The Amazing Race 19 - Discussion - *Spoilers*

luvstx wrote:Oh well....they weren't penalized (Cindy and Ernie that is).

This was a good leg though I was very sorry to see Bill and Cathi leave. They were really strong competitors and just nice people. They clearly have a wonderful marriage!

My dd really wants Amani and Marcus to win, Albean, so I hope your 'dreams' don't come true (have you ever seen a 15 year old girl disappointed?!!?). I think Jeremy and Sandy will be the next ones out and then it will come down to taxis and directions as far as the winner.

And, finally, next week we will get the height challenge that would always get. That would have been the end of me.... Where now is the food challenge?

No, but now I hope they win for your daugther's sake. :P I like the snowboarders the most.

I don't know when the finale will be.

Thanks, atem! I appreciate the sentiment. And dd will be happy if the snowboarders win as well.

We're guessing that the finale is in two weeks but it's just a guess.

I think it must be because they'll get down to 3 next week and then it should be the finale.

Sorry for your DD but can't hope for Marcus to win, Luvstx. Disappointment builds character, don't you think?

Now that my website is back up and able to host the graphics I will get the scoreboard and recaps for the last two weeks done tomorrow. I was really sorry to see Bill and Cathi go. They just couldn't get a break when they fell behind at the body building challenge. They should be really proud of themselves for doing so well and maintaining such a warm disposition through the whole thing. Andy and Tommy are doing so well that it will be kind of shocking in anyone beats them in the end, but we all know that luck can turn on a dime so I am keeping my fingers crossed for them.

albean99 wrote:I think it must be because they'll get down to 3 next week and then it should be the finale.

Sorry for your DD but can't hope for Marcus to win, Luvstx. Disappointment builds character, don't you think?

You're right, Albean And I have to say that for a teenage daughter, I couldn't ask for a kinder, smarter, or more appreciative one. DD is really special!

Amazing Race's Bill and Cathi: We Were Too Cautious on the Road
Nov 28, 2011 03:15 PM ET
by Joyce Eng

Bill and Cathi

After having being spared elimination twice on The Amazing Race, Bill and Cathi Alden knew their time was up when they lost an hour trying to find the homing pigeon location in Belgium. "We had so much trouble trying to find the wall and we couldn't imagine that another team had that much difficulty after they located the pigeons," Cathi tells TVGuide.com. "We were pretty sure we were last. It was so dark and late by then." But getting lost wasn't the only factor in their elimination. See what else they think contributed to their demise and how they stay in such great shape.


Did you do the pigeon task? They didn't show you doing it.
Cathi: We got there and it was so dark that they didn't release the pigeons. They just gave us a card of the address of where the pigeon would be. That was just [more confirmation] that we were last.

Do you know how much time you lost trying to find the pigeons?
Bill: Probably an hour. We got there very late. The signage near the town — I don't know if someone turned the sign slightly or what — but that took us nearly half an hour, running back and forth. We went to the wrong spot on the wall, so some nice young kids directed us to the right end of the wall. It was so dark that we ended up going around the wall and finally we found the clues down below, which some of the teams drove up and spotted immediately. It helped to have a little sunlight. It took us quite awhile. Once we had that, we were able to head back to Brussels pretty fast. We lost enough time. We hadn't seen any other team. We figured it was about the end.

Why was it so hard to find the place?
Cathi: It was a very small place, but the actual wall is a fence kind of thing that goes around a small peak. It just meanders and it's clear on the back of the town. People would say, "You go here, you go here, you go here," but really, you had to be at exactly the right spot.
Bill: Also the roads don't go straight, so pretty soon you're headed back the way you just came and you're in more trouble. The people are nice and know the terrain pretty well, but they don't understand that when they say this, it doesn't make sense to you. You're taking the first street that turns off and they mean the main street that turns off way up the hill.

You seemed to have trouble with self-navigation. You lost time heading to Legoland last week and now this.
Cathi: I wouldn't say that we were bad at navigation in that we never went the wrong way on the freeway ever. We were very cautious, maybe too cautious. We stopped and asked probably more often than maybe some of the other teams. The other thing is, looking back, we weren't as aggressive in our driving as we probably should've been. In other words, we really did take them at their word when they said to go the speed limit. I think some of the other teams were more aggressive in their driving and could make up any error time. We just kind of kept it at the speed limit the whole time. Maybe if we had driven faster, we could've caught up with someone. We had great luck in Copenhagen with the directions and the driving, but no such luck here.


Why weren't you more aggressive?
Cathi: We're pretty rule-bound. When they say "go the speed limit," we go the speed limit. If we were to do it again, we wouldn't go the speed limit. [Laughs] We'd speed and if we get a 10-minute penalty, whoopee! Because you've made up those 10 minutes.
Bill: In total, it was almost 1,000 kilometers of driving. We'd been in Europe a number of times, but we always used mass transit, so as far as the driving goes, I wasn't accustomed to it, so I didn't push it. We could've made up a lot of time in that manner. We got directions that weren't easily understood, so when you ran out of what you understood, you stopped and asked again.

After being almost goners the first leg, how did it feel to make the final five?
Cathi: We were grateful for every moment. To have [been saved by] two non-elimination legs? We were extremely grateful for the first non-elimination because we had such a difficult time finding the board. So after that, it was like, "Do the best you can, enjoy every minute" and we did. Before the race began, the philosophy was "most of you will be eliminated," so you go in knowing that and knowing you're taking a huge risk exposing yourself. But it was definitely worth it.

How do you keep in such great shape? I think everyone wants to look as good as you guys do in their 60s.
Cathi: [Laughs] Did you like how the bodybuilder noticed that?


They paid you more compliments than they did any other team.
Cathi: I know! We work out, probably four to six times a week. We've done it for years and years. It's not something we did two or three months [before the race]. It's a lifestyle for us. We do it because we want to live as long and as happily and as healthy as we can.

Cathi, you kept falling down. How many bruises did you get?
Cathi: I was covered with bruises after the rice patty. There were no real injuries at all. My balance isn't very good to begin with and we neglected to take our backpacks off, so the weight would shift and I would fall.
Bill: She also managed to get some beauties hanging onto the elephant. You kept going up and down on that, and she got her arms bruised up trying to hang on.
Cathi: Afterward, I asked the cameraman if he would put the falls together [in a montage] for me because it was just hilarious!

What are you up to now?
Cathi: We are going to New Zealand in two and a half weeks. Our daughter's husband is from New Zealand, so our whole family is going there for Christmas. It's summer there, so to leave Oregon and to go to New Zealand will be great.

TV Guide

Thanks Albean. Guess I didn't realize that we never saw them do the pigeon release....
Really great couple.

Awww! That's awesome that they get to visit New Zealand with the whole family for Christmas!

atem wrote:Awww! That's awesome that they get to visit New Zealand with the whole family for Christmas!

So their family must have known before Sunday that they didn't make it to the finals. No way they could have gone away on the heels of a win!

The scoreboard and recaps for the last two weeks is finally posted.

Loved the interview with Bill and Cathi....what a super couple. I don't think I have ever wanted a couple to win as much as I did them but as well as they were doing most of the time they were near to the bottom so I figured that eventually they would not be able to squeak through. They are in the same age bracket as me but are thousands of miles ahead of me in physical fitness. I think if I was going to have a hero they would be it LOL.

http://bachandbachettefans.forumotion.com/t559-the-amazing-race-20-spoilers-speculation-discussion

Holy upset!