Tube Challenge Day
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Going Underground
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So how did this go? I am looking forward to the post challenge report with times and stories from the day
Twice former full network GWR holder and former Zone 1 Olympic and World Record holder with The Raven and Soupie
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2008 All Lines Olympic Gold
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Twice Winter Olympic Biathlon Gold Medalist with The Beer Baron
2008 All Lines Olympic Gold
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Starkey7
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Well, Root was the instigator of this whole shooting match, so I'll let him give the official report. However I can tell you that we did three challenges: South of the Thames, Bottle and DLR. We had started doing the Zone 1 thingy but Waterloo station closed, and bad things happened at Farringdon (and I still hadn't worked out a route anyway), so we decided to bog off to the DLR instead.
I can also tell you that all three of my challenges went near perfectly, and I was on course to beat two hours on the Bottle. I had even had a mere one minute's wait at Bayswater! However very near the end, the Circle train that I was on decided that enough was enough, and had a long rest at Aldgate.
Nevertheless, I was very pleased with my times, and you shall see them presently!
I can also tell you that all three of my challenges went near perfectly, and I was on course to beat two hours on the Bottle. I had even had a mere one minute's wait at Bayswater! However very near the end, the Circle train that I was on decided that enough was enough, and had a long rest at Aldgate.
Nevertheless, I was very pleased with my times, and you shall see them presently!
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Root
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Okay then, a write-up. Sorry for not doing this yesterday, I didn't get online.
The day started smoothly as Starkey and I, who had met at Harrow-on-the-Hill, joined up with Tangy at North Greenwich Station without too much fuss. After suitable toilet breaks, we had the draw. Tangy pulled Embankment out for our Bottle Challenge, while Starkey did no-one any favours by choosing Monument to start the Zone 1 Challenge.
Heading down to the Westbound platforms at North Greenwich for the start of the South London Challenge, I suggested we shared our plans to try and avoid all of us following identical routes. Indeed, all three of us had a Kew Gardens finish and the same way of getting there.
Upon arrival at Canada Water, we headed to the Southbound East London Line platform and saw 4 minutes on the board. I decided to take the initiative and check the Northbound platform, which said 2 minutes. Sneakily, I didn't let this on until the train was pulling in, forcing Starkey into a mad and confused dash over the tracks and leaving Tangy behind. Starkey and I had a very, very tight connection at Rotherhithe, which I was expecting, which we only made thanks to the driver re-opening his doors. Tangy didn't seem too pleased when we re-joined him at Canada Water.
The rest of the East London Line went as you'd expect, with the usual 12-minute gap between New Cross Gate and New Cross. Starkey and I had the advantage of alighting at Canada Water on the way back, whilst Tangy had to double back at Rotherhithe.
Starkey and I decided to split up at Oval - he would run/bus it to Vauxhall and then do the Brixton double, while I decided to double up both Brixton and Vauxhall. The comparison was skewed by a long wait for my Southbound Victoria train, followed by a stop-start passage into Brixton whilst waiting for the platforms to clear. I saw Tangy again at Vauxhall, but again gained some ground whilst he had to do Brixton, which I had already visited. I knew, however, that Starkey had almost certainly pulled ahead.
Everything then went fine until I got to Putney National Rail Station - I spoke on the phone to Starkey and found out he was on the slow train before me, while my fast train was due in two minutes. Except it was then delayed by eight minutes, and then waited around for two minutes on the platform. The few minutes I would have gained on the fast train were meaningless, and Starkey came back to Richmond to meet me after he had finished. We then both got supplies at Kew Gardens and headed down to Richmond AGAIN to finally meet Tangy, who had had a disastrous bus connection at South Wimbledon, waiting 6 minutes only for three buses to arrive at once, staying true to the famous saying. As such, his time slipped onto the wrong side of three hours.
The final times for the South London Challenge were:
1. Starkey - 2:22:33
2. Ollie - 2:39:05
3. Tangy - 03:02:09
We then headed up to Embankment, where we stocked up on food and drink again (especially drink, it was an absolutely sweltering day). Another toilet break, and then half an hour of furious scribblings in the shade of a bus stop on the Embankment itself. Starkey in particular seemed frantic, changing his mind on a number of occasions, whlist Tangy and I overcame the apparent difficulty of starting at Embankment with aplomb.
After we all went to the Circle/District platforms to find out how long the next Circle line train would take to arrive, Starkey headed to the Northbound Northern platform, whilst Tangy and I opted for the Northbound Bakerloo. Tangy ran ahead when he heard there was a train in the platform, and as a result I got on the train after him. His plan was to double back at Charing Cross, whilst I planned to stay on until Paddington. I forget Starkey's exact route.
The reason I checked the Circle line platform was that I knew the Bakerloo is a few minutes faster between Embankment and Paddington than the Circle, so a few minutes after the expected arrival of the Circle I headed up to Paddington with the intent of catching that very train. And I did, with about a two minute margin. I won't reveal the rest of my route, except that it involved a lengthy four-station double somewhere and a small trip outside the Bottle. Thanks to a majority of good connections, I got round with a time I was confident would be the best. The Circle line broke down on my way to Monument for the next event, so I was the last to arrive there, but still had the best time. The final standings for the Bottle were:
1. Ollie - 2:03:21
2. Starkey - 2:06:21
3. Tangy - 2:23:30
I think the overall standard between the three of us was high, considering it was a difficult station to start at. Furthermore, because I visited Embankment later, I noted the time of departure from Charing Cross and am therefore able to claim a Bottle time of 02:02:07, for the records list but not for the Tube Challenge Day itself.
The current standings were as follows:
1. Starkey - 4:28:54
2. Ollie - 4:42:26
3. Tangy - 5:25:39
I was annoyed at losing ten minutes at Putney on the SLC, as I was now a considerable distance behind Starkey with only one Challenge remaining.
Waterloo Station was shut because of a fire investigation, there were suspensions on many of the lines and major & minor delays on most of the others, so we knew we weren't going to break any records. As such, I decided to double back at Cannon Street to make sure I visited it before it shut, and the two others decided to do the same - Starkey doing so mainly because he hadn't a clue what his route was going to be yet! However, after doing the Aldgates, our Hammersmith & Shitty train decided to terminate at Farringdon, at which point we decided to do the DLR Challenge instead.
So, off to Shadwell it was, despite Starkey's initial insistence that Westferry is a better place to start. We staggered the start - Starkey going to Bank, Tangy going to the Tower and me going to Bank after that. Tangy and I passed each other on the Bank-Monument run, which I can now confirm is a lot easier going from Monument than the other way round! My train then waited at Monument for ages, so I knew I had missed my DLR connection out of Tower Gateway. As a result, I wasn't bothered (do I look bothered?) by a passenger in front of me hauling heavy baggage up the stairs, when usually I would ask them politely to shift to one side. I paid the price for this when I arrived at Tower Gateway after a medium-paced run only to see my train fifty metres outside of the station - half a minute earlier and I could have made it, and caught Starkey up who was also on this train. The three of us then lost sight of each other until Tangy apparently boarded the train I alighted at Beckton (why didn't you say hello?), and then we finally met up again at Lewisham. I had painfully long waits at Stratford and Canary Wharf, and knew I was destined for last place. I was just hoping my record time would live to die another day...
And it did - just. The results of the DLR Challenge were:
1. Tangy - 1:59:03
2. Starkey - 2:01:07
3. Ollie - 2:04:45
I felt drained as soon as I missed that Tower Gateway connection, knowing I needed to gain 14 minutes on Starkey. It would not have been enough anyway - I would have finished at the same time as Starkey having started six or so minutes later than him - but it still felt bad. The final standings were in no doubt, but just to confirm:
The winner was Starkey, with 6:30:01,
The runner up was Ollie, with 6:47:11,
And bringing up the rear was Tangy, with 07:24:36.
Still, I had a good day for the most part, a particular highlight being beating my PB for the Bottle Challenge. Everyone won an event in the end, which was nice too. Starkey and I got the NR back into town, with Tangy using the DLR to head home. I was the only person on the Chesham shuttle going home, something which has never happened to me before.
Anyway, the day was overall a success - the spacing of the events was adequate and we got a variety of challenges. The main problem with the SL and DLR Challenges is that most people will follow the same route. As such, Zone 1 may have been more interesting (and provided me with a better opportunity of winning!), but the format, in principle, works. I'll do it again sometime, hopefully with a slightly larger turnout.
That's all, folks!
The day started smoothly as Starkey and I, who had met at Harrow-on-the-Hill, joined up with Tangy at North Greenwich Station without too much fuss. After suitable toilet breaks, we had the draw. Tangy pulled Embankment out for our Bottle Challenge, while Starkey did no-one any favours by choosing Monument to start the Zone 1 Challenge.
Heading down to the Westbound platforms at North Greenwich for the start of the South London Challenge, I suggested we shared our plans to try and avoid all of us following identical routes. Indeed, all three of us had a Kew Gardens finish and the same way of getting there.
Upon arrival at Canada Water, we headed to the Southbound East London Line platform and saw 4 minutes on the board. I decided to take the initiative and check the Northbound platform, which said 2 minutes. Sneakily, I didn't let this on until the train was pulling in, forcing Starkey into a mad and confused dash over the tracks and leaving Tangy behind. Starkey and I had a very, very tight connection at Rotherhithe, which I was expecting, which we only made thanks to the driver re-opening his doors. Tangy didn't seem too pleased when we re-joined him at Canada Water.
The rest of the East London Line went as you'd expect, with the usual 12-minute gap between New Cross Gate and New Cross. Starkey and I had the advantage of alighting at Canada Water on the way back, whilst Tangy had to double back at Rotherhithe.
Starkey and I decided to split up at Oval - he would run/bus it to Vauxhall and then do the Brixton double, while I decided to double up both Brixton and Vauxhall. The comparison was skewed by a long wait for my Southbound Victoria train, followed by a stop-start passage into Brixton whilst waiting for the platforms to clear. I saw Tangy again at Vauxhall, but again gained some ground whilst he had to do Brixton, which I had already visited. I knew, however, that Starkey had almost certainly pulled ahead.
Everything then went fine until I got to Putney National Rail Station - I spoke on the phone to Starkey and found out he was on the slow train before me, while my fast train was due in two minutes. Except it was then delayed by eight minutes, and then waited around for two minutes on the platform. The few minutes I would have gained on the fast train were meaningless, and Starkey came back to Richmond to meet me after he had finished. We then both got supplies at Kew Gardens and headed down to Richmond AGAIN to finally meet Tangy, who had had a disastrous bus connection at South Wimbledon, waiting 6 minutes only for three buses to arrive at once, staying true to the famous saying. As such, his time slipped onto the wrong side of three hours.
The final times for the South London Challenge were:
1. Starkey - 2:22:33
2. Ollie - 2:39:05
3. Tangy - 03:02:09
We then headed up to Embankment, where we stocked up on food and drink again (especially drink, it was an absolutely sweltering day). Another toilet break, and then half an hour of furious scribblings in the shade of a bus stop on the Embankment itself. Starkey in particular seemed frantic, changing his mind on a number of occasions, whlist Tangy and I overcame the apparent difficulty of starting at Embankment with aplomb.
After we all went to the Circle/District platforms to find out how long the next Circle line train would take to arrive, Starkey headed to the Northbound Northern platform, whilst Tangy and I opted for the Northbound Bakerloo. Tangy ran ahead when he heard there was a train in the platform, and as a result I got on the train after him. His plan was to double back at Charing Cross, whilst I planned to stay on until Paddington. I forget Starkey's exact route.
The reason I checked the Circle line platform was that I knew the Bakerloo is a few minutes faster between Embankment and Paddington than the Circle, so a few minutes after the expected arrival of the Circle I headed up to Paddington with the intent of catching that very train. And I did, with about a two minute margin. I won't reveal the rest of my route, except that it involved a lengthy four-station double somewhere and a small trip outside the Bottle. Thanks to a majority of good connections, I got round with a time I was confident would be the best. The Circle line broke down on my way to Monument for the next event, so I was the last to arrive there, but still had the best time. The final standings for the Bottle were:
1. Ollie - 2:03:21
2. Starkey - 2:06:21
3. Tangy - 2:23:30
I think the overall standard between the three of us was high, considering it was a difficult station to start at. Furthermore, because I visited Embankment later, I noted the time of departure from Charing Cross and am therefore able to claim a Bottle time of 02:02:07, for the records list but not for the Tube Challenge Day itself.
The current standings were as follows:
1. Starkey - 4:28:54
2. Ollie - 4:42:26
3. Tangy - 5:25:39
I was annoyed at losing ten minutes at Putney on the SLC, as I was now a considerable distance behind Starkey with only one Challenge remaining.
Waterloo Station was shut because of a fire investigation, there were suspensions on many of the lines and major & minor delays on most of the others, so we knew we weren't going to break any records. As such, I decided to double back at Cannon Street to make sure I visited it before it shut, and the two others decided to do the same - Starkey doing so mainly because he hadn't a clue what his route was going to be yet! However, after doing the Aldgates, our Hammersmith & Shitty train decided to terminate at Farringdon, at which point we decided to do the DLR Challenge instead.
So, off to Shadwell it was, despite Starkey's initial insistence that Westferry is a better place to start. We staggered the start - Starkey going to Bank, Tangy going to the Tower and me going to Bank after that. Tangy and I passed each other on the Bank-Monument run, which I can now confirm is a lot easier going from Monument than the other way round! My train then waited at Monument for ages, so I knew I had missed my DLR connection out of Tower Gateway. As a result, I wasn't bothered (do I look bothered?) by a passenger in front of me hauling heavy baggage up the stairs, when usually I would ask them politely to shift to one side. I paid the price for this when I arrived at Tower Gateway after a medium-paced run only to see my train fifty metres outside of the station - half a minute earlier and I could have made it, and caught Starkey up who was also on this train. The three of us then lost sight of each other until Tangy apparently boarded the train I alighted at Beckton (why didn't you say hello?), and then we finally met up again at Lewisham. I had painfully long waits at Stratford and Canary Wharf, and knew I was destined for last place. I was just hoping my record time would live to die another day...
And it did - just. The results of the DLR Challenge were:
1. Tangy - 1:59:03
2. Starkey - 2:01:07
3. Ollie - 2:04:45
I felt drained as soon as I missed that Tower Gateway connection, knowing I needed to gain 14 minutes on Starkey. It would not have been enough anyway - I would have finished at the same time as Starkey having started six or so minutes later than him - but it still felt bad. The final standings were in no doubt, but just to confirm:
The winner was Starkey, with 6:30:01,
The runner up was Ollie, with 6:47:11,
And bringing up the rear was Tangy, with 07:24:36.
Still, I had a good day for the most part, a particular highlight being beating my PB for the Bottle Challenge. Everyone won an event in the end, which was nice too. Starkey and I got the NR back into town, with Tangy using the DLR to head home. I was the only person on the Chesham shuttle going home, something which has never happened to me before.
Anyway, the day was overall a success - the spacing of the events was adequate and we got a variety of challenges. The main problem with the SL and DLR Challenges is that most people will follow the same route. As such, Zone 1 may have been more interesting (and provided me with a better opportunity of winning!), but the format, in principle, works. I'll do it again sometime, hopefully with a slightly larger turnout.
That's all, folks!
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tangy
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The SLC for me was a series of bad events, got to Vauxhall by running from Oval only to find the next train to Brixton in 4 minutes. At Brixton just as my train rolled in another left from the opposite platform and the train that I came in was going back out in five minutes!
So I thought stuff that and ran out of the station and headed for Clapham North without the help of a 322 at all! Got to Clapham North only to find a train running out of service go past which meant the service train had to wait to get into Morden.
Doubled back to South Wimbo came through the barriers only to see a 57 waiting to turn right at the junction outside, dodged the traffic and ran after it, but it pulled away as I was approaching the stop! 7 minutes passed before I could board another bus only to have two 93s and a 57 turn up one behind each other! Should of stuck to my original route and boarded a tram between Morden and Wimbo!!!
At Wimbo I boarded a C stock train (as the dot matrix dispalyed the Edgware Road train above the Tower Hill train) only to find the Tower Hill train in the opposite platform depart instead, wasting about four minutes!
Now if only I did Rotherhithe then NX.....
So I thought stuff that and ran out of the station and headed for Clapham North without the help of a 322 at all! Got to Clapham North only to find a train running out of service go past which meant the service train had to wait to get into Morden.
Doubled back to South Wimbo came through the barriers only to see a 57 waiting to turn right at the junction outside, dodged the traffic and ran after it, but it pulled away as I was approaching the stop! 7 minutes passed before I could board another bus only to have two 93s and a 57 turn up one behind each other! Should of stuck to my original route and boarded a tram between Morden and Wimbo!!!
At Wimbo I boarded a C stock train (as the dot matrix dispalyed the Edgware Road train above the Tower Hill train) only to find the Tower Hill train in the opposite platform depart instead, wasting about four minutes!
Now if only I did Rotherhithe then NX.....
Adjudicator of the Alternative Challenges and webmaster of the Tube Challenge "Top Times" website at www.explorerticket.co.uk/tubechallenge
This is a Central line train to "Woodford via Hainault"- sadly, not no more!
Tangy.
This is a Central line train to "Woodford via Hainault"- sadly, not no more!
Tangy.
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Starkey7
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Wow, what a comprehensive write up! Thanks, Ollie. If you want to see my routes in detail, then feel free to click here:
http://www.bath.ac.uk/~ma1jas/londonsouththames.doc
http://www.bath.ac.uk/~ma1jas/londonbottle2.doc
http://www.bath.ac.uk/~ma1jas/londondlr.doc
For me, all three challenges were far better than expected, and I had an amazing amount of good luck throughout the day.
Early during the South Thames thingy, Tangy and I were on the southbound East London platform at Canada Water, whereas Root was on the northbound one. I was intending to catch whichever came first, and it turned out to be the northbound one. The problem was that I couldn't find how to cross over the tracks! A mad dash was called for, and I just made it.
Ollie already mentioned the Rotherhithe incident: as Ollie and I desperately tried to catch the train back down to Canada Water, the doors shut - and then opened again! "That's a first," I thought. That meant that our changing time at Rotherhithe was a mere seventeen seconds!
It appears that Tangy had a few adventures with the buses down in the Wimbledon area, but I decided that it wouldn't be much slower to run from South Wimbledon to Wimbledon. And I didn't see a single bus! I also nipped into a handy KFC near Wimbledon for a trip to the loo.
Lastly, things almost went wrong at Putney. I arrived at East Putney at 12:57pm, and knew that therefore I only had four minutes to make the train from Putney to Richmond. Otherwise it'd be an eleven minute wait for the next one (the one that Ollie got, and the one that was horribly delayed!). I decided again just to run and see what would happen, and arrived at Putney station just as the train was pulling in. Phew! My end time was 2:22'33".
The Bottle was also good. The highlight probably was running into Bayswater from Queensway and seeing "Circle via Victoria - 1 minute" on the board. That was a first, too.
In fact things could've been even better but for a four minute wait at Aldgate and a two minute wait at Moorgate (the latter being because of a poxy train terminating there). I again lost my bearings on the run from Farringdon to Chancery Lane, but eventually arrived at Bank, with a time of 2:06'21".
The DLR was fair, seven and five minute waits each time I changed, but I was still very pleased with my time of 2:01'07". Tangy was already at Stratford when I arrived on the scene; he'd just missed the previous train down to Canary Wharf. We then proceeded down to Lewisham, and awaited Ollie's arrival.
Actually, looking at my schedule, you can see that I took the 474 bus (which came almost immediately) to get from Beckton to King George V. But if instead I'd run, and done that in under eight minutes, then I'd have caught the previous train and would thus have knocked ten minutes off my time. Maybe I'll do that next time...
http://www.bath.ac.uk/~ma1jas/londonsouththames.doc
http://www.bath.ac.uk/~ma1jas/londonbottle2.doc
http://www.bath.ac.uk/~ma1jas/londondlr.doc
For me, all three challenges were far better than expected, and I had an amazing amount of good luck throughout the day.
Early during the South Thames thingy, Tangy and I were on the southbound East London platform at Canada Water, whereas Root was on the northbound one. I was intending to catch whichever came first, and it turned out to be the northbound one. The problem was that I couldn't find how to cross over the tracks! A mad dash was called for, and I just made it.
Ollie already mentioned the Rotherhithe incident: as Ollie and I desperately tried to catch the train back down to Canada Water, the doors shut - and then opened again! "That's a first," I thought. That meant that our changing time at Rotherhithe was a mere seventeen seconds!
It appears that Tangy had a few adventures with the buses down in the Wimbledon area, but I decided that it wouldn't be much slower to run from South Wimbledon to Wimbledon. And I didn't see a single bus! I also nipped into a handy KFC near Wimbledon for a trip to the loo.
Lastly, things almost went wrong at Putney. I arrived at East Putney at 12:57pm, and knew that therefore I only had four minutes to make the train from Putney to Richmond. Otherwise it'd be an eleven minute wait for the next one (the one that Ollie got, and the one that was horribly delayed!). I decided again just to run and see what would happen, and arrived at Putney station just as the train was pulling in. Phew! My end time was 2:22'33".
The Bottle was also good. The highlight probably was running into Bayswater from Queensway and seeing "Circle via Victoria - 1 minute" on the board. That was a first, too.
In fact things could've been even better but for a four minute wait at Aldgate and a two minute wait at Moorgate (the latter being because of a poxy train terminating there). I again lost my bearings on the run from Farringdon to Chancery Lane, but eventually arrived at Bank, with a time of 2:06'21".
The DLR was fair, seven and five minute waits each time I changed, but I was still very pleased with my time of 2:01'07". Tangy was already at Stratford when I arrived on the scene; he'd just missed the previous train down to Canary Wharf. We then proceeded down to Lewisham, and awaited Ollie's arrival.
Actually, looking at my schedule, you can see that I took the 474 bus (which came almost immediately) to get from Beckton to King George V. But if instead I'd run, and done that in under eight minutes, then I'd have caught the previous train and would thus have knocked ten minutes off my time. Maybe I'll do that next time...
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Root
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