Tube Olympics 2010 - Event 5 - R15 (Round 4) - 27FEB

[Soup Dragon]

I presume the clock starts when the envelopes are opened - does the clock stop when the doors open at the last station? Or when I set foot on the platform? (I've seen both of these mentioned before).

Everyone starts their watch at the same time, if possible we try and do this promptly at 1300 GMT. Then we proceed to open the envelopes and check the stations as soon as the watch is running.

You also talked about an alternative pub if you couldn't get access to the dartboard at the Horse and Groom - what will this likely be?

We would wait for all competitors to arrive at the Horse & Groom before moving on, there are several other Sam Smiths pubs nearby that we have used in the past and there are still some left that we haven't been banned from


A couple of important things to remember...
You can visit the 15 stations in any order you like, you don't have to visit them strictly in the the order printed. However you do have to depart Canada Water by Tube as your first station, you couldn't leave by DLR or Bus for example and then try and visit Canada Water later by tube.

Be careful to read the stations carefully as there are 4 stations which are line specific:
Hammersmith (DIS & PIC) and Hammersmith (H&C & CIR) are two stations
Paddington (H&C) and Paddington (CIR, DIS, BAK) are two stations
Edgware Road (CIR, H&C, DIS) and Edgware Road (BAK) are two stations
Shepherds Bush (CEN) and Shepherds Bush Market (H&C & CIR) are two stations

Make sure you adhere to these rules and visit the correct station should it come out.
A couple of people have come unstuck in the past... i.e. visiting the wrong Paddington.

[Sam]

The morons! Why don't TfL and NR talk to each other, Walthamstow is effectively cut off from the trains this weekend with both the Victoria and NXEA CHI-LST route not running!

Oh well, there is always the good old GOBLIN....Hang on, with Archway closed that mucks up the Upper Holloway- Archway interchange. I give up....

How about Leyton to Stratford then Jubilee to Canada Water....

[greatkingrat]

The Chingford line is only closed on the Sunday morning so will be fine on Saturday.

[jonny]

Woe betide those who attempt to excuse themselves from these events...

[Steeevooo]

My football match tomorrow has just been called off, so I shall break my purity and do my first alternative challenge
Would rather team up with somebody, but can sort all that out tomorrow if needs be - see you there!

Entrants:
Soup Dragon
GU
Tangy
Mitchell&BrownLook
edgemaster
mps247
Al
JoeGJ1984
greatkingrat
Starkey
sarawearn
palkanetoijala31
Steeevooo

[tangy]

The Chingford line is only closed on the Sunday morning so will be fine on Saturday.

That will teach me to just glance at the engineering works poster at the station without fully reading it!! I just noted the CHI line highlighted in red and automatically thought it was closed all weekend!

At least that will make my way back from OXC, after the darts, easier (via LST).

[RichieG]

Do NOT use Oyster for, well any challenge (unless it's a free one). They time out very easily, for example, a passenger travelling to Imperial Wharf from Stratford changing at Willesden Junction often end up getting timed out(!) so I dread to think how it would cope with a challenge....

I actually did manage to do a R15 with an Oyster card. It was however the really simple and short one (the Aldwych one I believe), and I did have a couple of street-level changes in it. So it's possible, just not reccomended!

[jonny]

Are time outs still a hazard if you're on a travelcard?

I have a monthly Z1-2 travelcard, so as long as I remain within zones 1 and 2 tomorrow will I be 'invincible'? Or not?

[greatkingrat]

Yes, as long as you stay within your zones you can do whatever you like without any problems.

[Soup Dragon]

The results of the R15 are as follows:

1. 1:57:53 Al Brown (E.Putney)
2. 2:01:13 Kevin Brown (J) & Steve Wilson (J) (E.Putney)
3. 2:15:02 Tom Wood (E.Putney)
4. 2:15:40 Jamie Brown (J) & Ryan Brown (J) (Edgware Rd.)
5. 2:23:17 Philip Brown (J) , Hassan Chagani (J) & Max Laverack (J) (E.Putney)
5. 2:23:17 Andi James (J) & Sara Wearn (E.Putney)
5. 2:23:17 Antony Brown & John Stark (E.Putney)
5. 2:23:17 Martin Hazel (E.Putney)
5. 2:23:17 Peter Smythe (E.Putney)
10. 2:44:48 Jonny Lyon & Becky Hemsley (Ravenscourt Park)
11. 2:46:31 Joe Grocott-James (East Putney)

[Sam]

What were the stations?

[Going Underground]

The stations drawn were Paddington(H & C), Ravenscourt Park, Bank, Royal Oak, KXSP, Holloway Road, Edgware Road(H & C, Circle, District), Green Park, East Putney, Moorgate, Fulham Broadway (Chelski at home ) Piccadilly Circus, Kentish Town & Camden Town...

Most teams head the same starting ideas and were almost all together until Kentish Town, a few more teams said goodbye on an absoultely crammed Picc line train at Green Park and Steeevoo & Kev saw the last 2 teams that were with us change at Earls Court...

Our route was porobably a little longer tham some but with less interchanges and the longest wait only being approx 3 mins for an H & C out of Hammersmith... All other connections were under 1 minute so the Joker's came out and we had the other team cooked apart from Al who gets a big caps off for breaking the 2 hour barrier...

If my maths are correct knowing the particpants for the Nordic Combined on Tuesday then Al is assured of at least joint top spot in the overall Winter Olympics

[Edgemaster]

How did I make 3rd after my awful Kentish Town/Holloway Road gambit?

[JoeGJ1984]

This was my first tube challenge and I enjoyed it. I came down by train and back on the same day - got into Marylebone station at 12.15, took the tubes to Canada Water for the start.

I started on the first westbound train out of Canada Water, changed at London Bridge onto the Northern Line, then went through Moorgate and Bank to Kings Cross St Pancras. I was on an Edgware train, so decided not to stay on as I would have to change for Kentish Town, so changed onto the Piccadilly Line to Holloway Road, then I decided to look if I could find a bus to Kentish Town. Went to street level, saw there was a bus that did go to Kentish Town, waited for a bit but no bus came so gave up (I wasn't about to do it on foot, as the distance looked too long), so gave up and took the Piccadilly Line back to Kings Cross (I had to squeeze onto the train; it was very crowded at this point) and when I reached King's Cross, the exit passage was a mass of people. Managed to get past, changed onto the Northern Line to Camden Town to the High Barnet branch and went to Kentish Town. Went back down to Leicester Square (no change needed at Camden Town), changed onto the Piccadilly Line, went through Piccadilly Circus and Green Park to Earl's Court. There I looked for a District Line train, either towards Fulham Broadway and East Putney or Ravenscourt Park. I saw no District Line trains heading westbound and the indicators said 3 or 4 minutes, so I decided to get on a C stock train I saw on the opposite platform and go up to Edgware Road. I then came down through Paddington and Royal Oak down to Hammersmith, then decided to walk/run to Ravenscourt Park rather than catch a train one station and have to double back. Found the distance longer that I thought - it started as a jog but ended up being a fast walk. I ran up the stairs at Ravenscourt Park after hearing a train, but it was on the wrong platform! (I'm sure everybody's had that). Anyway, had a bit of a wait for a District Line train back to Earl's Court, then finally changed for a Wimbledon train through Fulham Broadway to finish at East Putney. Then I took a District Line train to Paddington and a Bakerloo Line train to Regent's Park to get to the pub. Played some darts and then went home (arriving after midnight).

The stations that were drawn gave it an obvious start, at least until Kings Cross and (I didn't see) but assumed everybody was on the same train up until this point. I saw a couple of others leaving the train with me at London Bridge, but not after that.

Incidentally, when I was on the train down, they announced they were selling travelcards on the train, so I decided to buy one then to save some time. Bought a zones 1-4 travelcard and it cost £6.30. (This seems expensive. Should that be the price? It says Off-peak and says between London Terminals and London zones 1-4.)

[Soup Dragon]

How did I make 3rd after my awful Kentish Town/Holloway Road gambit?

At Earls Court we decided that it was best not to head down to East Putney as the return journey would put us at Fulham Broadway around the time of the Chelsea match finishing. Instead we jumped straight on a Richmond train to double back Ravenscourt Park. A quick check on the live departure boards revealed that the next District line back to Hammersmith was still at Ealing Broadway, so we ran all the way back to Hammersmith. An 8 minute wait there followed by another 8 minutes or so at Edgware Road put us well behind the leaders. The R15 table is now very tight at the top and if my sums are correct eight competitors are still in contention for the title.