tubechallenge.com

Hello all.

On Friday the 24th Sept I took the day off to visit the new stations at Battersea and Nine Elms ... then have a crack at my one and only attempt at a Zone 1 time. I'm a Grandad, unfit and definitely too old for this. Running is entirely out of the question, as is bombing up and down stairs escalators! My route was:

13:26 Battersea - Waterloo
13:39 Waterloo - Elephant & Castle
13:46 Elephant & Castle - London Bridge
13:52 London Bridge - Waterloo
14:00 Waterloo - Euston
14:13 Euston - Moorgate
14:24 Moorgate - Paddington (H&C)
14:52 Paddington (Bakerloo) - Oxford Circus
15:02 Oxford Circus - Queensway
15:08 Queensway - Bayswater (Walk)
15:14 Bayswater - Earls Court (1st train was a waiting circle - changed to a District at HSK)
15:28 Earls Court - Russel Square
15:48 Russel Square - Holborn
15:51 Holborn - Liverpool St
16:01 Liverpool St - Aldgate
16:03 Aldgate - Aldgate East (Walk)
16:09 Aldgate East - Sloan Square
16:30 Sloane Square - Victoria
16:36 Victoria - Vauxhall 16:40

Stopwatch time was 3h 13m 37s ... which is never going to be a record and will easily and comfortably be beaten but for a fat old Grandad, I'm happy with it! I've sent an email to Tangy with my times and a link to the photos I took at each station so they can be compared.

Never again ...

How was the juggling act between writing arrival/departure times and taking photos?

All on my phone; just had the camera app and Excel running. Some of the photos aren't great as I'm trying to take them on a busy train ... And when not next to the platform door it's harder.

Well done! That looks a pretty efficient route (and indeed, allowing for a bus/run between Vauxhall and BPS can be made into a circular route).

Assuming Tangy verifies it, it will be a record, as you're the first!

How is tangy going to "verify" it? Does he want photos and witness statements?

OK, not the best choice of word from me.

I'm sure Tangy will take it on trust as he usually does. I was really thinking of the offchance that he might spot a station Elsie had missed as being a 'non-verification' but I'm sure if there was an error in Elsie's route, someone would have found it by now.

South Kensington's been missed.

tintin wrote: ↑07 Oct 2021, 23:07 South Kensington's been missed.

That's a good question. Do you have to visit South Ken on a Circle/District stopping service, or can the Piccadilly line count as a pass through?

Sadly rule 3 applies in this situation - commiserations to Elsie. A longer bounceback beyond Sloane Square towards the end looks like it would have avoided the problem.

http://www.explorerticket.co.uk/tubecha ... 1rules.htm

David

I did go through South Kensington on the Piccadilly line ... but it was closed; I'd missed that in the rules!

Serves me right for not checking properly! I'm hoping to get a trip to Guys & St Thomas Hospital at the end of month, maybe I'll get a chance to try again and do it properly! Thank you for highlighting the error!

I feel a bit guilty, but earlier today I used your route (with bounceback extension to South Ken) to attempt and achieve my first ever Z1.

I chose your route because I am a fiftysomething who merely walks briskly and, for example, I didn't fancy having to get from Chancery Lane to Farringdon as one of the other routes involves.

So, I achieved 3:16:50.

Email to tangy to follow, giving me a post-NLE Z1 time and my previous South of the River tube time before the Bank blockade starts.

Thank you for doing the hard work and renewed commiserations for your own attempt.

DavidC wrote: ↑14 Jan 2022, 23:59 ...I didn't fancy having to get from Chancery Lane to Farringdon as one of the other routes involves.

I've decided that that's one of my favourite standard runs. There's a steady downhill for most of the way to help you along. Doing it in reverse probably isn't much fun though.

And anyway, if you're not the most enthusiastic of runners I don't blame you for avoiding it!

Lunaticonthegrass wrote: ↑16 Jan 2022, 13:05 I've decided that that's one of my favourite standard runs. There's a steady downhill for most of the way to help you along. Doing it in reverse probably isn't much fun though.

Do you cut through Waterhouse Square to reach Greville Street, or use Leather Lane?

tintin wrote: ↑17 Jan 2022, 22:18

Lunaticonthegrass wrote: ↑16 Jan 2022, 13:05 I've decided that that's one of my favourite standard runs. There's a steady downhill for most of the way to help you along. Doing it in reverse probably isn't much fun though.

Do you cut through Waterhouse Square to reach Greville Street, or use Leather Lane?

Route is secret!

DavidC wrote: ↑14 Jan 2022, 23:59 I feel a bit guilty, but earlier today I used your route (with bounceback extension to South Ken) to attempt and achieve my first ever Z1. I chose your route because I am a fiftysomething who merely walks briskly and, for example, I didn't fancy having to get from Chancery Lane to Farringdon as one of the other routes involves. So, I achieved 3:16:50. Email to tangy to follow, giving me a post-NLE Z1 time and my previous South of the River tube time before the Bank blockade starts. Thank you for doing the hard work and renewed commiserations for your own attempt.

I've sent the email to tangy's usual queries@ address. Normally I add a fair bit of narrative here, but following your route in a straightforward manner didn't give rise to as interesting or unique a story as usual. I caught a Met line train at Moorgate and changed at Great Portland Street for the H&C that was following close behind, and at Bayswater like you I caught the first train (Circle) and changed at High Street Ken for the District. Obviously the other difference was extending the bounceback to South Ken (which is nicely cross platform), but I won't dwell on that. My other challenges are typically shorter, and I noticed the difference that around three hours made. How on earth do people manage a whole day doing a FNC?! Ah well, my first Z1 was a pleasant milestone on the day before the Bank blockade began.