S33:E05: Stairway to Hell

[Lamima]

Oops..double

Edited January 27, 2022 by Lamima

[chaifan]

Kim & Penn had Mike and Mo on as guests in their 3rd (I think?) podcast.  Mike talked specifically about his weight - he became a competitive bodybuilder during the 19 month break, and put on a lot of muscle weight.  He knew there was a 250 lb. weight limit to many tasks, and worked to be under that weight before returning.  If he knew this, Akbar knew it.  Mike did the work pre-game so Moe wouldn't be unfairly saddled with challenges just based Mike being disqualified.  Apparently Akbar didn't care to do the same work for his wife.  That's pretty sad. 

Akbar reminds me of a few people I've met along the way who have a distinct difference between their public face and private face.  (I mean, we all do to some degree, but there are levels to this.)  Their public face is so well loved that all their spouse/family hears is "oh, X is such a great guy, you're soooo lucky to have him", and all the family can do is smile and nod because they know what that person is like in private.  But they can never say anything because others would be all "oh, no, that can't be true, he's so wonderful!"  It's like 3rd party gaslighting.  In earlier episodes, Sheri was giving major eyerolls every time Akbar talked during their talking head segments about coaching and supporting, etc.  In this episode I mostly saw a very plastered on smile while Akbar was talking.  I have no idea what their real relationship is like, but damn, I think Akbar is shattering a lot of his public persona on this show, and I hope it makes a difference in their daily lives. 

Sausage making - I am also amazed more teams didn't do this, especially Akbar & Sheri.  I think Cayla's little hack at the beginning was made in jest, it wasn't a real wretch or anything.  I really enjoy Raquel and Cayla - they don't take themselves too seriously, they have fun with everything the race tosses to them.  I thought their "scenic" drive was hilarious.  OK, they somehow missed a major highway on the map, but hey, they navigated the back roads of Switzerland without getting lost!  I'll give them a bit of credit for that. 

I posted earlier, I'm disappointed in the 15 minute departure intervals.  I can see the need for bringing up the rear in extreme circumstances (ahem, Nat & Arun), but 15 minute really takes out the advantage good racers have, and can build up.  It removes a lot of the raaaccceee from the Race.  It also unfairly penalizes a team that came in seconds behind another, but now has to wait 15 minutes because they're in the next group.  I would have kept departure times the same as pit stop arrivals, but capped the max time between first and last at somewhere between 2 and 4 hours. 

I also picked up on Phil's putting teams 4 & 5 in the second departure group, when he earlier said there would be 3.  I knew at that point it was a NEL.  I wonder if that was done on purpose, because they usually don't spoil a NEL that clearly. 

[Thalia]

6 hours ago, Andyourlittledog2 said:

but until I moved to the mountains from Los Angeles I had no idea how much my map reading and sense of direction was based on being close to the ocean all the time.  I always knew which way was which. Now it's much harder.

I have always had a good sense of direction.  That said, I've spent a great deal of my life in Florida.  There is something comforting about knowing if you go the wrong way, 3 times out of 4 you're going to run into water.  :-)  

The step challenge reminded me of something I saw Kim say about the early episodes -- when there was a choice between two tasks, she and Penn always seemed to end up with the one that took the most time.

[Sarahsmile416]

2 hours ago, ProfCrash said:

She would have had to get ahead of him on the way up or stay close enough on the way down and that wasn't happening.

No, he'll remind us that they are athletes. They played basketball in College. They are used to being motivated by being berated. It is totally fine.

Can you get lost walking tot he starting mat? I am horrific with directions but these two are making me look like a well trained SEAL able to navigate behind enemy lines in the middle of the night. What the hell are they doing? 

I suspect that the folks who got lost or took forever at getting to the task are the reason why there is less individual driving. It spreads teams out by too much and it probably makes life harder for Production. 

On the bungee jumping. That is high on my list of things I would only do for a million dollars. I am not sure that I would handle it as well as Kim did. She was petrified but just did it. I hope they recorded their kids response to that particular scene because that had to be an epic moment in their house.

Penn gets emotional, who cares? He knows that this is something that Kim is afraid of. You could see her body language in the car, she was trying to press herself as far as she humanly possibly could into that seat. She was tense, nervous, afraid, and has anxiety. I can't imagine what was going through her mind. Penn knows all of this about her and gets misty eyed because of how well she did and has the temerity to express his awe in a manner that involves tears and people think that is wussy? 

Go Penn. Be you. Real men show emotion and know that it is ok to be emotional. 

I loved Penn's comment to Kim before she jumped. The Race doesn't want anyone to die, she would be fine. Not some bold proclamation of anything but cold hard fact that probably was more useful then any platitude he could have offered. I love how the attendants at the bungee jump were so supportive of everyone. You could hear them telling people that they would be fine, lots of people are nervous, dive on out and go for it. 

The delivery task looked brutal, those stairs were legit. I kind of wish they had a time running so we know how fast teams did it. I am a bit surprised there was only one bottle broken the entire time and hardly any chestnuts dropped. 

Sausage looked pretty straight forward. We saw a few broken casings, I wonder how many we didn't see? 

Overall, good stuff. Too bad the other teams couldn't return because I am guessing we are stuck with Arun and Natalia or Sheri and Akbar for a bunch more weeks. They have at least two elimination legs that had to be turned into non-elimination legs. I just hope that Arun and Natalia learn how to navigate fast so we lose Akbar and Sheri next week.

I thought the same about Penn’s comment to Kim regarding Amazing Race not wanting them to die.  I have pretty severe anxiety and that comment would have helped me too..way more than something like, “they do this all the time, you’ll be fine”.  Truthfully I wish my husband would have the same kind of insight as Penn about the “right” things to say to someone who has anxiety.  
 

I like Arun and Natalia, but even I was getting annoyed at their constant lack of navigational skills.   As much as I want Akbar gone, they at least can find their way out of a paper bag (even if he would yell at Sheri while doing it)

[Peghiggie]

2 hours ago, ProfCrash said:

She would have had to get ahead of him on the way up or stay close enough on the way down and that wasn't happening.

No, he'll remind us that they are athletes. They played basketball in College. They are used to being motivated by being berated. It is totally fine.

Can you get lost walking tot he starting mat? I am horrific with directions but these two are making me look like a well trained SEAL able to navigate behind enemy lines in the middle of the night. What the hell are they doing? 

I suspect that the folks who got lost or took forever at getting to the task are the reason why there is less individual driving. It spreads teams out by too much and it probably makes life harder for Production. 

On the bungee jumping. That is high on my list of things I would only do for a million dollars. I am not sure that I would handle it as well as Kim did. She was petrified but just did it. I hope they recorded their kids response to that particular scene because that had to be an epic moment in their house.

Penn gets emotional, who cares? He knows that this is something that Kim is afraid of. You could see her body language in the car, she was trying to press herself as far as she humanly possibly could into that seat. She was tense, nervous, afraid, and has anxiety. I can't imagine what was going through her mind. Penn knows all of this about her and gets misty eyed because of how well she did and has the temerity to express his awe in a manner that involves tears and people think that is wussy? 

Go Penn. Be you. Real men show emotion and know that it is ok to be emotional. 

I loved Penn's comment to Kim before she jumped. The Race doesn't want anyone to die, she would be fine. Not some bold proclamation of anything but cold hard fact that probably was more useful then any platitude he could have offered. I love how the attendants at the bungee jump were so supportive of everyone. You could hear them telling people that they would be fine, lots of people are nervous, dive on out and go for it. 

The delivery task looked brutal, those stairs were legit. I kind of wish they had a time running so we know how fast teams did it. I am a bit surprised there was only one bottle broken the entire time and hardly any chestnuts dropped. 

Sausage looked pretty straight forward. We saw a few broken casings, I wonder how many we didn't see? 

Overall, good stuff. Too bad the other teams couldn't return because I am guessing we are stuck with Arun and Natalia or Sheri and Akbar for a bunch more weeks. They have at least two elimination legs that had to be turned into non-elimination legs. I just hope that Arun and Natalia learn how to navigate fast so we lose Akbar and Sheri next week.

Ha, "the race doesn't want anyone to die".  Would tell my son a version of that if he thought a ride at Disney World seemed scary.  It's bad for the brand

[seacliffsal]

I am so over Akbar using the "we're athletes..." line every time he berates Sherri.  I, too, was a college athlete (volleyball; I was even the captain of our team) but I certainly don't use that as an excuse to be cruel or negative (in fact, if I realize that something I said came out in an unintentionally cruel way I will sincerely apologize and try to ensure I don't do that again).  He is just full of negativity and when Sherri tried to remind him that she did both challenges, he just brushed that off.  

Although I believe Arun and Natalie are nice people, I do not enjoy their continued issues with navigation and tasks (I think the sausage judges [heh] were kind as when they showed Arun's sausages they were not smooth and full).  I know why they brought them back (too many teams could not return), but, just like Michael and Mo, they should be going home before too long.

I'm surprised that as soon as they saw how many stairs were involved in the Bartender's Race that some of the teams didn't immediately Bald Snark to the sausage task.

I enjoyed the twins this episode and am glad they are doing so well.

Love Switzerland and this episode is encouraging me into looking into planning a trip there before too long.

Although this post contained a lot of my frustration with certain teams, I am so very glad the Race is back!!!

[Netfoot]

2 hours ago, Taeolas said:

Extreme tasks like Bungee jumping or skydiving are just there for the excitement factor and to make the ep interesting, even if they rarely change the order of teh race up.

They also serve as a sort of HOO bunch. Everybody doesn't leave at the same time, but they do leave the average jump-time apart. So, it can close up longer gaps between teams. Whether this is an intentional thing or not, I couldn't say.

34 minutes ago, chaifan said:

I posted earlier, I'm disappointed in the 15 minute departure intervals.  I can see the need for bringing up the rear in extreme circumstances (ahem, Nat & Arun), but 15 minute really takes out the advantage good racers have, and can build up.  It removes a lot of the raaaccceee from the Race.  It also unfairly penalizes a team that came in seconds behind another, but now has to wait 15 minutes because they're in the next group.  I would have kept departure times the same as pit stop arrivals, but capped the max time between first and last at somewhere between 2 and 4 hours. 

I wasn't thrilled at the 15-minute starts of two teams at once. TAR has always had teams depart in the same order and at the same time interval as arrival. I can see how this could lead to a very late arrival propagating from leg to leg, and why they would wish to prevent this. But they could have factored arrival times to a specific maximum. If the difference between first and last teams was 5 hours but they wanted to limit to 2 hours, they could have just made each departure 2/5ths of arrival time. So if you arrive 30 minutes after Team #1, you depart 30/5*2=12 minutes after they do.

 

[Lady Calypso]

50 minutes ago, chaifan said:

I posted earlier, I'm disappointed in the 15 minute departure intervals.  I can see the need for bringing up the rear in extreme circumstances (ahem, Nat & Arun), but 15 minute really takes out the advantage good racers have, and can build up.  It removes a lot of the raaaccceee from the Race.  It also unfairly penalizes a team that came in seconds behind another, but now has to wait 15 minutes because they're in the next group.  I would have kept departure times the same as pit stop arrivals, but capped the max time between first and last at somewhere between 2 and 4 hours. 

Well, the issue is that, once they now leave a country, they're gonna have to get on the same plane(s), so there's no changing that aspect. They don't have infinite number of planes to get someone from one country to another, so I do think this is simply one of the changes they have to make, and also make consistent so it's not changing, depending on the mode of transportation at the start of the leg.

It's not ideal, but it's to due with the pandemic so there's not much we can do about that. 

53 minutes ago, chaifan said:

I think Cayla's little hack at the beginning was made in jest, it wasn't a real wretch or anything.

Even if it was, I wouldn't have blamed her. Some people are simply more sensitive to distinct looks and smells. I don't think I would have gagged like she did, but it's possible. 

[proserpina65]

11 hours ago, Netfoot said:

Cayla kecking because she had to look at a sausage?!?? Are you serious? I just hope they survive long enough to get a camel head to eat.

She might be one of those people who are very sensitive to the sight/smell of certain foods.  Sausage doesn't do it to me, but various organs probably would, and most shellfish as well.  But yeah, can't wait until they have to eat something with eyes.

11 hours ago, Stardancer Supreme said:

That would be nice, but there is nothing wrong with Arun and Natalia but the fact that they are horrible navigators. 

Yeah, I don't mind them.  I don't like them as much as I do everyone except Akbar, but they're alright.  Just not great racers.

11 hours ago, North of Eden said:

Not a ringing endorsement for the quality of the bungee ropes if a man who is not overly heavy is  forbidden to jump. You would think they would be designed to hold just about anyone.

There's a lot more equipment involved than just the rope.  As far as I'm aware, pretty much ever bungee jump place has a weight restriction.

11 hours ago, North of Eden said:

Every time I see a man like Penn having a ridiculous emotional breakdown such as witnessing your wife bungee jumping it always makes me think of the pioneers who crossed a continent to settle the West. If men were anything like Penn is back then we'd never gotten past the Mississipi..

I actually found that endearing.  The man saw his wife doing something that is dangerous and expressed his love and appreciation and his fear of losing her.  Yes, he was emotional about it but he's one of those people whose emotions tend to be close to the surface anyway.

11 hours ago, rebeccalj said:

My question about the bungee jumping was more as to whether the two of them really weighed that much different from each other.  He doesn’t look particularly overweight to me, but she is definitely overweight to obese.  

Based on the comparison between me at 5'3" and my cousin at 5'8" - a taller person can weigh a good bit more than a shorter person and still look like they weighless.  I was shocked to find out that my cousin weighed 30 pounds more than I did and still looked thinner.  The weight just stretches out.

11 hours ago, GenerationX said:

We finally get to see how the sausage is made, and, you know, it's not that gross, after all,

The gross part is generally before the bits are ground up.  We saw post-grinding sausage meat.

10 hours ago, iMonrey said:

I still object to "challenges" like bungee jumping and sky diving. It's just an assembly line of racers showing up and doing the task. It's one of those time fillers I think is pretty useless. The only real hurdle here is the self-navigation getting to the challenge.

Paralyzing fear is also an impediment.  We haven't seen it much because most racers manage to get through the challenge no matter how bad their fear is, but there was that girl who wouldn't go down the water slide and held up the Globetrotters for far longer than necessary.

1 hour ago, Lamima said:

Helps that they are positive and fun.

They weren't like that on the first two legs in London.  They were argumentative and hard to watch.  They improved on the Scotland leg, and their grandmother's death seems to have given them perspective since then.  I started out hating them but now I'm fine with them.  They really impressed me with how they just got on with the sausage task.

1 hour ago, shura said:

t makes absolutely no difference whether you are heading south or southwest, you follow the road whichever way it happens to be going. 

Well, a compass would help them know that they were going in the exact opposite direction at least once, had they used it correctly.

Edited January 27, 2022 by proserpina65

[Taeolas]

There is still an advantage to a team finishing a leg early; it gives them more rest time at the pitstop (whether before or after the flight to the next leg). 

The plane now isn't going to leave until the last team has checked in, no matter how late that is. So to use my example from earlier, if one team checks in at 11AM and another checks in at 11PM, that's 12 extra rest hours the first team will have over the last one. 

Even if the teams are set off on the next leg at Noon in 15 minute intervals, the first team still has that extra 12 hours over the last team to rest, shake off jet lag, eat properly, do some research (as much as they could in isolation at a pitstop), socialize and strategize with the other teams (for better or for worse), etc... 

[proserpina65]

1 hour ago, chaifan said:

I posted earlier, I'm disappointed in the 15 minute departure intervals.  I can see the need for bringing up the rear in extreme circumstances (ahem, Nat & Arun), but 15 minute really takes out the advantage good racers have, and can build up.  It removes a lot of the raaaccceee from the Race.  It also unfairly penalizes a team that came in seconds behind another, but now has to wait 15 minutes because they're in the next group.  I would have kept departure times the same as pit stop arrivals, but capped the max time between first and last at somewhere between 2 and 4 hours. 

Pretty sure it's because of covid-related safety issues.

 

[bunnyface]

At first I didn't understand the leaving in shifts thing, but then that last team took 82 hours to get to the pit stop, so it made more sense.  But then, that screws the teams who didn't take 82 hours to get to a pit stop.  Then I swung around to it doesn't make sense again.  We know they are not on strict 12 hour pit stops any longer.  So why not get the teams to the new pit stop and then let them leave in the order/time of arrival?  Yeah, you have a team 82 hours behind again, but they are soon to be toast and can be field eliminated when necessary and you're back on track.  But then I thought...who wants to wait for that?  So now I don't know which way I'm going.  Much like that last team.

[AZChristian]

Sipping coffee and offering my opinions and observations this morning.

The weight limit for jumping off that dam is 253 pounds.  Most places where bungee jumping, skydiving, and ziplining are done make you get on a scale to prove your weight before they allow you to do it.  Sheri looked (to me) as though she may have lost a few pounds during the season break.  Even so, she fell farther on that cord than any of the others.  When I saw the task, I said "Forget the $1,000,000.  I'll give THEM $1,000,000 for a bus ride back down to the bottom of the dam."  I'm not a chicken.  I've done 23 ziplines around the world - but free fall ain't my bag.

Regarding the stairway challenge, I kept thinking about the altitude of that town.  Some of us tolerate the thinner air better than others.  I could barely walk 100 feet at the top of Haleakala Crater in Hawaii (10,000 feet altitude).  And muscle cramps are common at high altitudes because of dehydration.  

Arun and Natalie.  Sigh. 
Many years ago (before GPS and - thank goodness - before cameras that could capture every moment), we were with some older Christian friends on a road trip.  We were headed to the place where we were staying.  The instructions said, "When you get off the Interstate in Flagstaff, you will see an intersection with a pancake house on one corner and a filling station across the street.  Turn left there and ____________ (continued instructions)."  We did that, and the instructions after we turned had no resemblance to what we were actually seeing.  Hubby went back to the main road and tried again.  On the third try, I was getting VERY annoyed and didn't want my "special words" to diminish our friends' opinion of me.  So I said (very sweetly) to hubby, "This isn't working.  Can we please pull over to the side of the road to discuss the directions?"  He did.  I had to get him to reset his head and realize that (as Einstein says) doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different outcome is insanity.  I suggested that we go back to the main road and go a little farther to see what was there.  Sure enough, there was ANOTHER pancake house and another filling station about two miles down the road.  We followed the rest of the instructions and went straight to the place we were staying.  To this day, if we are having a "discussion" and not agreeing on something (even if it's not driving), I'll say, "Can we please pull over to the side of the road and discuss this?"  That's our clue to go back to square one and look for other options.
All of that to say this:  Natalie and Arun need to pull over to the side of the road with the map.  First, figure out where you ARE, then figure out where you're going.  Come to an agreement.  MARK THE MAP.  To continue to drive when you don't know where you are or where you're going is ridiculous!

 

[QuantumMechanic]

Just now, AZChristian said:

Regarding the stairway challenge, I kept thinking about the altitude of that town.  Some of us tolerate the thinner air better than others.  I could barely walk 100 feet at the top of Haleakala Crater in Hawaii (10,000 feet altitude).  And muscle cramps are common at high altitudes because of dehydration.  

I was thinking that, so I looked it up.  Turns out the lake is only 889 feet above sea level.

[xcrayon2215x]

The view in Switzerland was great this episode, Ryan and Dusty continue to be contenders.

 

Akbar was fine for the first twenty minutes but was back to his usual ways during the Detour. While Sheri was not doing great, he could have been more supportive. I was shocked that Phil commented on what happened.

 

Arun and Natalia continue to struggle with directions, I think that with so much driving now they will be gone next week.

[AZChristian]

7 minutes ago, QuantumMechanic said:

I was thinking that, so I looked it up.  Turns out the lake is only 889 feet above sea level.

I couldn't remember the name of the place . . . thanks for the info.

[toodywoody]

Every time they showed the stairs I saw the tram skeleton next to it and am very interested into reading why it wasn't still in use. It was overgrown and the landing up at the top looked rusted. 

Shari is impressing me with sucking it up and doing the heights stuff. And her husband can go stfu in a corner. She's done 3 of the tasks, so he can just shut up. 

I've had Charlie horses from being dehydrated and can't believe he powered through it. I was hurting the next day.

Arun and daughter just suck at navigation. I think it's her though because he is normally driving and she's like go here and he is normally asking or sees a sign and she is always saying oh no keep going.

[chaifan]

41 minutes ago, Netfoot said:

But they could have factored arrival times to a specific maximum. If the difference between first and last teams was 5 hours but they wanted to limit to 2 hours, they could have just made each departure 2/5ths of arrival time. So if you arrive 30 minutes after Team #1, you depart 30/5*2=12 minutes after they do.

Using this method creates the same problems as the "time blocks".  It potentially penalizes all teams other than 1st place, and can unfairly bump others up.  If the 2nd team came in 2 minutes behind Team #1, and Team #3 came in another 2 minutes later, using your method they would all have to wait longer to depart.  If Team #2 and #3 came in 30 & 31 minutes behind Team #1, it gives Team #2 a 15 minute advantage.

20 minutes ago, proserpina65 said:

Pretty sure it's because of covid-related safety issues.

That may come into play at some point, but not in this leg.  They were all self driving, so it wouldn't matter if they all left at the same time, they'd still be distanced.  And they're doing tasks that keep the teams separated.  No need to mess with departure times as a method of keeping teams socially distanced.

I get that changes were necessary.  But I think they should have kept the times of departure as close as possible to time of arrival, as that has been one part of the Race that never changed throughout the years.  Sometimes it gives 1st place a distinct advantage, other times it means you have 3 or more teams all on each other's heels from the start of that leg. 

Giant time gaps are a problem, but as I said, they could simply cap the max time between first and last.  And, they could add a speed bump type of penalty if a team comes in after the max.

I just think there were other ways of dealing with this that make more sense and align more to the history of TAR.  I hope someone on one of the podcasts has some inside scoop on this.

[survivinmt]

That is some of the worst navigation I have ever seen. Just mind blowing when that is a big part of the race. I feel we are all expected to not be as clever or as competitive any more. Both those watching and those running the race. Help each other out, give each other directions, get on the bus and go where it takes you, etc.

Edited January 27, 2022 by survivinmt

[Netfoot]

1 hour ago, Taeolas said:

The plane now isn't going to leave until the last team has checked in, no matter how late that is.

I'm really curious as to how The Amazing Plane is used. We haven't seen it as yet, but hopefully soon!

The normal sequence of events, as far as I know, is that when a team arrives at the mat their 12-hour pitstop begins. (Recently, possibly longer at TPTB's discression.) They are required to do some interviews, plus what ever administration the race requires of them, and then they are taken to the pitstop accommodation, to wait out the balance of the 12 hours. Hopefully, taking the opportunity to eat, do some laundry, and sleep. When their 12 hours is drawing to a close, they must prepare to resume the race, and are taken to the departure mat in time for them to clock off onto the next leg.

So now, where does TAP fit in?

Usually, at the start of the leg, they race to the aeroport, book their flight, and depart to the next country. Frequently all in a bunch. So, does TAP simply replace the commercial flight in that sequence? Or, since the use of their own plane means a 100% unavoidable bunch, are they accommodating flight time into the pit stop? I mean, they could let teams do some laundry/have a bath, and then load them onto the plane. They could spend at least part of their pitstop sleeping on the plane, eating a meal either in flight, or before boarding. Or even after boarding disembarking, because unless the flight time is very long, they could have time on their hands at the point of arrival as well, at TPTB's discression as to timing the departure of TAP.

32 minutes ago, chaifan said:

Using this method creates the same problems as the "time blocks".  It potentially penalizes all teams other than 1st place, and can unfairly bump others up.  If the 2nd team came in 2 minutes behind Team #1, and Team #3 came in another 2 minutes later, using your method they would all have to wait longer to depart.  If Team #2 and #3 came in 30 & 31 minutes behind Team #1, it gives Team #2 a 15 minute advantage.

I don't follow your reckoning. Let's say the delay between Team #1 and Team #Last is five hours, but TPTB don't want the departure times spread out any more than (say) two hours. So using your examples:

First example, Team #2 arrives 2 minutes after Team #1. Their departure would be 2/5ths of 2 minutes which is 48 seconds after Team #1. Avoiding seconds, TPTB can choose whether they want to round that to 1 minute or truncate it to the same time as Team #1.

Second example: Teams #2 & #3 arrive at 30 and 31 minutes after Team #1 respectively. Team #2 departure would be 2/5ths of 30 minutes after Team #1 which is 12 minutes after Team #1. Team #3 would depart after 12.4 minutes (12 minutes 24 seconds) rounded or truncated to 12 minutes (same as Team #2).

To go further, say the remaining teams #4, #5 and #6 were 2 hours 33 minutes, 3 hours 49 minutes and 5 hours exactly, behind team #1. Their departures would be 1 hour 1 minute, 1 hour and 32 minutes, and exactly 2 hours, respectively. With the last team to arrive departing at the 2 hour maximum separation TPTB wanted, and the other teams spaced within that two hours to the same proportion as to their arrival times. 

The method they seem to be using now is that teams #1 and #2 could arrive 5 hours apart, but will depart simultaneously. Teams #3 and #4 might be 2 and 4 hours later still, but they depart together, and only 15 minutes behind Teams #1 & #2.  I think my system is a little more equitable, and not difficult to work out, especially since they are probably using software of some sort to log the arrival times, so a simple addition to the spreadsheet could calculate compressed departure times easily.

Edited January 27, 2022 by Netfoot

[KeithJ]

1 hour ago, Netfoot said:

I wasn't thrilled at the 15-minute starts of two teams at once. TAR has always had teams depart in the same order and at the same time interval as arrival. I can see how this could lead to a very late arrival propagating from leg to leg, and why they would wish to prevent this. But they could have factored arrival times to a specific maximum. If the difference between first and last teams was 5 hours but they wanted to limit to 2 hours, they could have just made each departure 2/5ths of arrival time. So if you arrive 30 minutes after Team #1, you depart 30/5*2=12 minutes after they do.

I am guessing this has to do with the charter flights they are using this season instead of any flight.

[Lady Calypso]

23 minutes ago, chaifan said:

That may come into play at some point, but not in this leg.  They were all self driving, so it wouldn't matter if they all left at the same time, they'd still be distanced.  And they're doing tasks that keep the teams separated.  No need to mess with departure times as a method of keeping teams socially distanced.

It'll come into play any time they have to fly, which is likely more often than them starting off a leg, driving. I think their decision is to keep each start of the leg more even, instead of having sporadic starting times. And, I do kind of have another thought to this, they may have to rent out certain areas for certain amounts of time to limit the number of actual residents walking around. Not saying this is for sure a thing, but maybe this factors into it? Maybe not necessarily for large public spaces, but for venues or smaller outdoor areas, maybe they have to factor in that. So having everyone leave in intervals would make sense if they have a time limit on how long they can be performing certain challenges.

I'm sure TAR has a lot of restrictions in place, in order to keep everyone safe and limit any outside exposure. But maybe I'm overthinking it.

[Amy Beth]

I do not understand the purpose of having a Race activity that a Racer is disqualified  from doing. Either do not cast that person or don’t include that activity. 

[morgor54]

I don’t know why they can’t all fly together to the next country then be released from the airport for the new leg of the race as usual (pre Covid) based upon order and arrival time at the last pit stop. 

[Bumblebee84047]

10 hours ago, GaT said:

Oh good, Arun & Natalia are still in the race, how many times do you think they'll get lost next week?

I think they took the song from the challenge in Scotland literally, and are on a side quest to locate Donald's Troooooosers.

[aghst]

1 hour ago, toodywoody said:

Every time they showed the stairs I saw the tram skeleton next to it and am very interested into reading why it wasn't still in use. It was overgrown and the landing up at the top looked rusted. 

I looked it up, they had a funicular that was built by a hotel at the top which no longer exists.  The funicular was shut down in 1986 and they've studied how much it would cost to renovate it.

May not be too bad if you're not wearing big back packs and carrying stuff up as fast as you can.

Lugano also has some peaks nearby overlooking the lake.  So there are funiculars and cable cars which go up there for views.  I bookmarked them in Google Maps.

[iMonrey]

Quote

Lulu and Lala grew on me in this leg.

Me too. A little. I noticed when they were watching the sausage demo, they were paying very close attention and one of them was writing everything down. That was smart. Their personalities grate a bit at times but they are serious about what they are doing.

[Lovecat]

5 hours ago, Netfoot said:

They wouldn't let him [Akbar] do it because they were afraid he would get lost on the way down.

Someone up-thread said the only thing wrong with the team is their horrible navigation. True, perhaps. They seem like good people. But their navigation is so horrible, they should be put out of their misery. Or we should be put out of ours. 

I think I read somewhere that he uses the GPS on his phone to find his way back from the bathroom at night when the lights are off. And sometimes, he still gets lost until morning!

Akbar is freakin' Magellan compared to Arun.

36 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

Me too. A little. I noticed when they were watching the sausage demo, they were paying very close attention and one of them [LuLu or LaLa] was writing everything down. That was smart. Their personalities grate a bit at times but they are serious about what they are doing.

I think I can finally tell them apart, too.  I'm pretty sure that LaLa has a mole or sunspot on her right cheek.

[Netfoot]

1 minute ago, Lovecat said:

Akbar is freakin' Magellan compared to Arun.

Shoot! That's who I thought we were talking about. Brain dysfunction on my part.

[Lamima]

the gagging at the sausage, specifically handling the casing...casing is often made out of animal intestines or skin so I imagine it was pretty slimy and gross.

[tvfanatic13]

What would happen if neither team member could do the challenge (thinking Globetrotters here)? Would they get a penalty? 

I groaned with the NEL. It is time for them to depart the Race.

[Taeolas]

Production's usually pretty good at making sure they don't completely lock a team out.  They'd either figure out how to adjust it so the team could do it, or they would make it a detour instead of a roadblock so the team could do the other option. (IIRC, one race they had a deaf racer, so one of the challenges would be impossible for teh team to do; but it was a detour so they could do the other challenge.) 

[chitowngirl]

Besides the self-driving - It was nice to see another throwback-here’s a picture, find the pit stop location

[shura]

3 hours ago, proserpina65 said:

Well, a compass would help them know that they were going in the exact opposite direction at least once, had they used it correctly.

Yeah, ‘correctly’ implies that they would have to know where they are, where they are going and which compass direction they need to be facing at any given time.  That last part might be too much even for people who are not navigationally challenged.  You don’t need a compass to drive on a road.  A road has only two directions - towards your destination and away from it, and they don’t change when the road makes a turn.  Trying to navigate on a road with a compass will just mess you up.

Maybe it’s precisely the compass that confused Natalia so much? “I thought we should be going east now, why are we going north? Maybe we are not where I thought we were? Where are we? Wait, why are we going southeast now? Which direction should we be going?”  And that’s it, she is lost.

[dgpolo]

1 hour ago, Amy Beth said:

I do not understand the purpose of having a Race activity that a Racer is disqualified  from doing. Either do not cast that person or don’t include that activity. 

This is exactly what I thought the, I think, 2nd time the Globetrotters were on.

17 minutes ago, tvfanatic13 said:

What would happen if neither team member could do the challenge (thinking Globetrotters here)? Would they get a penalty? 

Spoiler

Big Easy was unable to do 2 tasks and they were frustrated because they were trying to save Flight Time for the puzzle type tasks that Easy had a hard time with.

Either make sure all the contestant are able to do the tasks or figure out a different task.

[MerBearHou]

3 hours ago, xcrayon2215x said:

Akbar was fine for the first twenty minutes but was back to his usual ways during the Detour. While Sheri was not doing great, he could have been more supportive. I was shocked that Phil commented on what happened.

I thought Phil commented to politely let Akbar know "we're seeing you - there are eyes on this behavior - don't forget that" in hopes Akbar might change his treatment of Sheri.  I have to think this is going to affect Akbar's mentoring business back home which is a shame because it is so needed but by people who aren't the definition of negativity and condescension.  I was so glad to see him gleefully cheer Sheri on during and after that bungee jump -- that was the best side of Akbar -- but that didn't last long.

[OlderThanDirt]

I think the NEL should have been last week so teams didn't come back for just one leg. I seem to remember when NELs were in out of the way places where it was difficult to get out, like some African villages.  Altstatten was much smaller than Lugano.

Also didn't one team say they correctly made all the turns illustrated in their directions? Makes Arun and Natalia's navigation even more, what's the word, pathetic? 

Edited January 27, 2022 by OlderThanDirt

[ProfCrash]

I figure that the 15 minute blocks are to decrease the chance of COVID related hours of operations. I would guess that some of their events are being staged to occur in specific places with a limited number of people so they are more restricted on times for events. We didn't see Arun and Natalia choose sausage making, I wonder if they had to do it because the bar area was closed down due to being over time because they got so badly lost. 

[proserpina65]

3 hours ago, chaifan said:

That may come into play at some point, but not in this leg.  They were all self driving, so it wouldn't matter if they all left at the same time, they'd still be distanced.  And they're doing tasks that keep the teams separated.  No need to mess with departure times as a method of keeping teams socially distanced.

I imagine they don't want to use different ways of figuring start times for different legs of the race.  Doing at the beginning of this leg makes it consistent for the rest of the race, including legs which will involve flying to different locations.  TPTB have had to make a lot of changes behind the scene because of covid, changes which affect behind the camera personnel probably more than the racers.  This is probably one of them.  It's not ideal but it's something they've had to do in order to allow the race to continue.

[Cotypubby]

15 hours ago, North of Eden said:

If men were anything like Penn is back then we'd never gotten past the Mississipi...

If men were anything like Penn back then, we wouldn't have become a culture where women are devalued and harassed and assaulted to such a high degree. The nerve of a man to actual care for his wife...

[proserpina65]

47 minutes ago, dgpolo said:

Either make sure all the contestant are able to do the tasks or figure out a different task.

Eh, it's a race for a million dollars.  I'm fine with making it difficult.

[UncleChuck]

I am also a good map reader and used that skill on several jobs back in the day. I usually only got lost when I tried to rely on directions given to me by others.  Once in Colorado, I was directed by a shop owner to "turn right at the First Baptist Church" and so I did.  Nearly an hour later, the road turned into a path only goats could follow so I circled back to try again.  Back to the shop owner who was very surprised that I had turned RIGHT onto that small road--he then explained that I was supposed to turn LEFT onto the the paved highway when I got "right" to that church and he figured no one would go down that private dirt road.  Another helpful citizen wrote the directions on paper-- go 25 miles past the schoolhouse, and so I did.  Another dead end!  Turns out he wrote 25 when he meant 2.5. 

So I trust my maps before I trust strangers with their wonky directions.

[ProfCrash]

1 hour ago, tvfanatic13 said:

What would happen if neither team member could do the challenge (thinking Globetrotters here)? Would they get a penalty? 

I groaned with the NEL. It is time for them to depart the Race.

I don't think they could have a task that neither person was able to complete but I can see them choosing tasks and then having to restrict people based on size or weight or hearing loss or something along those lines. I am allergic to iodine which means that I react to a lot of fish and shellfish so I wouldn't do any food task that required eating those products. But that doesn't mean my partner couldn't. I seem to remember on task that involved drinking absinth and one of the people on the team was a recovering alcoholic so the partner had to drink it even though they were not a drinker. 

 

[Cotypubby]

1 hour ago, dgpolo said:

This is exactly what I thought the, I think, 2nd time the Globetrotters were on.

  Reveal spoiler

Big Easy was unable to do 2 tasks and they were frustrated because they were trying to save Flight Time for the puzzle type tasks that Easy had a hard time with.

Either make sure all the contestant are able to do the tasks or figure out a different task.

I don't think I've ever seen a task where both members were disqualified from performing. One of them not wanting to do it, doesn't mean they can't. And well, that's why it's a competition. Sometimes they will struggle at doing something.

[OldWiseOne]

16 hours ago, North of Eden said:

If I had to guess Stairway Ackbar is the REAL Ackbar as opposed to the supportive  post-bungee jumping Ackbar who is likely a construct for the cameras. He really is mean spirited and I was like you've got to be kidding when they chose that task. Neither were in shape for it and it was just going to bring out the worst in him. As soon as that bottle dropped I was like its time to Bald Snark.

I think post-bungee Akbar is the persona when he is happy, and Stairway Akbar is what you get when he is stressed. So both are the real Akbar, it's situational.

7 hours ago, ProfCrash said:

Penn gets emotional, who cares? He knows that this is something that Kim is afraid of. You could see her body language in the car, she was trying to press herself as far as she humanly possibly could into that seat. She was tense, nervous, afraid, and has anxiety. I can't imagine what was going through her mind. Penn knows all of this about her and gets misty eyed because of how well she did and has the temerity to express his awe in a manner that involves tears and people think that is wussy? 

Go Penn. Be you. Real men show emotion and know that it is ok to be emotional.

I don't have a problem with men showing emotion, it was just so performative and extra.

4 hours ago, toodywoody said:

Arun and daughter just suck at navigation. I think it's her though because he is normally driving and she's like go here and he is normally asking or sees a sign and she is always saying oh no keep going.

I thought the opposite - that she was giving directions, and he was brushing her off because he thought he knew better.

[greyhorse]

15 hours ago, rebeccalj said:

My question about the bungee jumping was more as to whether the two of them really weighed that much different from each other.  He doesn’t look particularly overweight to me, but she is definitely overweight to obese.  

My thoughts too.  I'm guessing Sheri pushes 200-225, Akbar probably 255-265.  So I suppose it still makes a little difference,

15 hours ago, Stardancer Supreme said:

One question I would like answered: For the Wine and Chestnuts Detour, did the racers have to keep their backpacks on? I would have thought that they could have left them at the bottom of the stairs. Hell, Dusty and Ryan were having a hard time and they are arguably in the best physical shape of all the racers!

 

15 hours ago, CSunshine76 said:

Did the guys see the stairs before they started? When they each took only 3 packages of chestnuts, I said (to no one) “ take all 12!”. Then I see the stairs, “oh hell no!”. My god, stairway to hell for sure!! 

Wondering as well.  Sure, in a foreign country, never leave your personal belongings - especially your PASSPORT! - with strangers.  But it seemed like that party at the top of the stairs was self-contained.  And there obviously would be TAR crew there to watch your stuff.  But maybe there's a general rule that you can't do that and the crew are instructed not to watch your stuff.  But I disagree about the guys only taking 3 chestnuts.  If Sheri and Akbar can manage to get 12 bags of chestnuts up in one trip, then surely the more competent guys could have done it.

I'm surprised nobody forgot the little bottle of wine or chestnut for the gnome.  Surely I thought somebody would do so.

I think there should have been a penalty for every bottle of wine broken.

Have no clue why Sheri of all people would say they should do the stairs.  Does she not know that she isn't in the best of shape?

3 hours ago, morgor54 said:

I don’t know why they can’t all fly together to the next country then be released from the airport for the new leg of the race as usual (pre Covid) based upon order and arrival time at the last pit stop. 

Agree.  I remember seeing a clip of them all excited to get into a private charter.  Was that actually shown on the show, or was that some internet clip I saw?  I wish there was more transparency of the changes they made to the show.  Obviously this is one of them.  So no longer can we have a team so far behind (Joe and Bill, TAR 1?) that it's just impossible for them to catch-up.  

I feel that they should still maintain the time advantages in order for finish.  But since they all have to get on the same plane ultimately, then it seems like that wouldn't work.  Can't keep a running tally of how far ahead one team is, that wouldn't make for good tv.

[ProfCrash]

9 minutes ago, greyhorse said:

Agree.  I remember seeing a clip of them all excited to get into a private charter.  Was that actually shown on the show, or was that some internet clip I saw?  I wish there was more transparency of the changes they made to the show.  Obviously this is one of them.  So no longer can we have a team so far behind (Joe and Bill, TAR 1?) that it's just impossible for them to catch-up.  

I feel that they should still maintain the time advantages in order for finish.  But since they all have to get on the same plane ultimately, then it seems like that wouldn't work.  Can't keep a running tally of how far ahead one team is, that wouldn't make for good tv.

They said in the return episode that they would be taking a private plane. 

I am not a big fan of some of the grouping and time release changes but I understand them. I would also remind myself that Arun and Natalia are likely to get lost going to the bathroom and just do my best to be on point with my individual directions. the self navigation is going to kill some teams. We saw two teams take the longer route to the dam, Arun and Natalia get lost a bunch. Penn and Kim stopped and asked for directions at some point. 

[dgpolo]

53 minutes ago, proserpina65 said:

Eh, it's a race for a million dollars.  I'm fine with making it difficult.

I'm not saying it shouldn't be difficult, I'm saying all contestants should be eligible to be the one to do it. Not be excluded because they weigh too much or too little, too tall or too short.

[proserpina65]

1 minute ago, dgpolo said:

I'm not saying it shouldn't be difficult, I'm saying all contestants should be eligible to be the one to do it. Not be excluded because they weigh too much or too little, too tall or too short.

As long as one half of the team can do it, I don't really care.  That's all part of the race, being forced to do something you're not comfortable with/good at because your partner can't do it.

[MerBearHou]

35 minutes ago, greyhorse said:

Have no clue why Sheri of all people would say they should do the stairs.  Does she not know that she isn't in the best of shape?

She isn't and look how very hard it was for those who ARE fit.