16/02/2012

Discuss the full Tube Challenge here
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tractakid
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16/02/2012

Post by tractakid »

So, the day started with a ridiculously early start, rolling out of bed at 09:10 in Milton Keynes. The day started with a narrow start, just made the 09:47 London Midland service into Euston. (to protect the route I used, times given will be vague).

Starting point was Euston armed with the almighty zones 1-6 travelcard!, chosen because it is the terminus farthest from the centre of London. From there, I travelled to Embankment, making a swift change to the district line, eastbound. One station later, disaster struck! I got completely lost. I looked at my tube map frantically, but it turned out I was holding a photo of last night's spaghetti bolognaise! I decided the best action to take was to go on the london eye, to get a birds eye view, perfect for recalculating my route. From there, it was clear to see my next step was to knock out the River Taxi branch of the Waterloo and City line. From the London Eye pier, I then knocked out the Embankment Pier, the Blackfriars Pier, etc all the way to the Greenwich pier. Quickly doubling back on the 14:43 Thames Clipper rolling stock, I alighted at the Tower pier, dashing quickly over the Millenium Bridge (avoiding the sick), dodging my way through the Tent City and boarding an eastbound central line train at St. Paul's. From there it was onto Stratford, idiotically stopping for a snack break at the John Lewis viewing gallery over the olympic park. All was not lost however. On returning to the station, perfection occurred! Rolling into the station, the most delightful train appeared, Woodford via Hainault. The prospect of a perfect 'loop' gave me hope, that a completion, and quite possibly, a record time was achievable. Alas, no, a 5 minute delay occurred due to a train on platform 2 at Hainault. One can only assume the driver ate too many pot noodles, and got stuck in the driver's cab door due to being incredibly fat. It was at this point I lost hope, I decided achieving a record time was impossible, and a completion was doubtful. Such a shame, the day started out with such promise. After the fat train driver chaos, the only other stations I managed to visit were Chancery Lane and Holborn, before WALKING from Holborn to Leicester Square (eating delicious noodles from the noodle bar opposite Leicester Square station in the meantime), before heading back up the way I started, the northern line to Euston, and then back to MK, arriving home around 22:00.

Tube -1.5 stats: Stations visited 31/270
Time taken ~10 hours
Projected time for 270/270: LOL

Yeah, the day wasn't about tube challenging, it was in fact my Dad's birthday trip to London, he wanted to do the Eye, get the river taxi, view a couple of sights etc. I did manage to persuade my family to travel round the Hainault loop with me, my dad understands how my brain works! :P The sick on the millenium footbridge was actually my fathers, not the highlight of the day! :/ Me and my sister took quite a few funny photographs, and there were lots of laughs. A good day.

The above story was certainly how I imagined the day went, though! It makes me excited for the potential of an eastertime attempt, I just need to get my butt in gear and actually plan it!
*insert boasting about notable tube accomplishments here*
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Sam
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Re: 16/02/2012

Post by Sam »

0910 ridiculously early start? Some people don't know how easy they have it :P I was up at 0250am for work! That's not early, that's still the night!

Anyway... :)
:D First and so far only female solo record holder!! :D

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perkyperky
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Re: 16/02/2012

Post by perkyperky »

I'm usually nearing the end of my shift by 0250, crawling in to bed by 0910, after I've dropped the kids off at school!
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tractakid
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Re: 16/02/2012

Post by tractakid »

You have to appreciate that this is half term week... Anything before midday is early!
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Steeevooo
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Re: 16/02/2012

Post by Steeevooo »

Wait until you join the real world!
perkyperky
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Re: 16/02/2012

Post by perkyperky »

Indeed. Half term means no sleep for nightshift people. Too many noisy kids. Grrrrr!
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tractakid
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Re: 16/02/2012

Post by tractakid »

On a usual schedule, on average, I get one lie in till half 10 every other week. Every other day I am up and out for school at 08:50 or music at 09:30 on a saturday. Making the most of holiday lie ins is one of the things I appreciate most. Back to routine monday, *sigh*.
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Starkey7
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Re: 16/02/2012

Post by Starkey7 »

Tractakid, that was a great post. One question: do you realise that the xx:05 off Milton Keynes gets you into Euston only a couple of minutes after the xx:47?
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tractakid
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Re: 16/02/2012

Post by tractakid »

But that's a whole tube train! When going for the record, every missed connection costs!

Haha.

No, I didn't know that, I let my parents organise the day. I shall tell them for future reference.
*insert boasting about notable tube accomplishments here*
palkanetoijala31

Re: 16/02/2012

Post by palkanetoijala31 »

tractakid wrote:But that's a whole tube train! When going for the record, every missed connection costs!

Haha.

No, I didn't know that, I let my parents organise the day. I shall tell them for future reference.
hmm u wont get the record until u start a little earlier than 9am
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tubeguru
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Re: 16/02/2012

Post by tubeguru »

Yeah, I think most people have worked that one out by now ...
One thing only do I know, and that is that I know nothing - Socrates.

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tractakid
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Re: 16/02/2012

Post by tractakid »

I'm not sure what comes before 8 in the morning, anyone care to explain? Does this mean to do the challenge I'll need to relearn the clock? Lol. If I did it id probably start as early as possible to maximise chance of a completion.
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tubeguru
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Re: 16/02/2012

Post by tubeguru »

You'll discover a domain only frequented by trai drivers and milkmen ...
One thing only do I know, and that is that I know nothing - Socrates.

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palkanetoijala31

Re: 16/02/2012

Post by palkanetoijala31 »

well in theroy the last train into upminster is 0133am so the latest u could presumably start would be just after 09.00am
in order to claim the record but then u leaving u chances to the drunken hours!
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tractakid
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Re: 16/02/2012

Post by tractakid »

Though the sound of a longer sleep is appealing, i'd value a completed network more. :D and there's not much chance of me being drunk either!
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