The Amazing Race Season 29 Recap

Riding a Bike is Like Riding a Bike

By David Mumpower

May 25, 2017

We're gonna go from first to last? What?

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The Roadblock is a repeat from season 3. It involves basket cases, giant cocoon-shaped shrimp traps that take up a lot of room on a bike. Floyd and Matt work together to count the number of traps they’ll need to populate their bikes. Matt has no trouble maneuvering his bike at the start but finds it unwieldy to drive.

Floyd almost tips over immediately, which would have been a better outcome than what actually happens. During his trip, he unknowingly drops several of his traps. Becca notices immediately but can’t say anything. They have been better off if she had, depending on the length of the penalty. Floyd’s going to have to make a return trip, and his first one is kind of a nightmare. He falls over several times and seems to fall on his ankle at least twice.

A cruel edit shows Floyd struggling mightily followed by Matt chugging along that he’s been a shrimp trapper his whole life. Matt’s not just a freak athlete. He’s remarkably intelligent and intuitive. Redmond actually makes an interesting comment about the situation. He points out that he might have been physically unable to do this challenge, at least at a respectable pace. He did ride a bike earlier in the episode and is clearly good enough at the basic version of it. The shrimp traps might be too much for him, though.

We’ll never know since Matt absolutely wrecks the challenge. He delivers the requisite 32 shrimp traps, idly wondering where Floyd is. On his way back to his partner, Matt sees Floyd and kindly takes the time to help his opponent lift his back Then, Matt notices all the shrimp traps left behind. He feels a bit concerned for Floyd but also realizes his team has at least an hour lead. Their next destination is Den Thai Vi – Ben Thanh. It’ll be a total shock if they don’t win this leg.




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At the 23-minute mark of the episode, Brooke cries for the first time. So, settle up your pre-episode prop bets.

The Speed Bump is stupid and pointless, even by Amazing Race standards. Tara and Joey have to find 72 eggs in a field. The only rule is that they have to be intact. Broken ones don’t count. They complete the mission but reach the Roadblock last out of the five teams.

Cut to Floyd. The news is grim. He reaches the destination without at least half of his shrimp traps. As he tries to drop off the ones that he has, the Vietnamese gentleman says no. Apparently, the rules of the challenge require teams to do the entire task in one heat. Floyd’s stubborn decision to move forward and make gradual progress has proven disastrous. He’s now tired, possibly injured, and in worse shape timewise than when he started. He’s just done a full run of this Roadblock with nothing to show for it. Team Fun has gone from first place and a huge lead to the middle of the pack. At this point, we’re sure that Becca should have interfered and taken the multi-hour penalty. Team Fun could very well lose this leg.


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