The Amazing Race 19 Episode 9 was a to be continued episode. With the whole leg coming down to one task, all the teams are pretty well bunched together at the pit stop.
The first three teams had already completed the bodybuilding pose task before the last episode concluded, leaving Andy & Tommy and Bill & Cathi still strutting their stuff. The snowboarders get their required 12 points, followed by Bill & Cathi in last place.
Teams will now drive to the Ford Proving Ground in Lommel, Belgium. The road block at this Ford testing facility is to drive a Mustang through a series of performance maneuvers: accelerating to 100 miles an hour and then braking, completing a slalom course in under 16 seconds, and finishing with two victory donuts.
Road block (in order of arrival): Ernie, Jeremy, Marcus, Tommy, Bill
The speed part of the course seems simple enough. After that it gets a little trickier. Ernie misses by .9 seconds on his first try. Then he runs into the balloon at the end of it about 15 times. Eventually, Jeremy & Sandy catch up, so they have to take turns. Jeremy finishes in time but nudges the balloon at the end. This seems to be all the encouragement Ernie needs, as he completes the challenge on his next try. Jeremy completes it on his second attempt. Having been lost, Amani & Marcus finally find the location, and Andy & Tommy are right behind them. They both complete it in two tries, and at this point Bill & Cathi are arriving, so it’s still anybody’s game.
From there, they will drive to the city of Gent. The detour is a choice between water or waffles. In water, they will build a raft and search the waterways for two pieces of a clue. Waffle requires them to assemble a waffle stand and bake and decorate 18 waffles.
Waffle: Ernie & Cindy, Jeremy & Sandy
Water: Andy & Tommy, Amani & Marcus (switched from waffle), Bill & Cathi (switched from waffle)
Seeing Jeremy get frustrated with the waffle task, Amani & Marcus promptly switch detours. Upon arrival, Bill & Cathi make the same decision. The third and fourth place teams manage to leapfrog Jeremy & Sandy, who continue to struggle with their waffles.
Their next clue is at De Muur van Geraardsbergen. They will help a pigeon trainer release a flock of homing pigeons, which they must then follow to an address to retrieve their next clue, a picture of the next pit stop. This is more difficult than it sounds, as multiple teams get lost on the way.
The pit stop for this leg of the race is the Atomium, a model of the atomic structure of iron blown up 165 billion times.
First: Andy & Tommy (win a pair of Ford Mustangs)
Second: Jeremy & Sandy
Third: Ernie & Cindy
Fourth: Amani & Marcus
Eliminated: Bill & Cathi
In spite the problems the teams had with directions, the end result seemed pretty obvious from the beginning. Bill & Cathi have been eliminated.
Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of The Amazing Race 19 Episode 11, which airs Sunday at 8/7c on CBS.