Super Bowl Update

Episode Nine Fake Title: Flex Your Muscles in Brussels

Starting City: Copenhagen, Denmark
Pit Stop City: Brussels, Belgium

1st Place: Footballers Lives   Reward: Trip for two to Panama
2nd:???
3rd: ???
4th: ???
Last Place: ??? - presumably not eliminated

The episode ended on a "too be continued" with us only knowing who came in first, and that despite the check in, all teams were to immediately keep racing. D'oh!

Roadblock: One team member had to memorize a poem on the base of a statue of Hans Christian Andersen and then take a bike and navigate themselves to the Teatermuseet i Hofteatret, where they would have to recite the poem exactly (with dramatic flair! don't forget!) in order to receive their next clue. A map to the theater was located on the front wheel of a bicycle they were to ride to get there. If there were any mistakes with the words, or they did not perform it dramatically, a judge would make them ride back to the statue and start over. Most teams lost some time on this task having to do it more than once, but Cindy actually got it done on the first try, even though a group of tourists decided to sit and take pictures on the statue while she was trying to learn the poem!

Also of Note This Week: This was an interesting leg in that the teams jumped through three countries: Denmark to Germany to Belgium and they still don't get to enjoy a pit stop after all that. They are gonna e tired and cranky next week, that's for sure!

Despite all the country-hopping, there was no official detour this week According to the interwebs, the Bodybuilding Pose task in Brussels that concluded the episode was actually part of a Detour during the Race, but no one chose the other task, so it was made to look like just a required additional task in post-production. I wonder what the other task was that nobody wanted to do? Was it the eating-related task I keep waiting to see this season? For the Bodybuilding task, teams arrived at the Concert Noble and competed in a posing competition in honor of Jean-Claude Van Damme, aka "The Muscles from Brussels". Racers put on speedos and bikinis, covered themselves in posing oil, and had to learn a series of poses for judging. If the 3 judges gave them a combined score of 12 or better, teams would receive their next clue.The judges were so tough on this task I thought people were doing fairly well, but the judges kept scoring them with ones and twos! Damn. I thought all the teams looked pretty good in their very skimpy outfits, and of course Out-To-Pasture seemed to be in great physical shape even though they are the "old people."

Mid-leg the teams all had to go to Legoland Billund. There they had to find the Pirate Carousel which is sort of like Mad Hatter's Tea Party at Disney. Spinning Tea Cups galore! Teams were given a box containing Lego puzzle pieces. While the ride was spinning, they had to assemble the puzzle to reveal their next destination. Teams could only work on the puzzle while the ride was spinning and then they had to raise their hands when the ride stopped like they were at the end of a Top Chef Quickfire challenge. Several teams experienced motion sickness in this challenge and I would have been right there with them. I do not like to be spun. One go around would've been okay. But multiple successive rides while trying to focus on assembling a puzzle? That's too much for my sensitive tummy. Luckily, everyone got through with just nausea. That Other Dating Couple had to try the puzzle twice after pieces got flung out of the tea cup on their first try.

Team Bert & Ernie were doing a great job at maintaining their lead until all the teams got bunched again on the train from Germany to Belgium. Then they lost their connecting tickets for a mid-trip transfer! Luckily the conductor didn't come through on the second half to check their tickets and they were in the clear. Also, after several legs of strong racing, Team Out-To-Pasture once again couldn't figure out the right way to get anywhere, getting lost multiple times in multiple modes of transportation. It will be interesting to see who is the last to complete the bodybuilding challenge and if the last team to arrive gets hit with a speed bump.

Next Week: To be concluded! The Pit Stop order is revealed and then they hit the ground running for more fun in Belgium! Make-shift raft building! A crazy trip to a speedway! Onward Racers!