starseed1981

Agreed. That seems to be a common thing with these past 7 seasons (or at least they edit it that way).

Josh-da-man

Yeah, the final leg of the race frequently comes off like pulling rocks out of a bag on Survivor when it comes to taxis. They should give them cars and let them drive themselves around.

I often wonder if some teams don't end up with cabbies who know that they're on TAR racing for a million dollars and intentionally sabotage the teams just to be assholes.

mwbmis

I used to be an advocate for that, but I believe there were some concerns about possible reckless driving on the final leg.

Michael Corvin

So give them all Segways or bikes.

leeta

Or a combination of foot and subway. I remember one finale where part of the final leg was taking the subway and a NYC team was looking out the window at their old neighborhood.

Segways would be cool and a fun and fair addition. Has TAR ever included a task involving them?

Josh-da-man

Okay, I can see that.

I would think they could monitor the teams and then penalize them for breaking posted traffic laws. Five minute penalty for running a stop sign, one minute penalty for every ten seconds they exceed the posted speed limit, etc.

davidh777

Finally caught up with the episode.

Hayley loses, and it's her fault. Gotta love that. I was really happy Laura and Tyler won because Jenni was nearly as annoying as Hayley, like the way she was screaming at Jelani when he was kicking. Seriously, how does that help?

Seems like a few of the activities on the final leg were just going along for the ride (like being hoisted in the air), but there were enough separators that I was OK with it. I echo the frustration about the taxis but can see the point about reckless driving. At least they could stay safe with the monster trucks!

I forget: Do they always end in the U.S.? Dallas seemed kind of dull compared to all the other places.

LaxBandit

Yes, they always finish the race somewhere in the United States. The closest they finished out of the United States was the family edition whose final leg finished up in Lewiston, NY. (right next to Niagara Falls, NY.) - which is just a "stones throw" away from Canada. (That final leg was basically a Canadian leg as the teams did tasks in Montreal and Toronto prior to going to Lewiston for the final task.)

Josh-da-man

The concept of TAR is that it's a race around the world that begins and ends in the US (since it's an American show).

hdnmickey

They usually start on one US coast and end on the other.

I would love to see them limit the use of taxis. Especially in countries where so many of them can't seem to go for five minutes without breaking down or stopping for gas. There doesn't seem to be any shortage of car manufacturers lining up to have their vehicles used, so let's see more driving themselves. I don't buy the illegal driving reason not to have them drive more often given that could affect all legs of the race.

dolphinboy

Laura is calling me tomorrow.

Anyone have a question they'd like asked, because I have no idea what to say to her?

And don't even think of anything pervy, I'm already nervous I might mention how hot she is during the call and hear a click.

davidh777

Maybe ask about how much interaction she had with other teams--ones they hit it off with, ones who seemed like they had a future, ones who seemed ready to kill each other? That might inspire a few answers.

Or maybe ask about what she experienced that we don't see on TV? Like if the race is even harder physically than it looks?

Setzer

From what I understand her and Tyler didn't have a "love connection" on the race and presently aren't involved in a romantic relationship. So, I assume they just split the winnings 50/50? And what about the trips they won to New Zealand and South Korea, did they split those as well?

dolphinboy

I'm definitely not going to ask her something so private as how or what they do with their prizes.

I have my list and it will include a question about how much rest the racers really get. It's one thing to know a pit stop is "x" amount of hours long, but not everyone can just crash.

I'm sure there's some decompression needed, the racers plan ahead, they eat and I'm sure sometimes get less sleep because of stress and other factors. So I will try to get into the exhaustion part without wasting too much of my allotted time.

Setzer

Whatever. I was just curious...and not really that private at all, imo. I think this is the first time since Amazing Race started that two complete strangers ran the race together and won. In the past it was either couples, family members or friends, so I'm sure the trips and money won wasn't an issue. Just a unique situation and was curious how they handled it.

dolphinboy

Whether they take the trips or sell them for cash is very much an inappropriate question. It's nothing remotely like asking if they have any plans for their $500,000 prize, but everyone asks that question. It's boring. Just as I won't ask her for the 100th time if they ever plan to date, when I know already that she'll say she's only interested in me.

movieking

I don't see it as inappropriate at all, I'd think that it's a common question, especially in this situation, like Setzer said. They're not in a relationship, so do they split the trips or not use them at all. I think some previous racers said that they never took the trips because of the taxes associated with them?

Michael Corvin

Since the blind date was a new concept this year, I think asking how they split the prizes is fair game. I'm not sure what's inappropriate about that.

I'd pose (probably a common question) but if the producers came calling for an All-Star season would she partner up with Tyler again?

or

If her and Tyler met under different circumstances(a more organic relationship), would a love connection been more likely?

DRG

I've always been curious about the logistics involving the cameraman. I know they have to buy extra tickets and have extra cab space for them. But do the camera guys ever accidentally cause delays? Like if they are running somewhere and the cameraman stumbles, are they supposed to wait or is it the cameraman's responsibility to catch up?

Double_Oh_7

Not sure about this specific scenario, but I remember episodes where Phil would do a voiceover saying something like "because a cameraman drained their car battery, so-and-so had to wait for a repair. But no time credit was given due to this unfortunate technical error."

Bill Needle

Think of it this way: It is in the sponsor's interest to hyper-inflate the retail value of the prize (it is a tax deduction for them), which means the contestant must pay income taxes (real money) for that value. Depending on where they live it can approach 50% of that "retail value." So they end up paying out of pocket as much as the trip is probably really worth, perhaps more. "You've won a free trip to Bali! Now pay for it."

Jadzia

I always thought a trip was a dumb prize on Amazing Race. After racing around the world, I think the last place I would want to go is on another trip. They should give them a new bedroom set or a couch.

dolphinboy

Had a great conversation with Laura today.

She's a very nice person and was very easy to talk to and very generous with her time.

It was a very intense talk. It was obvious right away that she's still on a high from winning and from all the attention that she's getting since the finale aired.

Asked her about whether she thought there was any reasonable solution for how taxis can play such a significant part of the show. She told me that, while the taxis were probably the most stressful part of the entire race, she likes that it's a variable and didn't think it should be altered even for the final leg. She also told me the there's so much anxiety and stress that may not be seen, that driving would not be a good idea.

She told me that she was injured pretty badly during most of the race and it was entirely edited out. Many of the eliminated teams, she told me, said they expected Tyler and Laura not to last much longer because they didn't see how she'd be able to keep up. She was on medication for almost the entire race.

Laura also said that when they arrived at the lock with the selfie challenge inside, they were certain it was a race for 2nd place. Everyone thought Hayley and Blair had come and gone. Laura said she briefly saw them, told Tyler they must be in first, but he didn't believe it. She said they really didn't know they were for sure in first until the reached the bridge. Laura also indicated that they were behind Hayley and Blair by a solid hour, so they made up all of that and more when Hayley screwed up.

Tyler and Laura have already spoken and agreed that they'd for sure accept an invitation to race together again in all-stars should one come (which is a lock).

There is very much no love lost between Hayley and Laura. She was pretty candid about it. I can just say they really don't seem to like one another.

Laura works in production and told me that she couldn't even explain just how good the production staff for TAR is and how hard everyone works to make it all come together.

She went into details about certain legs, but I barely remember what I did yesterday, much less all the small details from a reality show...even one that I like. After we spoke, I was a bit exhausted just from hearing her recount the still vivid details of the race. She's definitely still reliving it and she's very happy that she got the chance to run the race in the first place.

I asked her if she had made the final 3 but had not won the race, would she have still been ok with that...and she told me she would have been ok just as long as it wasn't Hayley that won.

davidh777

Is your interview going to appear online eventually? Or should we just google "dolphinboy interviews Laura TAR"?

dolphinboy

No, it won't be published.

I donated money to a charity and the interview/conversation was one of the prizes.

I have one more person I'd like to speak with (there's probably only one person who reads this thread who'd know who that would be) and I'm trying to arrange it.

Now THAT conversation could go on forever and my list of questions would be enormous.

I doubt there is anyone here, like me, who's a big enough fan to want to talk to Laura, but if there is, a donation to a specific charity will get you one and anyone who donates $20 gets an autographed photo. I'm not an autograph guy and she's probably my 2nd favorite female reality show contestant (MTV-Challenges, Big Brother, Survivor and TAR are the only ones I watch), so it was worth a larger donation to get to speak with her and just a huge bonus to get insight into the race and how things work behind the scenes.

She's super sweet, but if you ever bump into her, don't ask her if she's going to date/marry/get engaged to/have a baby with Tyler or that you're a fan of Hayley and if you want to score some points with her, give her some pink starburts-she loves them.