Random 15 Championship 2019/20: Round 1

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RJSRdg
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Re: Random 15 Championship 2019/20: Round 1

Post by RJSRdg »

Another not terribly successful challenge from me. I'd been in two minds about taking part at all given that some of my ankle problems had been flaring up again recently, but flushed with Thursday's success in the Mouse, I decided to give it a go. Unfortunately I managed to tread awkwardly on something on my way to the start, upsetting my other ankle, and also managed to demagnetise my Travelcard before the start!

A quick glance at the list at 12:30 showed a logical route to knock out the south of the river stations, so I caught the 12:33 from Waterloo (NR) with David and two others to Vauxhall, where I ran down the steps and halfway through the subway before I heard an announcement that the next train back to Waterloo would be going from Platform 2 - where I'd just come from! Back across and up and just had time to jump on the train, but in the rear unit and the connection between the two was locked. Back to Waterloo, down to Waterloo (LU) and across on the Jubilee (I think I may have taken a slightly long route to the barriers here), across to Canada Water. From there, on to the C10 round to Doubletree Pier and through the hotel just in time to see the ferry depart (so a 15 minute wait). Across to Canary Wharf Pier, and made my way to West India Quay, though the combination of my ankles, heat and stretch of cobbles deterred me from running it. Five minute wait here for a Stratford train to Poplar and another short wait for a Beckton to Canning Town, where I took the Jubilee Line and met Nick, indicating that I was already doing badly! Got the jump on Nick during the Stratford change (train just about to go), then via Dalston Kingsland to Highbury and Islington. Here I erred, firstly by accidentally exiting the barriers and having to wait to be tapped in, and secondly by choosing to catch a Victoria line train rather than waiting three minutes for a Northern City Line train. Up to Finsbury Park and on to the NR platforms, where I met Nozza and Little Miss Nozza and received the bad news that there was a 15 minute wait for the next train to King's Cross (had I caught the NCL train, that would have used the NR platforms and I could have travelled back to KX on the Victoria). By the time the KX train arrived, Nick had caught up, as had Rich G. At King's Cross, I couldn't find the way down into the Underground and ended up using one of the external entrances. Inside the Tube station, I started to follow the signs to the Piccadilly Line, then realised that they went the (very) long way round, so took the left turn instead towards the (closed) HCL and down the escalator to see a southbound Picc depart so another short wait, in which Nick, Nozza and LMN caught up again. Down to Holborn and change to the Central, then to TCR where I took a wrong turn and the others got ahead of me. Up the Northern via Warren Street to Archway, back to Camden Town and up to Chalk Farm. I had been debating whether to get off here or at Belsize Park but I subconsciously got off here and got lost! By now any desire to run had well and truly departed, so I walked to Kentish Town West in good time for an Overground via Finchley Road and Frognall to Brondesbury. Thought of getting a bus here but none in sight and the sign said Kilburn Park was a five minute walk away so of course I was passed by three buses on route (I think whoever created that sign used London Underground elastic minutes!). Down the Bakerloo via Warwick Avenue to Edgware, bus to Marble Arch, then changes at Bond Street. Green Park and Baron's Court to Raenscourt Park in 4:42:12. By this point I was exhausted and felt I'd done enough travelling on hot, crowded (more so than usual because of the Circle/Met/HCL closure) deep trains so I texted my time and route to David and headed home via Ealing Broadway.

Nothing much wrong with the route itself probably (apart from the blunder at H&I) but two long waits and the combination of heat and lack of fitness means with a little luck and better fitness it could have been done in under 4 hours.
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Re: Random 15 Championship 2019/20: Round

Post by hopeful traveller »

I had an absolutely atrocious start to the day, and therefore the season. The winning time was too good to be true... but I was nowhere near it.

Too much dithering at the start meant I didn’t make the first Jubilee Line train East like everyone else did, and so was already several minutes behind everyone else. My original plan was to get between Wapping and Rotherhithe for a river crossing, but at Canada Water I discovered no such crossing exists, so ran back down to the Jubilee Line, thinking to go back to Waterloo.

Then my day got even worse when I got to Vauxhall and just missed the 360 bus, which, stupidly, I thought was the only bus that went to Pimlico, so went back for my fourth visit to Waterloo, whereupon I promptly got lost looking for buses. Trying to make up time, I got a 211, thinking I could take this to somewhere along the buggered up District Line and get back on the train, or ride it all out to Hammersmith. It took over 20 minutes to go between Waterloo and St James’ Park thanks to a bunch of road closures, probably to do with the idiots “civilly disobeying”, and once I saw how long the traffic was on Victoria Road, I abandoned and went to St James’ Park. Given the layout of the two stations, I wanted to stay on to Victoria.

Having got back on the tube, the rest of the day was rather average. Trundle along to Ravenscourt Park, where I meet Jenny and Michael, I change at Hammersmith for the Piccadilly Line, and whilst my original intention was to faff around at Green Park and Bond Street changing for the Central Line, I had an epiphany about Hyde Park, and realised I could run between Hyde Park Corner and Marble Arch. Halfway through a boiling hot Hyde Park, I gave up and hailed a number 148 bus for one stop. I got to Marble Arch, get on the Central Line, go the one stop to Leicester Square, get off the Central Line, limp up the hill to Paddington, give up on life, have a “I’m never doing this again” moment, and then get overtaken by David and Al. And for some reason - as it did on Thursday, that spurred me back into life and I managed to keep up down through the station and onto the Bakerloo Line. But I still collapsed on the floor!

Up to Willesden Junction - David and Al bailed at Queen’s Park, and I later discovered managed to run down the road and get an Overground train ahead of mine, before I then decided that I would do Hampstead Heath -> Belsize Park as a run, compared to Upper Holloway -> Archway. It was an appalling run, and one I would never want to do again. I did a lot of running on this challenge and I have to say I don’t think I really pushed as hard as I could, but then again I had given up all hope of winning by this point given the lunacy of the start.

Then an exceedingly long wait for the lift at Belsize Park, to the extent I was wishing I’d taken the stairs, resulted in a train slamming its doors on me and I had to wait for another one. On the way down to Camden Town I ran into Team Nozza and Tangy, and whilst Team Nozza and I changed up to Archway, Tangy stayed on. At Archway I ran into Rob - whose cock-ups get worse and worse every time - and on the way back down he decided that since a direct Charing Cross train was only 2 minutes behind the one I got on, he would wait for it - surely I couldn’t get a train up at Camden Town? Oh yes I could.

And then it was the Piccadilly Line which decided to let me down - having just missed a train at Leicester Square I had to wait FOUR MINUTES for another one. Four minutes in a zone one station? Quite atrocious, TFL, take note. Then I got sent down the one-way system at King’s Cross and although the corridor isn’t as long as I thought, the Victoria Line is so frequent I probably could have got two trains up or something. However, at Finsbury Park, I had my one good bit of fortune all day, where I caught a late-running Northern City train (which is a section of the rail network that does not deserve Class 700s given how appallingly run down it is), then got to Highbury and Islington where I, oddly, got overcrowded queueing for an escalator (I think two Victorias had spilled out), turning what should have been a comfortable 2-minuter into a difficult one, although I did make the Overground train, where I ran into Jenny and Peter.

But at Stratford, I should have gained a train on them, except a lying indicator board clearly said 2 minutes until the next departure, so I casually sauntered onto Platform 15 (13 out of use for some reason), and then I looked up and the DMI said “Ready”. Resuming a sprint, I didn’t make it. So we all ended up on the same Jubilee Line to Canning Town, and then the DLR to Bank at Poplar, and then the final hop to West India Quay in a mid-table position. But yet again, I know I could have done much better had I not been such a colossal idiot in the first hour. The Ockham’s Razor approach to the river might have been the best - just run across it...

Although hitting 110 in darts wasn’t too bad...
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Re: Random 15 Championship 2019/20: Round 1

Post by The Orange One »

tl;dr my route:

Waterloo (LU) :arrow: Canada Water :arrow: Waterloo (LU) :arrow: Waterloo (NR) :arrow: Vauxhall (NR) :arrow: Pimlico by 2 bus :arrow: Victoria :arrow: Ravenscourt Park :arrow: Earl's Court :arrow: High Street Kensington :arrow: Notting Hill Gate by 52 bus :arrow: Marble Arch :arrow: Lancaster Gate :arrow: Warwick Avenue by 46 bus :arrow: Queen's Park :arrow: Brondesbury Park :arrow: Kentish Town West :arrow: Chalk Farm :arrow: Camden Town :arrow: Archway :arrow: Euston :arrow: Oxford Circus :arrow: Holborn :arrow: King's Cross St Pancras :arrow: Finsbury Park (LU) :arrow: Finsbury Park (NR) :arrow: Highbury & Islington :arrow: Stratford :arrow: Canning Town :arrow: Poplar :arrow: West India Quay

I started with everyone at Waterloo, and most of us ran down to the Jubilee Line, where we jumped aboard a train to Canada Water; there, we all turned right around and headed back west again. Back to Waterloo, where there was a 5 minute wait for any local train out of the NR platforms, and down to Vauxhall, where the remainder of the pack tumbled out of the station through various means and methods onto a waiting number 2 bus to take us across Vauxhall Bridge.

Near Pimlico station, some of us bailed from the bus and ran down to the Tube (down two different roads) and headed up to Victoria, where we met everyone who'd stayed on the bus and everyone jumped on the District out to Ravenscourt Park. At Ravenscourt Park, Tangy ran off to destinations unknown (turns out Shepherd's Bush) while the rest of us turned around and headed east again. At Hammersmith, everyone bailed onto the Piccadilly line, because they'd remembered that the Wimbleware was closed, while I stayed on to Earl's Court and then jumped on a High Street Kensington terminator.

Coming up to High Street Ken, having realised the error of my ways, I then realised the short and well-bussed distance up to Notting Hill Gate was actually probably better than Hyde Park Corner - Marble Arch anyway, so out of the station and onto a waiting 52 bus to whisk me up to NHG and onto a waiting train (about 6 minutes train to train). Headed east to Marble Arch, where the choice between bussing up to Edgware Road (Bakerloo) or doubling back to Lancaster Gate was made for me when I saw a waiting train on the westbound platform. Headed west one stop, where I was rejoined by Tangy, then up in the lift and towards Paddington, where we discovered a number 46 bus which could save us the run to Paddington by taking us straight to Warwick Avenue!

After a fairly fast and exciting journey (involving an exciting diversion where we did a 180 degree turn on the Westway), onto a train at Warwick Avenue where we met the tractakid, who turned out to be my travelling companion for the middle third of the challenge. Up to Queen's Park and the (in vain due to the 206 bus arriving shortly after me which would've saved me some energy) run to Brondesbury Park, and a 5 minute wait for the Overground through Finchley Road and Frognal to Kentish Town West. Another run to Chalk Farm and down the short staircase to the platforms for a 4 minute wait for the next tube southbound - at this point the waits for trains seemed to be getting to tractakid, while I was simply glad they allowed me to catch up with him as I'm out of practice when it comes to the long runs. Down to Camden Town, up to Archway and back south again on a Bank branch train.

Pulling into Camden Town, I realised that due to the next Charing Cross branch train on our branch being 2 minutes behind, I was unlikely to make an earlier one here, so decided I might be faster putting my fate into the hands of the cross platform change at Euston onto the Victoria Line. This was the right choice, as I was quickly able to head south through Warren Street to Oxford Circus, and a swift change onto an eastbound Central Line got me a train up on tractakid - although it didn't do me any good, as I fought through the crowds to the eastbound Piccadilly at Holborn to find the doors of a train had just closed. 5 minutes there, during which time tractakid caught up, and up to King's Cross St Pancras, where we changed to the Victoria Line.

At Highbury and Islington, I kept my ears open for the sound of a northbound NCL train, but heard nothing, so continued on to Finsbury Park where we discovered a 15 minute wait for any NR train south (the next train being the next NCL down to Moorgate). Knowing we had what was timetabled as a 30 second connection at Highbury onto the eastbound Overground, I elected to believe I could make it, so put everything I had into making the connection, and finally ditched tractakid by making the Stratford train and leaving him behind. On the train, I discovered Rob, Clive and Tangy, who were to be my companions for the last legs of the journey.
(by the way, checking on RTT reveals I had 75 seconds to make the connection due to early arrival of the NCL train, so it was fine after all)

Out to Stratford via Dalston Kingsland, onto the Jubilee Line (just missed a train but no real issue), down to Canning Town, up the escalators onto a Tower Gateway train to Poplar, then cross platform and a final 3 minute wait for a Canary Wharf train to take us down to West India Quay.

The four of us continued on to Canary Wharf and headed on a DLR back into town - all except Rob, who discovered at Limehouse that he hadn't in fact visited Finsbury Park (NR), and had to go back and get it. Had to leave the pub early so didn't catch everyone's return, but hopefully this clarifies things on the route front...
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Re: Random 15 Championship 2019/20: Round 1

Post by tangy »

The official results of round 1 of the 2019/20 Random 15 Championship held on Saturday 22nd September 2019.

This was the Champion's Twist round and therefore last season's champion David Edwards gave us the following: LU, DLR, LO and DLR, Zones 1 and 2 and that you were NOT allowed to cross the Thames by any form of rail transport.

The stations that needed to be visited were:
--Waterloo LU
--Holborn
--Archway
--Warwick Avenue
--Chalk Farm
--Finchley Road & Frognal
--Canning Town
--Warren Street
--Finsbury Park (NR)
--Waterloo (NR)
--Ravenscourt Park
--Marble Arch
--Canada Water
--Dalston Kingsland
--West India Quay

We had a good turnout of 20 challengers split into 16 teams.

16th: Das Stevens (who only managed to visit 14 stations within the time limit).
15th: Richard Graham- 05:09:53 at Finchley Road and Frognal.
14th: Michael Churchill- 05:01:51 at West India Quay.
13th: Richard Standing- 04:42:10 at Ravenscourt Park.
12th: Rob Lomas- 04:41:00 at Finsbury Park NR (approx. time rounded up to next minute).*
11th: Nick Gardner- 04:24:50 at Ravenscourt Park.
=8th: Jenny Sherman- 04:22:07 at West India Quay.
=8th: Rhys Benjamin- 04:22:07 at West India Quay.
=8th: Peter Smyth- 04:22:07 at West India Quay.
7th: Andrew Chilcraft- 04:21:45 at Canning Town.
6th: Damian & Izzy Cook- 04:21:05 at Warwick Avenue.
5th: Andrew Baker, Kevin Brown and Matthew Cook- 04:10:15 at Warwick Avenue.
=2nd: Tangy- 04:02:10 at West India Quay.
=2nd: Clive Burgess- 04:02:10 West India Quay.
=2nd: Hugo Marrow- 04:02:10 at West India Quay.
1st: David Edwards and Alistair Brown- 03:31:01 at Ravenscourt Park.

* Rob Lomas thought he had finished (finishing at West India Quay with me the others in joint 2nd) but upon reading out his route to me on the DLR train back to the pub, he realised he had only done 14 stations, not visiting Finsbury Park NR. So he re-started his stopwatch and station clock times were used to verify the time for this.

So the new leaderboard starts off as:

=1st: David Edwards (12 points) [1 round attended]
=1st: Alistair Brown (12) [1]
=3rd: Hugo Marrow (10) [1]
=3rd: Clive Burgess (10) [1]
=3rd: Tangy (10) [1]
=6th: Andrew Baker (6) [1]
=6th: Kevin Brown (6) [1]
=6th: Matthew Cook (6) [1]
=9th: Damian Cook (5) [1]
=9th: Izzy Cook (5) [1]
11th: Andrew Chilcraft (4) [1]
=12th: Jenny Sherman (3) [1]
=12th: Rhys Benjamin (3) [1]
=12th: Peter Smyth (3) [1]
=15th: Nick Gardner (0) [1]
=15th: Rob Lomas (0) [1]
=15th: Richard Standing (0) [1]
=15th: Michael Churchill (0) [1]
=15th: Richard Graham (0) [1]
=15th: Das Stevens (0) [1]

We are back for round 2 on the 16th November 2019.

Signed:
Tangy (The BERC)
Adjudicator of the Alternative Challenges and webmaster of the Tube Challenge "Top Times" website at www.explorerticket.co.uk/tubechallenge

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Re: Random 15 Championship 2019/20: Round 1

Post by RJSRdg »

@Hopeful Traveller - Running from Leicester Square to Paddington's a new one!
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Re: Random 15 Championship 2019/20: Round 1

Post by xcooler123 »

Wasn't expecting a gap like that at all, helps to have Al's knowledge for effective route planning and a pretty clean run! :shock:

After opening the envelopes and doing some forward planning, we decided to do Waterloo (NR) first by going to Vauxhall and doubling back. We then tackled Waterloo (LU) and headed out on the Jubilee line to Canada Water. After contemplating what we were going to do to cross the river (walking the Rotherhithe tunnel was considered!), we decided it was best for our health to go to London Bridge and run over to Monument and head down to the DLR platforms at Bank where there was a Lewisham train waiting for us. Out to Canary Wharf (DLR) and back to Poplar to knock off West India Quay where we changed for a Woolwich train to Canning Town. Up to Stratford where we headed for the LO platforms to find a train leaving in 2 mins. Got out at Highbury & Islington after ticking off Dalston Kingsland and headed up on the Victoria line to Finsbury Park. This is where we had our longest wait of 10 mins for a train from Finsbury Park (NR) to King's Cross (NR). Ran down to the Piccadilly line (which for once provided us with a train at an acceptable time) to head to Holborn. Changed for the Central line to head out to Lancaster Gate, knocking off Marble Arch, where we ran to Paddington (B,C & D) meeting hopefull traveller. We all caught the Balerloo line train to tick off Warwick Avenue but we bailed at Queen's Park where hopefull traveller carried on towards Willesden Junction.

The next sequence of trains is right up there with some of the best I've ever had. We ran to Brondesbury Park where we timed a train to Stratford perfectly. We knocked off Finchley Road & Frognal to get off at Hampstead Heath and head down to Belsize Park. Train arrives promptly and we tick off Chalk Farm before arriving at Camden Town. We change for the High Barnet branch as a train pulls in and sails us up to Archway where we ran straight onto a Charing X branch train we wanted on the other platform. This allowed us to tick off Warren Street where we changed for the Victoria line down to Green Park to change to the Piccadilly line. Again, it unusually turned up on time (!) and we headed down to Hammersmith where the District line... was being the District line and we had a 6 mins wait. When it finally arrived, we went one stop to finish at Ravenscourt Park.

Sounds like i need to pair up with Rob next time to make sure he does all the stations on the list!
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Re: Random 15 Championship 2019/20: Round 1

Post by al »

Thanks, David, for pairing up with me. I worked out that April 2012 was the last R15 that I did, and it was an enjoyable attempt (maybe not at Brondesbury Park :wink: )
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Re: Random 15 Championship 2019/20: Round 1

Post by michael_churchill »

My route, in the category of "Don’t do it this way, kids"...

Starting at Waterloo (NR), SWR to Vauxhall, Victoria to Stockwell, Northern to London Bridge, Jubilee to Canada Water and back to Waterloo (LU). So, a 45 minute loop.

Based on tangy’s incredulous reaction when I revealed my route to him, I presume I was the only one who walked over the Golden Jubilee Bridge from Waterloo to Embankment ?!?

District to Ravenscourt Park, where I briefly joined Jenny and Rhys. District back to Hammersmith, changing for the Piccadilly to Holborn. Central to Marble Arch and back to Oxford Circus. Bakerloo to Warwick Avenue and back to Baker Street. Jubilee to Finchley Road, then a walk to Finchley Road & Frognal.

Overground to Gospel Oak, then a 13 minute wait for a GOBLIN to Upper Holloway, then walk to Archway.

Northern to Camden Town, up to Chalk Farm and back down to Warren Street. Victoria to Finsbury Park, then a 16 minute wait at Finsbury Park (NR) for a Great Northern to Highbury & Islington. And no, there was no earlier train to King's Cross.

Overground, through Dalston Kingsland to Stratford, Jubilee to Canning Town, then a 9 minute wait (!) for a DLR to Poplar and finally change to a Canary Wharf bound DLR to West India Quay.

I use contactless and have to keep an eye on not exceeding the maximum journey time. Sometimes I touch-out and touch-in at a station if I have time, or use a different card to break an OSI. I used a different card for the Finchley Road & Frognal to Upper Holloway section - as it involved the GOBLIN, I'm waiting to see if I get my £1.50 refunded.
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Re: Random 15 Championship 2019/20: Round 1

Post by EastActionWoman »

My route was very similar to Michael's:

First error of the day - quickly scanned the station list and didn't notice Canada Water, so thought it was only Waterloo NR and LU south of the river. Hopped on the first train to Vauxhall and thought I'd loop back on the tube. I noticed Canada Water when going through the list properly whilst on the train. Instead of just getting the next train back to Waterloo, I changed my tube route to go to Canada Water and then back to Waterloo LU.

A 59 bus at Waterloo, which pulled up just as I was getting to the stop, took me to Holborn. Then Picc and District down to Ravenscourt Park, where I had the welcome sight of Michael and Rhys (having assumed I was miles behind everyone else). Back on District and Picc to Green Park, changing to Victoria up to Warren Street, back down to Oxford Circus for Central to Marble Arch and Lancaster Gate. Quick walk to Paddington and made a good connection for Bakerloo to Warwick Avenue. Back to Baker Street and onto the northbound Jubilee (I don't know Baker Street very well, but saw Rob heading down a tunnel so followed him). Luckily he was also after the same train, but got off at Finchley Road. I knew I couldn't walk/run quick enough to make the connection to Finchley Road and Frognal from there, so carried on one more stop to West Hampstead and switched to the Overground to Gospel Oak.

13 minute wait for the GOBLIN gave me chance to go to the loo and check possible routes in and out of Finsbury Park. From Upper Holloway, quick walk up the hill (just missing a bus) to Archway, down the spiral stairs (no down escalator) making good connection to southbound Northern line to Camden Town. Quick connection up to Chalk Farm where Kev et al were claiming to be on their way to the pub already.

Had time to check the National Rail app and found that my intended train from King's Cross to Finsbury Park had been cancelled. Thought I'd get Victoria up there instead and get GN down to H&I - that was delayed by 9 mins so worked out quicker to get Victoria to H&I then GN from there. Still had a 10 minute wait, but that meant I could pop out to Pret and top up my water bottle. Very nice GN train up to Finsbury Park NR, then a fun run down the spiral staircase back to Victoria line and H&I.

A few minutes wait for the Overground to Stratford (through Dalston Kingsland), where I met up with Rhys again and Peter. I had no idea of best carriage to be in to change to Jubilee, and had to run through most of the station, but got lucky and ended up on same train as the guys. We had easy changes at Canning Town and Poplar to get to West India Quay in 4:22:07.

Also will be interested to see if I get my GOBLIN fare refunded (I have an annual zone 1-2 travelcard).
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Re: Random 15 Championship 2019/20: Round 1

Post by DrainBrain »

tangy wrote: 11th: Nick Gardner- 04:24:50 at Ravenscourt Park.
=8th: Jenny Sherman- 04:22:07 at West India Quay.
=8th: Rhys Benjamin- 04:22:07 at West India Quay.
=8th: Peter Smyth- 04:22:07 at West India Quay.
7th: Andrew Chilcraft- 04:21:45 at Canning Town.
6th: Damian & Izzy Cook- 04:21:05 at Warwick Avenue.
5th: Andrew Baker, Kevin Brown and Matthew Cook- 04:10:15 at Warwick Avenue.
Well this is very, very annoying.

I made a stupid error at the beginning by initially deciding to get the eastbound Jubilee out of Waterloo LU. I then decided I should have done the NR first, so did a double-back at Southwark and went back to Waterloo NR station and caught the first train to Vauxhall NR - catching a glimpse of David getting off the train as it came in. I think this was at 12:52. If I'd just got on a train to Vauxhall and *then* planned a route I could have saved possibly 20 minutes. That should have easily put me 6th and possibly 5th.

After a Vauxhall NR double-back it was Jubilee eastward again to Canada Water, back to London Bridge LU, walked over the actual London Bridge to Monument and through to Bank DLR. Then three DLR trains: to Canary Wharf (by-passing West India Quay), Poplar (not by-passing West India Quay) and finally Canning Town. Jubilee yet again to Stratford, meeting Richard S, who got a train ahead of me onto the Overground and I had to wait 7 minutes for the next one.

Through Dalston Kingsland to Highbury & Islington, with a little dalliance at Canonbury while the driver got out and inspected a "fault with the train". Then Victoria line to Finsbury Park, where a gaggle of Tube Challengers had accumulated, including Richard S once more. Finsbury Park NR to Kings X, Piccadilly to Holborn and then Central through Marble Arch to Lancaster Gate.

Next, a section with three walks (I couldn't be bothered to run). First walk to Paddington Praed Street, although the main entrance was closed (Circle etc) and I had to go in the little entrance across the road for the Bakerloo through Warwick Avenue to Queens Park. Second walk up the ever-steepening hill to Brondesbury Park. Overground via Finchley Road and Frognal to Kentish Town West and a third walk to Chalk Farm.

Fiddle around on the Northern line: Chalk Farm to Camden Town to Archway and back via Warren Street to Leicester Square where I took the Piccadilly all the way to Hammersmith and a final hop along the District line to Ravenscourt Park.
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Re: Random 15 Championship 2019/20: Round 1

Post by al »

Virtually exactly the same as our route once you got going properly!
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Re: Random 15 Championship 2019/20: Round 1

Post by roblo97 »

Like everyone else, I started at Waterloo and decided to head for the Jubilee Line along with many others to do the Canada Water double-back. From there, it was straight back to Waterloo to tick off the NR part of the station. Upon arriving at Vauxhall, there was a mad dash to the bus station but we all eventually caught the bus to Pimlico.

From here, Tangy and I went one way and Hugo went the other and this inevitably ended up with us all on the same train towards Victoria where we had another sprint to the District Line to take us to Ravenscourt Park. From there it was a double back and then a change to the Piccadilly Line at Hammersmith which saw Andrew C change at Green Park whilst Clive and I stayed to Holborn before Changing to the Central Line.

I bailed at Marble Arch and promptly ran to the bus stop on Park Lane and took a #6 bus… the wrong direction! A quick run back up the road and across many lanes of mostly stopped traffic saw me eventually catch it in the right direction towards Warwick Avenue which meant I could catch the Bakerloo Line to Baker Street and where I saw Jenny, I then bailed at Finchley Road to run to Finchley Road & Frognal.

I then stayed on the Overground to Camden Road before running to Camden Town which was a legit madness as the kids say these days; from there I went first to Chalk Farm before switching branches and going to Archway on the same train as Rhys. I then waited for a Charing Cross branch train to take me to Warren Street before a decent change to the Victoria Line sent me to Highbury & Islington. I ran to the LO platforms and had a 3-minute wait for a Stratford bound train which eventually saw Clive, Tangy and Hugo make it and Andrew C just miss it.

We all then completed Dalston Kingsland, before just missing a Jubilee Line train at Stratford and changing at Canning Town and then Poplar to compete at West India Quay. Now, having missed a station or two out a few days earlier on the mouse, surely I couldn’t have messed this up again? I had forgotten to visit Finsbury Park altogether so when at Bank, it was a case of off to the Northern Line to Moorgate and then a 6-minute wait for an NR train up to Finsbury Park which led to a finishing time of (roughly) 4:41.

I reckon I may have just about been able to sneak into the points had I remembered to visit Finsbury Park NR but then again, that would, most likely, have depended on the wait for a train at Moorgate, Kings Cross or St. Pancras so I highly doubt it!!
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Going Underground
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Re: Random 15 Championship 2019/20: Round 1

Post by Going Underground »

EastActionWoman wrote: 23 Sep 2019, 19:24 Kev et al were claiming to be on their way to the pub already.
We were, just via a slightly longish route involving NR an LO stations :lol: :wink:
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tractakid
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Re: Random 15 Championship 2019/20: Round 1

Post by tractakid »

What a daft twist. I made my own special protest on the way back by crossing the Thames 4 times by rail. :lol:

I made a daft error at Brondesbury Park- I would have made a train before Hugo & Tangy had I not gone towards the wrong platform.
I made a daft error at Westferry. I should have waited for the train 2 minutes behind to Canary Wharf rather than double back WIQ from Poplar. I watched the trains play out from the platforms at Poplar and seen where I would have been...

Missing the NLL train Hugo caught at Highbury and Islington was a kick in the teeth. Just got caught in people in the corridors, stairs and escalators.

I'm not too keen on the Bricklayers (or any Samuel Smith pub for that matter- can't fault the Bricklayers staff) any more. £4.20 for a coke is a joke. I also appreciate being able to check my phone which they no longer allow. And the dartboard isn't the best maintained...
*insert boasting about notable tube accomplishments here*
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Re: Random 15 Championship 2019/20: Round 1

Post by EastActionWoman »

tractakid wrote: 24 Sep 2019, 12:21£4.20 for a coke is a joke.
I like the pub, but was a little surprised that a pint of cider and a pint of coke from the squirty dispenser thing came to £8.80.
Not a plus one :wink:
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