald was still being hard on Christina by continuing to talk to her as she was about to make her attempt to make it across and it ruined her concentration. She finally told him to be quiet and she eventually did it. Of course, Ronal
d had to say, “I think I could have done it better.” Asian dads. I know them too well.
When they got into their bakfiet, Ronald said to Christina, “You need to lose some weight,” and they fell over. Of course, that’s not the thing to say to your daughter. They finished 9th and Christina told Phil at the mat that she and her father still have a long way to go to cementing their relationship. At least Ronald was able to realize it and said, “I’ve become the Archie Bunker of the home where anything goes.” And you have your title for the episode.
Finally, Kate/Pat made it after doing the Ditch Vaulting and were eventually eliminated. They were a very likable team and I wish they had made it farther, but it wasn’t meant to be.
So the final order of finish in this leg was:
1. Lorena/Jason – Winners of three wheeled, all-terrain bikes.
2. Nathan/Jennifer
3. Shana/Jennifer
4. Kynt/Vyxsin
5. Azaria/Hendekea
6. TK/Rachel
7. Marianna/Julia
8. Nicolas/Donald
9. Ronald/Christina
10. Kate/Pat (Philiminated)
Next week, Ronald sings with camels and Christina asks him to be quiet. And Lorena blows up.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
