Roadblock

"A Roadblock is a task that only one team member may perform."



Before heading into a Roadblock, teams read a vague clue about the task to come, e.g., "Who's really hungry?" (for an ostrich-egg eating challenge), or "Who wants to get down and dirty?" (for a task involving making mud bricks). Often, a team may figure out the specific task by observing their surroundings, using common sense, or even seeing other teams already performing the Roadblock task. They then must decide which team member would be best suited to complete it. Once a choice has been made, the teammates cannot switch roles. For the first three seasons of the race, Roadblocks came after a Detour in every leg. A Roadblock is featured (although, in some episodes, not aired) in every leg except the first one. In Season 1, even the first leg had a Roadblock, but it was not originally aired; it was, however, included as an extra in the DVD release. Season 10 became the first season to have and air a Roadblock on Leg 1.

Teammate Participation
Unless the clue indicates otherwise, the other teammate(s) cannot assist in the task though they may verbally offer advice and encouragement, usually standing in a designated area off to the side. In a select few Roadblocks, the team member that did not opt to do it may be required to participate; for example, in Season 1, one Roadblock required the selected team member to ride a camel, while the other team member was forced to walk along aside it to the next clue box. A similar arrangement occurred in the final Roadblock in Season 10, where while the selected member sky dived out of a plane, the other member was treated to a "surprise" nosedive of the plane itself after the start of the sky dive. The participating team members from other teams are able to help each other, however, unless otherwise indicated by the clue.

The "Six-Roadblock Rule"
Beginning in Season 6, each team member may complete a maximum of only six Roadblocks throughout the entire race. Since there are normally twelve Roadblocks in the Race, this rule forces each team to split the Roadblocks equally between the two members (unless a team uses a Fast Forward to skip one Roadblock, in which case the split can be 6-5). Many speculate that this rule was enacted because the males in male-female teams would perform the majority of the tasks, such as in Season 5 where the final three teams were all male-female Roadblocks with roadblock records of 11-1 or 10-1. While this Roadblock rule has not been specifically mentioned in some later seasons, team behavior and statements (such as Eric in All-Stars) imply that it still applies.

Variations
The six-Roadblock limit was dropped for only Season 8 due to the teams being four-person families. Additionally, that season's four-member-team format required some Roadblocks to be completed by two people. Season 10 had 13 Roadblocks; therefore, the maximum for each team member was increased to seven.

In Season 17 the Roadblocks could be split at 7-5. Jill & Thomas and Brook & Claire both split like that and didn't receive any penalties.