Anyone fancy a goodbye 2009 challenge?

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mps247
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Anyone fancy a goodbye 2009 challenge?

Post by mps247 »

At the risk of incurring Neil's wrath by posting this two months early (my original plan was to post this in the middle of November, but a sudden stroke of inspiration means I should post it sooner for discussion - this will become clear towards the end of the post), would anybody be interested in a goodbye 2009 challenge? I was thinking about either Tuesday 29 December or Wednesday 30 December, and seeing as this is the time between Christmas and New Year, I am hoping that more people might be free on these dates.

The only engineering works planned for these two days are between Queen's Park and Stonebridge Park on the Bakerloo line (although this situation might change). This leaves a number of possible challenges that could be attempted.

I was thinking that the Parks Challenge might be a good candidate if we start at either Stonebridge Park or Queen's Park. I know that the Christmas Parks Challenge is typically held before Christmas, but seeing as Christmas Day is the first day of Christmas, why not have it take place on the 5th or 6th day instead?

Another possibility is Points of the Compass, which hasn't been attempted for a long time. We could start at Dagenham East or South Woodford this time.

Alternatively, I have a suggestion for a new challenge, which was inspired in part by Matt's suggestion of the Rotherhithe-Wapping anti-zone 1 challenge (which we should try at some point too!), where windsurfing across the Thames unfortunately is prohibited anywhere East of Tower Bridge. For want of a better name, I call it the Countryside Challenge, where a participant must visit every station containing the words Bois, Elm, Farm, Hill, Moor, Oak, Vale, Valley, Water or Wood. In other words, the following stations, with zones written in brackets:

De nombreux groupes d'arbres (1 station): Theydon BOIS (6)

Elms (1 station): ELM Park (6)

Farms (1 station): Chalk FARM (2)

Hills (10 stations): Buckhurst HILL (5), Dollis HILL (3), Gants HILL (4), Grange HILL (4), Harrow-on-the-HILL (5), Mill HILL East (4), Northwood HILLS (6), Notting HILL Gate (1/2), Sudbury HILL (4), Tower HILL (1)

Moors (1 station): MOOR Park (6/7)

Oaks (2 stations): Burnt OAK (4), Royal OAK (2)

Vales (1 station): Maida VALE (2)

Valleys (1 station): Roding VALLEY (4)

Waters (1 station): Canada WATER (2)

Woods (4 stations): Colliers WOOD (3), St. John's WOOD (2), WOOD Green (3), WOOD Lane (2)

This is a relatively small number of stations (23), so although they are quite well spread out, it might not be such an interesting challenge. So I propose an additional quirk. Tower Hill is the only zone 1 station, which got me thinking that if this is known as the Countryside Challenge, it should be an anti-zone 1 challenge. By this I mean, all participants start at Tower Hill in zone 1. Once you leave zone 1 you may not return. In the case of Notting Hill Gate, this means that should you decide not to visit this station first, you can only arrive at it on an Eastbound Central line train, or depart from it on a Westbound Central line train (or both should you decide to double-back there).

You may use a bus to traverse parts of zone 1, however you cannot use the bus within the congestion charge area. As for cars, this excludes Westway, Edgware Road, Park Lane, Grosvenor Place and Vauxhall Bridge Road. You can, of course, run across it if you feel it will make things easier.

So I thought it best to post earlier than I originally intended to provoke some sort of discussion as to any problems or suggestions, and to generally judge the mood this suggestion induces, whether it be disgust or delight.
Last edited by mps247 on 08 Oct 2009, 23:09, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: Anyone fancy a goodbye 2009 challenge?

Post by tubeguru »

mps247 wrote:At the risk of incurring Neil's wrath by posting this
mps247 wrote:Boi (1 station): Theydon BOIS (6)
Yes, my wrath is activated by your misuse of the French word "Bois". You have attempted to make it singular by removing the 's' from the end. The word "bois" means "wood" (as in a group of trees). This is the singular form of the word and by removing the 's' you have rendered it meaningless.
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Re: Anyone fancy a goodbye 2009 challenge?

Post by Going Underground »

Hi Hassan

There is no reason that the Park Challenge couldn't be held on 29th or 30th Dec... At this moment in time I have no idea which date I could personally make. As we had to abort last year the plan for 2009 was to start again from ELM PARK.....

Also liking the Countryside challenge and the idea of not returning to zone 1....
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Re: Anyone fancy a goodbye 2009 challenge?

Post by mps247 »

tubeguru wrote:
mps247 wrote:At the risk of incurring Neil's wrath by posting this
mps247 wrote:Boi (1 station): Theydon BOIS (6)
Yes, my wrath is activated by your misuse of the French word "Bois". You have attempted to make it singular by removing the 's' from the end. The word "bois" means "wood" (as in a group of trees). This is the singular form of the word and by removing the 's' you have rendered it meaningless.
Ah! I actually intended to make it plural by removing the 's' from the end, as in many groups of trees. I think that this is the way you form the plural: le bois ---> les boi...
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Re: Anyone fancy a goodbye 2009 challenge?

Post by mps247 »

Going Underground wrote:Hi Hassan

There is no reason that the Park Challenge couldn't be held on 29th or 30th Dec... At this moment in time I have no idea which date I could personally make. As we had to abort last year the plan for 2009 was to start again from ELM PARK.....

Also liking the Countryside challenge and the idea of not returning to zone 1....
Oh yes, of course, I don't expect anybody to know for sure what they are doing on those two dates. All I know is that I will be in London and it is likely that I can keep both dates free. I posted a little too early to avoid making two topics.

Starting at Elm Park would be fine. I suggested Stonebridge Park or Queen's Park due to engineering works between these two stations, but any starting station is fine.

Glad somebody liked the countryside anti-zone 1 theme!
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Re: Anyone fancy a goodbye 2009 challenge?

Post by tubeguru »

The plural of "bois" is "bois", in much the same way as we have "sheep" and "sheep".

I suggest you try the folloowing: "de nombreux groupes d'arbres", or "many groups of trees".
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Re: Anyone fancy a goodbye 2009 challenge?

Post by mps247 »

tubeguru wrote:The plural of "bois" is "bois", in much the same way as we have "sheep" and "sheep".

I suggest you try the folloowing: "de nombreux groupes d'arbres", or "many groups of trees".
Duly noted and editted!
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Re: Anyone fancy a goodbye 2009 challenge?

Post by Mitchell&BrownLook »

I have to say that I liked the Countryside challenge as soon as I read it, only to then go onto read the Tower Hill Twist which means that I love the idea! I did once in my head come up with a similar idea, the Horticultural Challenge, however I soon discovered that the Parks challenge already existed and if all stations with even a tenuous gardening theme were to be considered it would be a very long challenge, begging the question, why not just go for the GWR? Thus Hassan's idea works for me, as it has lots of variation yet not a vast number of target stations and is also quite a mental workout thanks to the Tower Hill Twist. My only slight concern was that there may be a lack of trains or coaches to London on the suggested dates, however I've done a quick search and it seems that timetables are as per normal. (Well that's as normal as National Rail gets.)

Although some quarters of the forum may say that there are too many "alternative challenges", I think the Countryside Challenge with Tower Hill Twist and the Anti Zone 1 challenge have more merits than demerits and should definitely be considered to join the Olympic programme. (He types the day before the International Olympic Committee convene to decide if Golf and/or Rugby Sevens should join the 2016 summer programme!) However if I'm in the minority on this, (which I hope I'm not), then providing a challenge goes ahead between Christmas and New Year then it should be one which either has only been attempted on a few occasions or simply not for a very long time.
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Re: Anyone fancy a goodbye 2009 challenge?

Post by tubeguru »

mps247 wrote:
tubeguru wrote:The plural of "bois" is "bois", in much the same way as we have "sheep" and "sheep".

I suggest you try the folloowing: "de nombreux groupes d'arbres", or "many groups of trees".
Duly noted and editted!
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Re: Anyone fancy a goodbye 2009 challenge?

Post by jbom1 »

If the OAKs are included, then ELM Park is unlucky to miss out. I assume the two FIELDS (both points of the compass) were excluded because their names are rendered as single words?

I once had a similar idea regarding stations with colours in their names.
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Re: Anyone fancy a goodbye 2009 challenge?

Post by tubeguru »

You could quite feasibly include anything to this if you started expanding ...
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Re: Anyone fancy a goodbye 2009 challenge?

Post by mps247 »

Mitchell&BrownLook wrote:My only slight concern was that there may be a lack of trains or coaches to London on the suggested dates, however I've done a quick search and it seems that timetables are as per normal. (Well that's as normal as National Rail gets.)
That's good news - I wasn't sure what public transport would be like between Christmas and New Year. Seems like it's business as usual, which makes it easier for people to attend should they wish to.

I'm pretty keen on doing a challenge of some sort on one of these two days - a challenge that doesn't often take place like Parks or Points of a Compass. Or even this one!
jbom1 wrote:If the OAKs are included, then ELM Park is unlucky to miss out. I assume the two FIELDS (both points of the compass) were excluded because their names are rendered as single words?
I knew I'd probably missed a few - my search method was staring at the tube map for 15 minutes, so there may be others I have missed. I've added Elm Park to the list - it's a nice addition as there are now four stations close to the extremeties of each line and are in the middle of nowhere, implying four possible places to end your route.

Yes, Northfields and Southfields weren't included for the reason you give. Their inclusion would have led to, for example, Moorgate and Chorleywood being included too among others, which would have increased the number of stations quite dramatically. The inclusion of Moorgate would be especially problematic as it's really an anti-zone 1 challenge.
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Re: Anyone fancy a goodbye 2009 challenge?

Post by greatkingrat »

Do you mean this one Kev?
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Re: Anyone fancy a goodbye 2009 challenge?

Post by palkanetoijala31 »

Well i like doing the park challenge but up for any of those days a possible challenge whatever it may be
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Re: Anyone fancy a goodbye 2009 challenge?

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greatkingrat wrote:Do you mean this one Kev?
That's it Peter thanks....
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