tubechallenge.com

tubeguru wrote:

all545londonbuses wrote:Can't change your username. I wonder whether the admins can. I definitely wasn't thinking straight when I made this account.

I can change usernames.

You can? Awesome

Sam wrote:

tubeguru wrote:

all545londonbuses wrote:Can't change your username. I wonder whether the admins can. I definitely wasn't thinking straight when I made this account.

I can change usernames.

You can? Awesome

Yeah, remember James L changed his a while back?

tubeguru wrote:

Sam wrote:

tubeguru wrote:

all545londonbuses wrote:Can't change your username. I wonder whether the admins can. I definitely wasn't thinking straight when I made this account.

I can change usernames.

You can? Awesome

Yeah, remember James L changed his a while back?

Oh yeah, of course. Yay

I'd like to log a time of 5 years and 2 months. Yes, a final time. For catching every standard London bus route (this means not school, mobility, temporary or night routes). I'm not sure exactly when I caught my first unique route (a route I haven't caught since - in this case the number 49) but it was in early July 2008 as I'd finished the summer term of school which ended around the 1st. I stepped off the X68 at 9:47 today in Russell Square.

I'm not sure whether I'm the first for a long time (back in 1829 when omnibuses first started running there were clearly many record holders as there were so few routes), or whether someone has done this much more recently. Perhaps tangy might be finished?

Is it possible to list all start and finish points for each route or is there a website that already shows this?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_bu ... _in_London

Caught everything up to 549 bar 522 (which is temporary) and also the 607. And the 573 (which is temporary) I add to my list. Because it's worth mentioning. And all the letter prefixes.

The Orange One wrote:I'd like to log a time of 5 years and 2 months. Yes, a final time.

Congratulations! I had no idea the attempt had been going on for so long.

Well done!

What happens when a route is removed/added/modified?

Do them all again?

I might just add the route on the end and extend the time onwards. There's no way I'm doing them again. Picture this as an All Lines Challenge with 544 lines. Some join up, (for a tube example Circle and District). Some only run at peak times and in one direction (a little like Olympia except Olympia isn't peak times). Some run only in the very middle of the day. Certain routes run every 2 and a half hours. One of the things keeping me going was seeing new places as I branched out. But I wouldn't see anywhere new if I did the whole thing again. It's a timetabling nightmare. I've never done a FNC but the timetabling, I suspect, would be the very least of my problems after this. I mean, Mill Hill East runs every 15 minutes! And you call that troublesome...

I've been working on possible London buses R15 twists - something different! I believe the R15 is losing its randomness over time, and this twist would add a lot of unpredictability to the challenge.

Standard London Buses twist:

Principle: In addition to the 15 stations, a London bus route is also on the list, which has to be used during the challenge (this means you must board the bus and ride it for at least one stop).

Help: In the envelope you not only get the number of the bus but also a brief summary of the route (basically just a list of tube, LO, DLR and NR stations the bus visits in order from one terminus to another). This evens out the playing field so the Tangys (and people like me) of the Tube Challenging World have no huge advantage (at this point it's just like inside knowledge of stations such as back stairs at Piccadilly Circus).

Selection: If this twist is to be used in a R15 round, I will start the long and arduous task of splitting the routes into five "zones" (much like Tube zones, except graded in ease of use). These would be:

Zone 1: All TfL routes on the Central London bus map (except the X68). Includes your standard 9, 25, 73, 94, 113, 134, 176, 211, 390, 476, 507 etc.
Zone 2: High-ish frequency routes (every 15 minutes or less) approximately within the North Circular/South Circular circle, and a little south of that as well (this includes 83, 89, 102, 109, 118, 263, 302, 488 etc.), not including Zone 1 routes.
Zone 3: All standard routes (not school, mobility, night) with a frequency of every hour or less, that run in normal hours or normal hours bar evenings. Includes 62, 66, 383, 428, 470, 492, K5, W19, X26. Does not include Zones 1 or 2.
Zone 4: Difficult ones. Routes that run less than once an hour/only during shopping hours/only during peak hours. Like the 347, 359, W10 and X68.
Zone 5: School, mobility and night routes. Not used on challenges.

Normal London Buses twists would use Zone 1, and Zone 2 on request.

Reasons: The Random 15 is getting less random. Many gambits people use for the Random 15 are now bog standard methods (Warwick Avenue - Royal Oak run is done by everyone these days!). This means the Random 15 competition is gradually degenerating into a simple running race. Which may be good for Andi, but is not good for anyone else, so I'm hoping to add in true unpredictability here.

The other reason is that when you miss a tube train, that's it (unless you're James Bond. But James Bond knows nothing about the Tube - he didn't even realise he was travelling on a deep level line when he was supposed to be on the District). When you miss a bus, you can chase it down, either on foot or with some form of public transport, like a tube or tram (I have fond memories of tram 3 racing bus T32 which I'd just missed south from Addington Village).

What do you think?

Though I like the sound of a R15 involving buses I disagree with what you are saying about tube R 15 becoming less random. The weekend engineering work can throw up all kinds of runs, bus connection and use of NR. Which keep the R15 very much random.

It's interesting you criticise the R15 having not yet competed in one!

This wouldn't be a twist I would vote for. For me, buses are a necessary evil on tube challenges. I understand and enjoy expansion of tube challenges to other rail formats, buses really don't appeal to me in the same way. For one, there's no complete map that I am aware of that details every bus route. I imagine this would be impossible, or at the very least impractical. The other thing that is lost is stations- bus stops just aren't the same.

The Orange One wrote: This means the Random 15 competition is gradually degenerating into a simple running race. Which may be good for Andi, but is not good for anyone else, so I'm hoping to add in true unpredictability here.

The other reason is that when you miss a tube train, that's it (unless you're James Bond. But James Bond knows nothing about the Tube - he didn't even realise he was travelling on a deep level line when he was supposed to be on the District). When you miss a bus, you can chase it down, either on foot or with some form of public transport, like a tube or tram (I have fond memories of tram 3 racing bus T32 which I'd just missed south from Addington Village).

What do you think?

Sorry cannot agree with you on this one as someone who has competed in every R15 a simple running race could not be farther from the truth sometimes you don't even really have to leave the network. You then talk about chasing down buses, something at which no doubt Andi would do better than most of us

Why not come along and see what is like to open an envelope start your watch and try work a route out without any possible pre-planning, speed is helpful as with any tube challenge but the R15 is so much more than a "simple running race"

It's clearly not a good idea, then! As I haven't done a R15 before, I shouldn't really start criticising it, or putting forward suggestions that won't work. My belief that the R15 was getting less random was simply based on the observation that things are beginning to recur (apart from extensive use of the Overground circle, which is natural, and Warwick Avenue - Royal Oak happening a lot, people are using SWT a lot more, and I haven't heard of anyone using Euston's Overground connection).

I'd like to come to at least the start of the next one. I've probably left it too late to enter (and I'm not sure I can make it - there's a lot happening at the moment), but I'd like to see it start.

You don't need to give much notice. the BERC usually has spare envelopes.

I seem to end up doing Royal Oak to Warwick Avenue more than most. It's always the wrong Paddington that comes out.