I had a brilliant day, it was go good to see you all again and have fun out on the Tube.
I got to Liverpool Street and waited around for everyone, and when the starting station was pulled out, I immediately went to work at planning a route. After a few attempts, I had two routes, one going via the H&C and one via the District.
Before long, it was apparent that me and Andi both had the same route - having reused our winning route from 2009. Upon knowing this, Andi proceeded to call me a few colourful names and we jokingly swapped insults
We started at Aldgate East and proceeded down to Sloane Square to double back to Victoria. On the way, Adham started doing what he did all day...shoving an Oyster card holder in people's faces and telling them about his fares thing. Andi was joked about what a good Tube Challenger should be doing which Adham wasn't doing (Looking out the other side to see how long it is until the next train). We arrived at Sloane Square and ran to the other platform and only had to wait a minute for our next train.
Me and Andi went to seperate door positions, but both had a good vantage point as we both ran down to the Victoria Line, again only having to wait a minute. We went to Vauxhall where Andi and Adham ran on ahead due to their speed. I knew which platform I had to go to so I didn't bother looking at the departure boards but I could see Andrew was held up at the barriers so I waited for him. Since I was at the other end of the tunnel, I shouted the platform number to Andrew. By the time I got to the platform, I missed the train by literally seconds - the conductor was getting into her cab to give the starting signal. Immediately I thought it was all over due to Andi's speed and his advantage. However in true spirit, I kept on and encouraged Andrew to carry on too. Hakan caught up with us too and we stayed together for a while.
At Waterloo, we went down to the Jubilee line, again waiting only a minute. A quick change to the Northern line at London Bridge saw another short wait before changing at Elephant and Castle. This was the best change, as being in front of everyone, I managed to get on a train and hold the doors for the rest of us to get on. We changed at Waterloo onto the Northern and carried on to Euston. By then, we had caught up with Andi and Adham so the race was still on! Me and Andrew as well as Andi and Adham went to Euston Square while Hakan went another direction. Me and Andrew walked this bit of section but also ran a bit. Andi and Adham ran on ahead and caught the train before us.
Andrew and I went to Paddington (H&C) and ran to the Bakerloo platforms, passing Myles who shouted some support to us. We caught up with Andi
again and his reaction was something on the lines of "oh no not you guys again!". We went to Oxford Circus and went on the Central to Queensway. We all waited for a lift while Adham wanted to run up the stairs. Me and Andi kept looking up the lift shaft to see which lift would arrive first. When the lift came and our door opened, we almost ran to the other side and waited like something you'd see on television. We ran to Bayswater where I had a little panic as I had to top up my Oyster Card quickly. It didn't cost me as I arrived in good time for the next train.
A quick run down to Earls Court, with a quick run down to the Piccadilly platforms ensured that we caught the next train. I also gave a brief history lesson on Starkey's Stairs and early station access. We stayed on to Kings Cross where we all changed onto the Northern Line and went south to Bank.
We changed onto the Central Line and went to Chancery Lane. I knew for a while as this was the last run, it was all or nothing. Either I got on the same train as Andi/Adham, or he'd win/get a faster time than us. Anyway, running up the stairs to the street, I saw Andi, having ran on ahead, run from
behind the station entrance to the map next to the road. I walked up behind him and then started running past him. He followed me, shortly by Adham. Adham made a quick stop and talked to some guy who was near me before carrying on to Farringdon. Andrew was a short way behind me so I pointed to him the direction at each corner.
By the time I got to Farringdon, I saw Adham getting on a H&C train so I shouted to him I'd meet him down the line, since I knew he had to change soemwhere before Aldgate. Andrew caught up with me and we caught the next Met train out.
At Liverpool Street, Adham caught up with us, and thats when we found out Andi was on the train before Adham (due to a slight error on Adham's part) and therefore Andi beat us. We arrived at Aldgate with a time of 02:52:59 which was the exact time me and Andi had in 2009. We all went to the pub after for our usual quiz and celebrations.
Good points:
A lot of quick changes, all less than 2 minutes
Catching up Andi on two seperate occasions and Adham (three times)
Seeing Andi consult the map at Chancery Lane
Seeing people's reactions when Adham explained his rail fares thing
Winding up Andi because he wanted to lose us
Bad points:
Missing the train by seconds at Vauxhall
Andi getting away on the last run
Overall I had a good day. It was good to see you guys again and I feel that in some ways, the day has brought me closer to a lot of you as I haven't really had chance to meet you all properly and hang round as in previous years. I'm looking forward to coming to the All Lines Challenge and competing again
I enjoyed doing this with Andrew and enjoyed his and everyone's company. One good thing about this sport is that (in most situations *cough Andi*) we all stick together
Oh and if I owe anyone money for my drinks, just say and I'll sort something out
The Route:
Aldgate East
Sloane Square
Victoria
Vauxhall
Waterloo
London Bridge
Elephant & Castle
Waterloo
Euston
Euston Square
Paddington (H&C)
Paddington (Bakerloo)
Oxford Circus
Queensway
Bayswater
Earls Court
Kings Cross
Bank
Chancery Lane
Farringdon
Aldgate
*Andi: I'm joking by the way