Their giddy up might have got up and went, but Pierre Cadieux and Jamie Cumberland held on to their cowboy ways until the very end.
The second episode of The Amazing Race Canada saw the best friends from Alberta eliminated at the end of the Vancouver leg. And although they started their last day on the reality series more than three hours behind the front-runners, the pair never slowed down.
"It's the cowboy way: at the end of the day, you don't give up," Cadieux says over the phone from Toronto, where the pair is making the media rounds. "You might get bucked off, but you get right back on."
Where did their race go so wrong? As Cumberland points out, it wasn't during Monday's episode. Rather, look to the premiere for the roots of their downfall. In Kelowna, teams were told to scan the waters of Lake Okanagan for the legendary Ogopogo.
"I was looking for a sea monster. I wasn't looking for a diving platform," Cumberland says. "I thought it was an old houseboat. That was what our critical error was. When we started out this leg, we were just three and a half hours behind everybody. You don't know how frustrating that was, to sit and the airport and just wait while you knew all the other teams were racing around."
Jamie, left, and Pierre share a high five at the Richmond Olympic Oval.
Still, the duo thought there was a shot at moving out of last place. Cumberland, 47, performed the speedskating task at the Richmond Olympic Oval in no time flat.
"Jamie just completely knocked that Road Block out of the park and that completely boosted our spirits. We knew we could actually be back in this if other people struggle," Cadieux says.
But they couldn't make up the time. The Detour challenge slowed them down as well, as the cowboys started one task (calligraphy) before switching to another (lion dance). And to clear something up, that decision to visit the bank machine before hitting the airport in Kelowna had nothing to do with the team's ousting, editing to the contrary.
"There was absolutely no problem with the bank machine. I am a banker for crying out loud," says Cadieux, who works for ATB in Red Deer. He estimates the side trip took an extra two minutes on the trip to the airport.
Jamie Cumberland, left, and teammate Pierre Cadieux practice their calligraphy during a Detour task on The Amazing Race Canada.
The cowboys watched Monday's episode in Toronto with fellow racers "the twins" (Treena Ley and Tennille Dorrington), and "the dudes" (Jet Black and Dave Schram). The three teams formed an alliance during the first leg of the race. So while there are no regrets on the friendships they made on the show, Cadieux would have done some things differently before crossing that start line in Niagara Falls.
"I wish I had worked out more," the 38-year-old says. "I wish Jamie and I had gone and navigated together. We just thought, 'We're best friends. I'll just tell you where to go.' That didn't work so well."
Cumberland, who lives in Airdrie and works in Calgary, says the time spent on the show strengthened an already solid friendship. The two met at a fundraising dance for the Alberta Rockies Gay Rodeo Association 15 years ago. The longtime fans of The Amazing Race would do it all again in a heartbeat.
Cadieux says he's proud of the race he and Cumberland ran, despite their elimination.
"I hope my kids see that it doesn't matter -- win, lose or draw -- you give it everything you haveDo it and do it all the way. You might not be the best at it, but do it all the way."
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