# The Amazing Race 11/1 -- on time again! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 2, 2009, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-11-1-on-time-again/516002 "2009-11-02T00:51:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2009, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-11-1-on-time-again/516002/41 "2009-11-02T16:13:55Z")
I’d guess the girls’ camera crew was in contact with the producers. They sent Phil ovre when the girls said they wanted to quit, but the girls had to quit officially, not just mutter about it in a field. Are there any non-elimination legs left? StG ---
**Author:** ![Drain\_Bead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Drain\_Bead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drain_Bead)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2009, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-11-1-on-time-again/516002/42 "2009-11-02T16:20:19Z")
The penalty for skipping a Detour is 24 hours. Even if this was a non-elimination leg, there’s no way they could have overcome it. The following is from Tiffany’s blog: > [@](#): > > 3.THE HYPOTHERMIA THING: Between the dinger and golf challenge we spent over THREE HOURS attempting both challenges, in soaking wet clothing, in stormy, windy, freezing weather giving our best efforts between the two! At one point, on our second attempt at the golf field EMT’s had to come out to the field and take me off because they were worried I was getting hypothermia. You’ll notice that towards the end of the episode I’m wearing a gray, long sleeve which they made me wear if I was to continue the golf challenge even though the Detour rules stated that teams could only do it in the provided farmer long johns! The EMT’s assessed my condition and felt that continuing in the given weather conditions could be a hazardous to my health, therefore production had to make a medical exception because I was so soaked to the bone and uncontrollably shaking. CRAZY! ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2009, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-11-1-on-time-again/516002/43 "2009-11-02T16:24:08Z")
Tiffany Michelle, on [her blog](http://www.tiffanymichelle.com/Tiffany_Michelle/Blog/Entries/2009/11/1_Amazing_Race_-_Amsterdam.html) says: > [@](#): > > Technically we didn’t “quit”, we took a penalty for not completing the Detour which happens to be a 24hr penalty (for an unfinished Detour)… mind you, that was AFTER over three hours of attempting BOTH challenges. Obviously we knew that by giving up on the Detour and asking for the penalty we could VERY likely be eliminated, it was unlikely that we could withstand a 24hr penalty unless it was a non-elimination leg but “quitting the Race” was not what we did, technically we took the penalty (although they worded it differently when Phil came out to the field) and at the point that Brian & Ericka checked in we were then eliminated. So it looks like the 24 hour penalty for skipping an entire task still exists. She says that Sam & Dan came out to them in Vietnam, before coming out to the rest of the teams. She also explains why she was suddenly wearing a coat in the middle of the golfing task - killer hypothermia! ETA: Eh? **Drain Bead** ’s post wasn’t there before! ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2009, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-11-1-on-time-again/516002/44 "2009-11-02T16:55:51Z")
> [@corkboard](#): > > Pinky and the Brain are well-adjusted, but boring. I did have to laugh, though, when they read the clue & learned they’d be going to Amsterdam. No, Pinky, there won’t be time to visit a hash bar. Well, they seems kind of unfair. They just assembled 12 hookahs on the previous leg. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2009, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-11-1-on-time-again/516002/45 "2009-11-02T17:16:15Z")
I guess I missed the season where they did this hay-bales thing. Can someone give me a recap of the challenge? ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2009, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-11-1-on-time-again/516002/46 "2009-11-02T17:36:00Z")
The infamous haybales were in season 6. It was nothing more exciting than unrolling a haybale to find the next clue. It was a Roadblock, so only one team member could do it. According to Wikipedia, there were 270 haybales with 20 clues. Some teams got lucky and only had to unroll a couple of haybales. Some other teams had to unroll a few more. One team (Lena of Lena & Kristy) spent _eight hours_ unrolling haybales without success. Night had already fallen and Lena was still unrolling haybales when Phil showed up and informed them that they had been eliminated. At no point did they actually quit. ---
**Author:** ![lorene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/65b543/32.png) [@lorene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lorene)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2009, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-11-1-on-time-again/516002/47 "2009-11-02T17:42:22Z")
There are still those TAR fans who think that something was amiss with that haybale challenge and that either there weren’t actually 20 clues or something else fishy went on. It was brutal to witness, I will say that. ---
**Author:** ![MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MPB_in_Salt_Lake)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2009, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-11-1-on-time-again/516002/48 "2009-11-02T17:59:14Z")
> [@lorene](#): > > There are still those TAR fans who think that something was amiss with that haybale challenge and that either there weren’t actually 20 clues or something else fishy went on. It was brutal to witness, I will say that. That’s what made Mika’s refusing to go down a waterslide amusement ride so tough to sympathise with----Other teams on other tasks had put themselves through SO much more difficult/dangerous/disgusting challanges for the chance to stay in the Race, and she quit over something that would have taken her 30 seconds of fright… ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2009, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-11-1-on-time-again/516002/49 "2009-11-02T18:03:59Z")
According to teh intarwebs, Lena had unrolled 100 haybales by the time Phil showed up. She would have probably kept on going if the Amazing Producers hadn’t granted her mercy. ---
**Author:** ![psychobunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/54ee81/32.png) [@psychobunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychobunny)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2009, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-11-1-on-time-again/516002/50 "2009-11-02T18:47:09Z")
I was going to comment that I don’t think we have seen anybody quit a detour and take the penalty before. If I were team zebra, I would have taken a cab back to the bikes (if possible) and then completed the task. That said, I think they set penalties for things like that by how much time you save. If they would have saved 15 minutes by driving and not bicycling then they set a 30 minute penalty. Considering that walking took them a lot longer than biking, I don’t think the penalty was unfair. I do think that Canaan should watch both Brian and Cheyne closely to see how to properly avoid an impending meltdown. Brian is a saint, but I can’t hate Ericka because he is obviously so crazy in love with her and because despite her whining she did actually suck it up and finish strong. I was also wondering why she didn’t step out of the bell room and come back in a few seconds with the next higher number. While my least favorite team was eliminated, I do give Maria some credit for admitting that she expected Tiffany to do all of the physical stuff. I was initially pissed that they are repeating tasks but to repeat this one when killer fatigue is setting in and most players know what heppened last time is evil genius. Finally, I still love my Malibu Barbie and Ken. I don’t get the dislike. They may not be as colorful as most teams but they’re strong and I like the way they complement each other. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2009, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-11-1-on-time-again/516002/51 "2009-11-02T19:10:15Z")
> [@Terminus\_Est](#): > > According to teh intarwebs, Lena had unrolled 100 haybales by the time Phil showed up. She would have probably kept on going if the Amazing Producers hadn’t granted her mercy. I don’t even see how that’s possible. If there are 20 clues in 270 hay bales, statistics tells us that there should be one in every _math_ 13.5 bales of hay. WTF? ---
**Author:** ![lorene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/65b543/32.png) [@lorene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lorene)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2009, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-11-1-on-time-again/516002/52 "2009-11-02T19:23:59Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > I don’t even see how that’s possible. If there are 20 clues in 270 hay bales, statistics tells us that there should be one in every _math_ 13.5 bales of hay. WTF? Hence the speculation in my post. I can’t find a cite for that, although I could have sworn I read some speculation on Tarflies or TWOP. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2009, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-11-1-on-time-again/516002/53 "2009-11-02T19:26:18Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > I don’t even see how that’s possible. If there are 20 clues in 270 hay bales, statistics tells us that there should be one in every _math_ 13.5 bales of hay. WTF? Just as every family has 2.3 children. Averages don’t tell you anything about a specific hay bale. Basically, she was just spectacularly unlucky. There were 250 bales of hay that didn’t have clues. She kept picking those bales. Over, and over, and over, and over, and over again. It was awful to watch; I can’t imagine how bad it was to do. ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2009, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-11-1-on-time-again/516002/54 "2009-11-02T19:51:23Z")
According to my calculations, the probability of not picking up a clue after unrolling 100 bales would be about 0.54%. That’s given the starting conditions of 20 clues in 270 bales. Of course, some other racers came by, unrolled the bales and picked up their clues. Lena & Kristy were eliminated in ninth place, so there should have been only 11 clues left. It’s too difficult to compute the changing probabilities so I’m going to be generous and say that each previous team unrolled 10 bales. That leaves 11 clues in 190 bales, which gives a probability of 0.02% of NOT finding a clue after 100 bales. So, yes, Lena was _spectacularly_ unlucky. ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2009, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-11-1-on-time-again/516002/55 "2009-11-02T21:05:15Z")
It’s also been speculated that she didn’t completely unroll a few bales 100% and a clue might have been in the very, very center, unlike most of the rest of the bales where the clue was in the first wrap or two. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2009, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-11-1-on-time-again/516002/56 "2009-11-02T21:18:26Z")
I vaguely remember the haybale episode. At the time, I thought they missed clues in the some of the unrolled bales. ---
**Author:** ![brownie55](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f14d63/32.png) [@brownie55](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brownie55)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2009, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-11-1-on-time-again/516002/57 "2009-11-02T23:12:29Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > The complete episode is up on [cbs.com](http://cbs.com) > > Brian re-read the clue and discovered their mistake, but they didn’t go back. It was probably shorter to just take the penalty. Then they borrowed bikes from some guy to get to the Pit Stop. Not the bikes they were supposed to have, but no penalty, I guess. I wonder if they returned them. > > The poker players quit. **They should have ditched the Detour, gone to the Mat, and prayed for a non-elim and a big bunching point next leg to erase whatever penalty they got.** I hope this is not answered later, but how do you talk the holder of the clue out of it if you don’t finish? If that was my job I’d just say, “Tee it up!” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-amazing-race-11-1-on-time-again/516002.md?page=2)