In the middle of the night, the ten remaining teams took off from their last rest stop in Ireland and headed toward the local airport.  Next stop: Amsterdam.

Azaria and Hendekea started the departures followed by Kynt/Vxyin then Jason/Lorena.  Ronald and Christina, the 7th team to leave, got off to a delayed start when Christina forgot her fanny pack inside the hotel.  Although they did finally get on the road, the father/daughter team later returned to the hotel so they could research flights via computer.  Thankfully Kate and Pat – who waited alongside Ronald – were not as impatient with Christina as her father was.

Meanwhile Nicolas and Donald, the 5th team to depart, were unfortunately sidelined with a flat tire soon after their departure.  Despite their quick recovery, the grandfather/grandson were one of the last duos to make it to the ticket counters.  Luckily, every single team – except for Marinna and Julia – were able to get on the first plane into Dublin.  The sister team narrowly missed the flight’s departure because they had taken a long route to the airport.

Nine of the ten teams managed to get into Dublin at the same time, but only six had secured seats on the first flight into Amsterdam.  Hoping to place themselves high on the standby list, Nicolas and Donald hustled to the next ticket counter.  Although their quick moves got them ahead of Ronald/Christina, Nicolas’ attitude with the ticket agent threatened his chances of getting on board.  Instead of looking at this misstep as a possible gift, Christina’s father thought it was his duty to step up and lecture the young sap on his rude behavior.  Rude or not, Nicolas and Donald made it on the flight anyway.  This left the father/daughter team waiting behind with the ‘God doesn’t care if we win or not’ ministers.  As it turned out, their long wait for the 2nd departing flight allowed Marianna and Julia to catch up with them.

After arriving in Amsterdam, the first group of teams immediately headed for the nearby trains.  Once they had reached Amsterdam Centraal Station, their goal was to find a specific bridge by the canals; there they would find their first ‘Detour’.  The teams would then have to choose between a ‘Hoist It’ or ‘Hunt It’ task.  In ‘Hoist it’, the teams would have to hoist five pieces of furniture up the side of a nearby building.  After securing the items on the street, one racer would use a pulley system to get the pieces through an upstairs window.  (Their teammate would be waiting for the furniture inside.)  In ‘Hunt It’, the teams would have to first locate a parking garage filled with bicycles.  After finding two specifically marked bikes, they would then need to ride 5 miles away for their next clue.

Azaria/Hendekea, who neglected to pay their train fare, got a slight head start reaching the detour (they chose the ‘Hunt It’ task).  Their ten-minute lead wasn’t enough though to hold back the teams who opted for the pulley challenge.  Although the knotting system proved to be mentally frustrating, most of the teams in the ‘Hoist It’ task managed to finish before the bicycle hunters.  The brother/sister duo were now in 5th place while Lorena and Jason had moved into first.  With their Detours completed, the teams had to then travel by bus to a local field where they would find their next clue.  Nathan/Jennifer, Lorena/Jason and Shana/Jennifer all scored the first bus out; Azaraia/Hendekea, Rachel/TK, Kynt/Vxysin and Nicolas/Donald carpooled on the second.

The three remaining duos from Flight #2 finally arrived at the Detour after the others had departed.  Although Christina and her father initially chose to do the hoisting, Ronald’s constant doubting forced his daughter to go with the second option.  Sadly, this new change of direction didn’t make him happy either.  From that point on, Ronald proceeded to complain about every single thing his daughter did or did not do.  Despite the constant criticism (and their last place arrival at the bike challenge), Christina and her father somehow managed to finish their task right behind Marianna and Julia.  The unfocused Kate and Pat were now officially running in last place.

At the next stop, the teams were presented with a ‘Road Block’.  For this event, one person from each group would have to ‘ditch vault’ over a ravine.  (In other words, they basically had to pole vault over a muddy creek.)  After the next clue was retrieved, he/she could choose any manner they’d like to get back over to the starting side.  Although some of the competitors fared better than others, each racer ended up to some degree in the muck.  Thanks to spectacular first attempts, Jason and Shana were the first two to complete their tasks.  Jennifer followed closely behind.

After standing around watching the other teams attempt their vaults, Donald confidently volunteered for the stunt.  Although Nicolas doubted his grandfather’s abilities, he didn’t bother stepping up to messy plate.  After several failed attempts, Donald decided it was in his best interest to remove all his muddy (and now restrictive) clothing.  Down to nothing but his sexy underwear, Donald finally made it over after a million attempts.  Luckily he and Nicolas were able to move on before the next round of teams had arrived.

From the ditch vault, the teams had to ride a Dutch cargo bike to the final pit stop.  One team member had the job of steering the bike while the other sat in the large basket up front.  Once they had located the correct drop off point, the duos simply had to run across the street and find Phil.  Having been the first team to depart the last task, Lorena and Jason easily glided in for their first win.  Nathan/Jennifer then placed second while Shana/Jennifer came in third.

Unfortunately for the lesbian ministers, it really didn’t look like God was going to help them in this race after all.  The lead the other teams had on them from the very beginning just proved to be too insurmountable.  In the end, they were just grateful for the fun time they had together.  LOSERS: Kate and Pat.

(You can review last week’s episode here.)
(You can read next week’s episode here.)