Ericka Dunlap and Brian Kleinschmidt avoid 'The Amazing Race' exit

Ericka Dunlap and Brian Kleinschmidt chose public transportation over a taxi and eventually had a cab stolen from them by another team, all but ending their The Amazing Race journey.


However the married couple from Nashville, TN was able to avoid elimination as they encountered the fifteenth season's third non-elimination leg during last night's broadcast of the CBS reality series.

Instead of being booted, Brian and Ericka will get to continue in the race's eleventh leg but will have to overcome a Speed Bump, a special task that only they will have to complete.

"We've overcome much more than a little Speed Bump on this race," said Brian. "I still think you can win by playing fair, and we're going to prove that to people."

The Amazing Race's ninth fifteenth-season episode began at the previous Pit Stop at Keava Rada Overlook Tower in Estonia.


Since "Dating Couple" Meghan Rickey and Cheyne Whitney were the first team to arrive at the Pit Stop, they were the first team to depart at 12AM.

They opened their clue, which instructed them to fly over 700 miles to Prague, Czech Republic. Once there, they had to make their way to Staromestske namesti, the old town square, and locate a man in a Praga. To find him, teams had to figure out that a Praga is a vintage Czech convertible. In addition, the teams received no money for this leg of the race.

Meghan and Cheyne were followed by "Brothers" Daniel and Samuel McMillen (12:19AM), "Teammates" Herbert "Flight Time" Lang and Nathaniel "The Big Easy" Lofton (12:20AM), and Brian and Ericka (12:22AM).

All four teams were able to book the same 5:20AM Air Baltic flight to Prague connecting through Riga. Once they arrived, Meghan and Cheyne, Sam and Dan and Flight Time and Big Easy all hailed taxis, however Brian and Ericka decided to take the subway.

"Somebody on the airplane said this is the fastest way to get to the old city center, so we're taking the bus to the subway, the subway to the old city center," explained Brian. "We're kind of taking a gamble, but we hope it pays off."


Meghan and Cheyne were the first to spot the Praga and they were followed by Sam and Dan -- who had no idea what a Praga was but luckily saw Meghan and Cheyne correctly identify it. Both teams ripped open the clue, which instructed them to travel to outdoor adventure center Kayaky Troja.

Flight Time and Big Easy also spotted the car and received their next clue, as Brian and Ericka were stuck in traffic on the bus. They eventually decided to hop off and grab a cab.

"The gamble, I don't think it was worth it," said Brian. "I'm not blaming her, I'm not blaming the people that gave us the advice."

Meghan and Cheyne and Sam and Dan were the first to arrive at Kayaky Troja and were met by a Detour, where they had to choose between "Fast & Furious" or "Slow & Steady."

In "Fast & Furious," teams had to take a rough ride down a manmade whitewater rafting course used to train professional kayakers. As they made their way through the rapids, they had to grab a ribbon which had their next clue written on it. If they tipped over before reaching the clue, they would have to brave the turbulent rapids again until they succeeded.


In "Slow & Steady," teams had to pull themselves along a grueling aerial ropes course suspended above the rapids. When they reached the end of their rope, each team member would receive their next clue.

Meghan and Cheyne decided to play it safe and pick "Slow & Steady," while Sam and Dan thought they'd take a chance and try "Fast & Furious." Flight Time and Big Easy arrived shortly thereafter and also chose "Slow & Steady."

Sam and Dan's gamble didn't pay off, as they bickered about what was the best approach and flipped over several time while trying to navigate the rapids.

"As always, whenever we're doing something and it's not going well we're going to accuse the other of not doing it right," explained Sam. "Just blame each other and bicker about it."

Meghan and Cheyne and Flight Time and Big Easy eventually completed "Slow & Steady," but not before Cheyne accused Flight Time of purposely taking his time getting down to slow them up and allow Big Easy to make it across the rope course.


"That was a good strategy even though I wasn't thinking about it until you told me to take my time," Flight Time told Meghan. "I don't play like that."

Meghan apologized and the two teams read their next clue -- Stavovske Divaldo -- and they had to figure out that it referred to their next destination, Prague's Estates Theater. Meghan and Cheyne asked a local how to get there and learned a tram would be fast, so they decided to go -- but not before Meghan invited the Globetrotters.

"We know what we're doing!" she yelled at them, which annoyed Cheyne.

"Why would you want to tell them that?" he asked her, however it apparently wouldn't have mattered.

"We were going to follow them anyway so when she invited us to help it was like, 'Cool,'" said Big Easy.


While waiting for the tram Cheyne decided to hail the first cab he saw and left Flight Time and Big Easy on the platform. Meghan accused Cheyne of being "really rude."

"I'm trying to win this race babe," he argued. "I saw a taxi coming, they could have just as easily grabbed it."

"I understand that Cheyne," she replied. "But there's not reason to be rude in that situation. There's no reason. You just left them there."

"This isn't a frickin' hold-your-hand game!" countered Cheyne. "We left them there? Are you kidding?"

"We said we were going to work with them, and then we just left them," she said.

"That is ridiculous," said Cheyne. "If you're saying that at this point in the game, that's absolutely ridiculous. If you don't agree, where's your competitive spirit."


"They're going to be on a mission to mess with you," warned Meghan.

Sam and Dan decided to switch to "Slow & Steady" just as Brian and Ericka arrived and chose the same Detour task. Sam and Dan were able to complete the rope course before Brian and Ericka but couldn't find a cab to take them to the theater -- so they decided to try and steal Brian and Ericka's, offering the driver more money.

"Let this be some motivation. The brothers are trying to steal our taxi right now," Brian yelled at Ericka, hoping to get her across the course faster.

"You're ours!" yelled Ericka at the driver. "Don't you dare! You better wait!"

However the driver didn't listen and instead took Sam and Dan, who were aware Brian and Ericka would be unhappy. They were right, as Ericka subsequently stated in a confessional that "the fire was definitely lit."

"They just proved that they are jerks for doing that," she said. "It's go time. I'm going for the jugular. We're not working with anybody, ever, anymore. It's over."


Meghan and Cheyne were the first to arrive at the estate, where they were met by a Roadblock.I n it, one team member had to search among the historic theater's 600 seats to find a tiny mandolin, a miniature version of the instrument played by Don Giovanni in the famous opera that premiered there in 1787. Once they found one, they had to bring it onstage to Don Giovanni himself who would give them their next clue.

Cheyne decided to do the Roadblock, followed by Big Easy once the Globetrotters arrived shortly thereafter. Both searched throughout the theater looking for the little mandolin. Sam and Dan also arrived, with Dan undertaking the task.

Cheyne was the first to find a tiny mandolin and received the next clue, which told them to travel by taxi across town to Prague Castle, the largest ancient castle in the world. Meghan and Cheyne were the first team to reach the Pit Stop and won a trip for two to Hawaii.

Brian and Ericka arrived at the Roadblock and he tapped her to do it despite the fact that the clue asked who could work best "under pressure."

"You think I can?" said a surprised Ericka.

"You can do it," he assured her.


Dan was able to find the next tiny mandolin, and he and Sam ran into Brian and Ericka on their way out -- but there was not contact.

"It was kind of cowardly that they didn't even look or apologize," said Brian.

"No words were exchanged and I definitely avoided eye contact," said Sam in a confessional.

Sam and Dan were the second team to reach the Pit Stop, followed by Big Easy and Flight Time in third. Ericka was the last to find one of the tiny mandolins and they traveled to the Pit Stop aware they were in last.

"We had a tough morning," Brian told host Phil Keoghan.

"Have you enjoyed the race?" asked Phil.


"It's been a blast," answered Brian. "We've had an angel almost every single day. It's been good."

"Well you have one more angel," said Phil. "This is a non-elimination leg."

"This is a huge second chance for us," replied Brian.

The Amazing Race's next fifteenth-season episode will air Sunday, November 29 at 8PM ET/PT on CBS.






About The Author: Christopher Rocchio