Yuku free message boards

Written by Brad:

Why the F&#@ did we get on that plane!?!?!?
Seems to be the question of the day, so let me clarify for any of those who are interested.

Let me preface this by saying to to all the know-it-alls who are sure if it was THEM, would have certainly known not to get on that plane/get another flight when it was delayed/worked harder to find a different connecting flight/sprouted wings and flew themselves to Bucharest...but every racer will tell you that it's WAY different when you are out there by yourself/don't know who is in front of or behind you/don't know what kind of challeneg is coming up next/don't know which team has which info/don't know if a big bunching is ahead or if every minute counts.

Why didn't we do like Kris & Amanda and just hustle and try to make the 4:45 flight that they ultimately made? They were able to find a little shortcut to the airport that just barely allowed them to get on that flight. We didn't have that information. Munich is a big airport and we were assured by several people by the time we arrived at the ticket counter, there was NO possible way we could make it, so why run all the way to the gate, miss the flight and then not hve neough time to get on our 2nd choice. Yeah, but what IF we had traveled to Munich with Kris & Amanda? - we would have gotten the same short cut and could've gotten on the same plane...what about that? Well, all I can say is IF my aunt had balls, she'd be my uncle. Also, see point#1 above.

Vic and I realized that one good guideline to follow would be to never get on a plane by ourselves...too many bad things can happen (mechanical problems, weather, missed connections etc). If there is at least one other team on the plane, then even if there are problems, you have a 50/60 (inside joke) chance of beating the other team in a foot race. But, no offense intended to Steve & Linda, but after they were out, there wasn't a single team we could count on beating if it came to a footrace due to Vic's hip/foot problems which were severely aggravated by the run down the mountain at Ruhpolding. (It hurt her bad enough that she will be having surgery this summer to repair the damage). So much for dragging a weaker team along to beat to the finish - in that respect, we were the weakest team and we knew it.So why did we take such a big risk just to get a 15 minute lead (based on arrival times)?

...a bit of background: On the first leg, on the train to Locarno, Vic & I managed to get explicit directions to the Piazza St Antonio - information that no one else except Jodi & Christie had. We got off the train and tried to sneak away from the pack, but when they saw us walking purposefully away, they knew we knew something and followed us. They then were able to simply yell "St Antonio?" to bystanders who would then point the way. They were able to do this at a full run and beat me and Vic to the checkpoint, even though we were the only ones in the group who knew exactly where to go. Everytime we were with the group, and they saw us in an extended conversation with a local, it was pretty obvious we had information and the choice was either to lie and suffer the consequences of being found out later, or share and give away our competitive advantage. I tend to be pretty good at geting information from folks and getting them to help us, but we had to get away from the group to be able to fully exploit this advantage. Even though the flight we took was only 15 minutes faster, it did serve to seperate us from the pack where we felt more comfortable travelling on our own.

In addition, we had no idea until we go to the gate that other teams that had left before us wouldn't be there. The way the deal works is this: you get one flight in hand, and then try to improve your position. We would have felt stupid as hell if we learned of that Amsterdam connection and then declined it, only to find out 2 or 3 teams had taken it, perhaps enabling them to get an earlier train and perhaps enabling them to open up a big lead on us. Once we show up at the gate and see no other teams there, were we supposed to schlep all the way back to the ticket counter, maybe only to find out that our back-up flight was now sold out and then try to get back on the original flight, only to find out that it had left, and then ultimately get on an even later flight? Where does it stop?!?!

When you see it on screen, it all looks very simple, but when you're in the middle of it, you make the best decision you can and then stick with it unless you have some VERY definite evidence to the contrary. So you take the best info you have, which sometimes is not much, and do the best you can with it. You can woulda/coulda/shoulda all night long, but in the end, every stupid thing I've ever done...seemed like a good idea at the time.

Brad and I are sad because we know we could have made it to the final mat on our own merit. And sad because we did not realize how much LOVE we were going to get, "especially" at Sucks, haha. I think we broke a record...first team to have no smacktalk! The worst thing I read was that I "must be older cuz I wear high waisted pants". LOL! T'weren't no higher than any others'. My head went like this, "oh yeeeah? I'll show you!" and I wanted to slap up a racy photo with NO pants, which I am still tempted to do, cuz I'm like that.