Pittsburgh native out of 'The Amazing Race' but cherishes memories and lessons learned

Pittsburgh native Becca Droz and her teammate Floyd Pierce, aka “Team Fun,” made it to episode 10 of the CBS reality show CBS’ “The Amazing Race” but were knocked out Wednesday night.

That is, they didn’t win the $1 million for the around-the-world adventure.

But what they did receive or, rather, earned, were some first-place wins, some cash but, mainly, some great, life-changing experiences.

The craziest feat for Droz, 29, a 2008 graduate of Taylor Allderdice High School in Squirrel Hill and currently an entrepreneur and rock climbing instructor in Boulder, Colo., was the rope swing, some 400 feet above the Gletscherschlucht glacier gorge in Switzerland.

Droz answered some questions from the Tribune-Review via email Thursday.

For this mountain climber, the surprisingly most difficult task was biking the countryside of the Netherlands, while the easiest was pole vaulting across a moat in one of her foreign country adventures. Take your pick as Team Fun competed in “The Amazing Race” episodes this season in the Netherlands, Tokyo, Laos, Vietnam, Dubai, Uganda and Croatia.

Although this was Team Fun’s second time competing on the CBS reality show, there was much to learn.

Droz admittedly is competitive, but said, “even if I have a plan to keep my cool, when I’m in the moment, it’s hard for me to see a greater perspective.

“Processing with my brother has helped me realize how we are most effective and make the best decisions when we come from a place of calm,” she said.

Her teammate Pierce can tap into that calm “better than me,” Droz said. “But still, when we get into survival mode, we both lose perspective,” she said.

“The Amazing Race” was a pressure cooker for Droz.

She often operates from “the frame of mind that self-reliance and independent strength is really important, but this season I learned more about how much stronger we are when we are working cohesively as a team, asking for help when we need it and also working with others,” Droz said.

However, there are limits: One should not just “blindly trust other people just because they look confident.”

Droz and Pierce plan to spread their fun energy through speaking engagements to “peel back the layers of how two very different people can work together as an effective team.”

Becca’s parents, Cathy and Dan Droz, still reside in Pittsburgh.

Dan Droz, said of his daughter’s adventures, “Cathy and I are so proud of Becca, not only for the success she’s had on The Amazing Race, but in the way she related to all those with whom she had contact, from her competing teams to the cab drivers who shuttled them in far away places.

“Winning a million dollars would certainly have been great, but being able to hold your head high with grace and empathy is what really matters,” he said.

Watch Team Fun: Outtake 1: Interview in Dubai and Cab ride in Uganda.