I was disappointed that the clues "farmer's dance" or "farmer's games" weren't more informative

theres always a description for each task on the clue. they don't show it on tv since phil already describes each challenge.

Although i felt bad for the two girls, don't forget this is the third time they finished last IIRC.

They finished last in the very first leg, but it wasn't an elimination round, and then the time of the passport fiasco. So they probably werent' gonna win.

Note, I'm not sure that if they didn't ring the bell and carried on with the competition they would have incurred a time penalty. I think Phil would have said, "I'm sorry to say you haven't completed the challenge."

Although i felt bad for the two girls, don't forget this is the third time they finished last IIRC.

They finished last in the very first leg, but it wasn't an elimination round, and then the time of the passport fiasco. So they probably werent' gonna win.

Note, I'm not sure that if they didn't ring the bell and carried on with the competition they would have incurred a time penalty. I think Phil would have said, "I'm sorry to say you haven't completed the challenge."
That's true. The poker girls have dodged bullets twice. It's about time.

Regarding skipping the bell, didn't Brian and Ericka not follow the instructions to walk instead of cycling? I remember one past season some team took a taxi instead of walking but I forgot what was the penalty?

The wikipedia page references that they were assessed a 24 hour penalty for being unable to finish either part of the detour, then Phil came out to eliminate them.

Brian and Erica were assessed a half-hour penalty for not riding the bike...

So if the girls just skipped the Bell, would they have only been assessed a 30 minute penalty like Brian and Erica?

If they didn't properly complete the challenge then they shouldn't have gotten the next clue.

But by that definition, neither did Brian and Erica. I guess my question to anyone is "when does it become a time penalty and when does it mean you're disqualified?"

I think there are penalties associated with travel - walking instead of biking, or taking a taxi rather than walking... But I think you have to complete the task.

I read the following in an interview:

24 HOUR PENALTY for not completing either side of a detour!

http://www.realitynewsonline.com/cgi-bin/ae.pl?mode=4&article=article10784.art&page=1

This is how that works out. We spent over three hours between both tasks. What happened with the Detour is, you don’t have an option to skip a part of a Detour. If you are unable to complete either side of a Detour, you get a 24-hour penalty. Brian & Ericka incurred their penalty getting to the Detour.



Tiffany, cont.: We didn’t want to quit, which is why after a good 20 minutes of the dinger we went to the golf. After 40 minutes there we went back to the dinger. We didn’t want to quit without a fight. That’s why we spent over three hours going between the two.

Even if it meant we were in last place, we just wanted to accomplish it. Later on in the day, the winds on that golf field had picked up. Even with our best hit, the wind was flying exactly towards us, which is in the long run is why we said this isn’t going to be possible for us to do, in the weather conditions then.



We were soaking wet. We were frozen to the bone after spending three hours out there in those beautiful long johns. (Laughs) It was a really, really physical day.

The WIKI site (posted in an earlier post) stated that these two refused to go to the elimination station (with the other eliminated teams) and none of the already eliminated teams believed their stories (about why they were eliminated).

These 2 are still not liked by the other teams.

So what is the elimination station. Does everyone have to go and how long do they have to be there?

I think it's the TAR version of the Big Brother Jury House, or similar to what happens with booted-off Survivors. TAR keeps 'em all together so that they are all there at the finish line, I guess.

The CBS site has lots of additional info / videos including the elimination station:

http://www.cbs.com/primetime/amazing_race/video/?pid=_ev31xA6bgkfSx3sFAzIhGowItZBh9I4

The above clip is what I described a few posts above.

If the link doesn't work directly (because you're in Canada) the go here and scroll down the page until you see the link.

http://www.cbs.com/primetime/amazing_race/#start

It worked for me.

What I don't understand is Meghan & Cheyne BOTH went into the clock tower to count bells. I thought only one person was allowed to complete the task?

Add another pair of viewers who thought both of them went in together (as opposed to Meghan teaming up with one of the brothers), thereby breaking Roadblock rules. We were all keyed up waiting for Phil to bust them when they hit the mat, sending them back to complete the task properly, or giving some sort of penalty.

As far as counting bells, why not get a ball-park figure, then just keep walking back to the clue-keeper with a slightly different number until you get it right, instead of wasting so much time recounting? It's not like you have to wait X number of minutes (or maybe you do) between guesses. Whoever was given the answer by another team certainly didn't take any time at all to complete the task.

I also feel the poker girls were due to go after their third last-place finish.

Although it wasn't stated, in previous similar tasks there was indeed a waiting period. I agree, as it came to my mind as well, that it would have been faster just to say 1, then 2, then 3 and so on without actually counting.

I hate product placement but will tolerate if it isn't in your face.

...but those Travelocity trolls were over the top. I will intentionally never use ravelocity in protest. I was half expecting someone to forget their troll in the back of cab and be penalized, or a roadblock force them to break open the troll to retrieve a clue, etc.

cheers.

The Travelocity gnomes have been part of the game for several seasons.

Seriously? They play a miniscule part in the show and yes it is obvious travelocity is and has been a sponsor for some time. They provide the majority (if not all) of the prizes after all.

I was happy to see the Globetrotters come in first, I'm cheering for them now. It was fairly obvious that this task was designed to be a part of a non-elimination leg. I'm glad it was. Sam/Dan were getting on my nerves the first half. SHUT UP for crying out loud :)

The hay bale thing seems dumb to me because its just sheer luck with the odds of about 25 to 1 that you pick the right bale.