Amazing Race 2/22 - "Your Target is Your Partner's Face"

[muldoonthief]

@levdrakon

I’d have gone for the Segway though. Who doesn’t know they’re specifically designed to be easy? The teams were acting like they’d have to learn to ride a unicycle.

They did say it was a “2 mile obstacle course”. And if the rule was that if you take even one foot off the Segway, you have to start over, that could sound pretty daunting. Especially since they didn’t know they’d be throwing pies at each other until they got to the pie tent.

[rivulus]

Woohoo! I’ve been to that mountain. I rode the gondola up and watched the gliders go off the edge. It’s really cool! People would carry their paragliders up in a big backpack, unpack them, run off the edge, and sail on down.

The winds are quite strong, for real. It isn’t just a TAR set up. There is a big updraft coming up the slope they glide off.

Anyhow, I thought the hillbilly couple was kind of cute, in a grotesque hunchback of Notre Dame sort of way.

[rivulus]

@Robot_Arm

And don’t discount the difficulty of just finding your way around in a strange land. The teams had to do their own driving and navigating on this leg. I’ve done a bit of that in Germany, and it’s not as easy as you’d think. When you don’t speak the language, don’t know the landmarks, don’t even recognize the roadsigns, it’s tricky. I’d like to see more of that in the Race; make it about the journey as much as the contrived tasks.

I agree. I found the highway exit signs in Germany confusing. For some reason the signs would name the tiniest podunk town right off the exit, rather than a larger city in that direction. Without a map right at hand, it would be tough to figure out where to go. Heck, even with a map in hand, I missed an exit or two and had to turn around. Not to mention the pressure of driving while jet-lagged with maniac Germans passing you at insane speeds.

[levdrakon]

@muldoonthief

They did say it was a “2 mile obstacle course”. And if the rule was that if you take even one foot off the Segway, you have to start over, that could sound pretty daunting. Especially since they didn’t know they’d be throwing pies at each other until they got to the pie tent.

I didn’t catch the foot rule. I’d have still done it, but can see why they might be intimidated.

@rivulus

I agree. I found the highway exit signs in Germany confusing. For some reason the signs would name the tiniest podunk town right off the exit, rather than a larger city in that direction. Without a map right at hand, it would be tough to figure out where to go. Heck, even with a map in hand, I missed an exit or two and had to turn around. Not to mention the pressure of driving while jet-lagged with maniac Germans passing you at insane speeds.

That’s weird. When I lived in Germany I found it pretty easy to stay on course because there was always a sign telling me what big city I was headed towards. The maniac passing is scary at first, but you quickly learn to stay in the right lane, where it’s pretty safe.

[muldoonthief]

@levdrakon

I didn’t catch the foot rule. I’d have still done it, but can see why they might be intimidated.

They didn’t say there was one. I was just inferring that might have been the rule, given the many previous TAR challenges where one mistake means you have to start over.