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With Steve & Aly’s arrival on the scene, it’s time for their Speed Bump. They have to make a little toy airplane from repurposed soda cans. Some kids are standing around, probably to judge their work. Seems like a pretty manageable task, really. They both get a lot of help from the children, and Steve’s is finished in short order.

Jenny cheers as Jelani returns to her with the suitcase and the gnome.

It’s actually a race to the next clue box, because apparently Matt & Ashley and Tyler & Laura have differing opinions on how to use the U-Turn. We know the hairstylists hate Jenny & Jelani (or more specifically, Jenny), but Tyler & Laura want to use it on a strong, competitive team.

In the end, Matt & Ashley arrive first and receive their clue for the Detour. They’ll choose between “Work” or “Play.” For “Work,” they’ll have to help smooth out a desert road. Since it’s not paved and is only made of sand, the roads tend to develop corrugated ridges. To remove the bumps in the road, they’ll ride in a truck and drag five enormous tires behind them to even things out. Once completed (in a way that their foreman deems worthy), they’ll receive their next clue.

For “Play,” teams will ski down a desert slalom slope. They’ll receive a crash course in the sport of speed sand skiing from an expert in the field, and then follow the path up and around the hill. Once they reach the top, they’ll sled down to the bottom to receive their next clue. It seems like ski is the fun choice, and maybe the better one since the trucks in Africa seem to be prone to flat tires.

Matt & Ashley choose to ski, while Tyler & Laura are going to “Work.” Hayley hates to ski, so she and Blair head off to perform the road smoothing duties. The skiing seems fun, while the tires really are huge, so it is difficult work that relies on the strength of the guy, primarily.

Then again, Ashley falls down while skiing and struggles to get up, so maybe it’s not all it’s cracked up to be.

At last, Mike has found his gnome and his suitcase, and says that this is the hardest thing he’s had to do in the race so far. He bends over and coughs until he can breathe again.

Steve & Aly are finishing their Speed Bump, and Aly says that the kids have improved her mood significantly. They get the thumbs up from their kid coaches, and Steve is taking the task for their team. Aly instantly realizes that he went the wrong way, and he makes it even worse when he runs even further in the bad direction. They seem doomed, but maybe the U-Turn will save them.

So far, the “Work” task seems easier than “Play,” so I was definitely wrong. Ashley is struggling, but Matt encourages her until she is able to get back up and they are making their way to the top of the hill.

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