Thanks for organising the event Starkey. It was the Northern line wot done it for me, I had an awesome run apart from 3/3 disasters onto my favourite line.
And a special congratulations to those who were able to not only get round Z1, but also keep a stopwatch going for three hours, well done, both of you. *snigger*
Zone 1 - 29th August and 1st September
-
tpfkar
- Zone 4
- Posts: 396
- Joined: 10 Apr 2005, 20:13
- Location: Milton Keynes
- Contact:
-
Starkey7
- All Zones
- Posts: 2382
- Joined: 30 Aug 2005, 00:04
- Location: Bath, Somerset
My pleasure! I'll probably be doing a full-ish write up here soon, but I'll explain "the true tube challenge moment" right now.
Paul and I (and also Phil, aka Editorsfoot) were at Paddington, and we were racing from the Hammersmith and City line to the Bakerloo line. Just before we came to that big downwards slope that leads down to the main station, we rounded a corner and saw two men carrying a large sports bag slung between them. I don't know what the other two did, but I either had to stop abruptly or do something else. I did something else: I just leapt right over the middle of the bag and carried on running. Apparently I cleared the bag quite substantially!
Paul and I (and also Phil, aka Editorsfoot) were at Paddington, and we were racing from the Hammersmith and City line to the Bakerloo line. Just before we came to that big downwards slope that leads down to the main station, we rounded a corner and saw two men carrying a large sports bag slung between them. I don't know what the other two did, but I either had to stop abruptly or do something else. I did something else: I just leapt right over the middle of the bag and carried on running. Apparently I cleared the bag quite substantially!
-
Starkey7
- All Zones
- Posts: 2382
- Joined: 30 Aug 2005, 00:04
- Location: Bath, Somerset
Well I said that I'd do a write-up of the Zone 1 challenge that took place yesterday (29th August 2006) and here it is.
The starting point for this challenge was Vauxhall, and we were due to get under way at 6:55pm. My university mate Paul had joined me for the attempt, and we arrived there about fifteen minutes early, and waited for the others to arrive. In the end, we had five teams assembled comprising a total of eight people - quite a good attendance. There was Kevin (Going Underground) and Phil (K9), Phil 2 (Editorsfoot), Antony (Soup Dragon) and Jamie (Dr Who), Ric (tfpkar), and Paul and I.
After a few minutes' introduction and chit-chat, and after I had ummed and arred about visiting the toilet for the final time (I didn't, and later rued this), we descended to the platforms. Everybody had decided to go northbound from Vauxhall, and the mass start took place at 7:03'51". We all had the same idea at Victoria, well, nearly. Phil 2 almost wrenched the doors open and we all shot up towards the District and Circle lines. I think that I was first on to the very crowded westbound platform, and there was a westbound District train waiting there. Somehow everybody got on, with the notable exception of Ric, who had already had a cunning plan. He'd gone over to the eastbound platform, but had missed his train by a couple of seconds, and so had followed us.
Meanwhile, the rest of us went just one stop to Sloane Square, and then crossed over to the other platform, to go back the other way. However as we pulled in, an eastbound train was just leaving, and so there was no real hurry, although Jamie did have a high-speed collision with a random commuter. It was quite spectacular. Whether that man caught his train though I'll never know!
I think that some of us were disappointed to see that the next train east was a Circle, due in a couple of minutes. Most of us were going all the way to the Aldgate area, and due to the rarity of Hammersmith and City trains, the Aldgate East to Aldgate run would have been far more preferable (look at the map to see why). Paul and I wondered whether it would be better to wait for the next District train to Aldgate East. It would, as it transpired, as least for us two. However, we did take the Circle after all, as did everybody else. Furthermore, due to our two minutes' wait there, Ric managed to catch us up - but then that's Ric for you.
Our Circle arrived, and we went eastbound, not encountering any delays. Aldgate East was still in my mind as the usual place to go to, and so Paul and I had gone to the back of the train. I soon realised where we were actually going - Aldgate - and so for the next few stations we migrated towards the middle again. Phil 2 disappeared at Westminster, and headed southbound on the Jubilee line. He had a very slow journey down, due to an earlier "incident" (ie, somebody on the line at West Hampstead); I forget his next few moves.
The rest of us stuck together all the way to Aldgate. The doors opened, and the seven of us raced out of the station and along the road to Aldgate East station. The time on the clock was 26'06". The sight of seven runners chasing each other along the road, with one of them clutching a clip board with "Zone 1" written in big letters, must have been rather interesting. I was at the front, closely followed by Ric, and the others weren't far behind.
Too late I remembered that the subway probably wasn't necessary at this time of the evening - running across the road wouldn't be too dangerous. After doubling back around the railings and waiting for Paul to catch up, I carried on, and we soon came to Aldgate East. Ric had dashed through the barriers already; I overtook Antony and went through second. I saw a train in the station and thought, "There's a 1 in 4 chance that that's a Hammersmith and City." It was! I desperately lunged down the stairs, and saw Ric grinning his head off inside the train. I leapt on, and the doors started to close. Seeing Antony dashing down the stairs, and Jamie not too far behind, I firmly planted my foot in the door, allowing them on. Paul was nowhere to be seen though, so very reluctantly I wished them good-bye and stepped off.
In one word - absolute disaster. More galling was the fact that as the train moved off, Paul came dashing down the stairs, with Kevin and Phil in hot pursuit. And as often happens in these situations, instead of enduring a seven-minute wait, we began making desperate decisions. Kevin suggested that we double-back to Tower Hill, and take the next Circle anti-clockwise.
We did just that, and theoretically it would probably have worked, but you know what the Circle line's like. We waited an incredible fourteen minutes before one finally arrived, and as we stopped at Aldgate again I noticed that we'd been there exactly twenty-two minutes ago!
And so to Liverpool Street, and we dashed down to the Central line to go west. I saw no train there, and so indicated to the others still descending the escalator to slow down and relax. After a minute's wait, we headed off, with 53'08" on the clock. Kevin and Phil alighted at Holborn, and had great fun going backwards and forwards on the Piccadilly line. (Apparently Kevin had made a massive blunder by going westbound first, forgetting to do the Russell Square run-around.)
Meanwhile Paul and I just carried on, eventually arriving at Queensway. We were tiring a little, and took the lift, before jogging gently along the busy street to Bayswater. And would you believe it - there was a train waiting! Argh! But seeing "Circle line via Victoria" on the board was a relief. In fact the next Wimbledon train arrived within a couple of minutes, which was itself a minor miracle.
We changed at Earls Court, taking my short-cut to the Piccadilly line and having a seven-minute wait for a train going east. Typical. I was also keeping my eye out for Kevin and Phil, who were doing a bit of our route in reverse, but I didn't see them. (In fact they had changed plans.)
The rest of our route passed without much going well. We had two seven-minute waits for Northern line trains, and had a rather tiring walk from Russell Square to Goodge Street. I had a headache due to lack of water, but didn't dare drink because I wanted the loo! Passing the fountains in Russell Square wasn't pleasant.
At Euston we found Phil 2, and discovered that he'd nearly finished. It was quite annoying to hear that he'd be following us for the rest of the journey, but would finish before we would! Things went very well at Moorgate - we just caught a Hammersmith and City going west, with Paul diving through the closing doors just in time. Things went amusingly at Paddington, with me hurdling right over a massive sports hold-all held by two bemused blokes. I suppose you had to be there to appreciate it. This made up for subsequently missing the Bakerloo going south, I feel. Phil 2 reached his finishing station, but it was closed for refurbishment, so had to continue to the next station. His time was 3:00'28" - very close to three hours!
Meanwhile Paul and I continued to our finish. We'd both got really lazy and were walking the remaining changes, but still finished in 3:24'03". Not too bad a time for so late in the evening!
And so to Earls Court McDonald's. Everybody else was already there, and Antony looked quite surprised when we walked in; perhaps he'd assumed that we'd got lost or something. We all felt better after the usual gastronomic delights to be had there, and compared times and routes. The results were as follows:
Paul and I took 3:24'03", finishing at Southwark.
Phil 2 took 3:00'28", finishing at Regents Park (ie Oxford Circus).
Kevin and Phil took 3:16'26", finishing at Southwark.
Antony and Jamie took 2:51'36", finishing at Russell Square.
Ric took 3:00'09", finishing at Euston. (Ric likes finishing there.)
Good stuff. 3:06'28" was the average time. Talking of which, Kevin had the usual fun and games with his timekeeping. He maintains that he dropped his clock, and so first had to synchronise my watch with his, before working out his time from my time.
Still, we had a good time, and here's hoping for an even better time on Friday (1st September 2006)!
The starting point for this challenge was Vauxhall, and we were due to get under way at 6:55pm. My university mate Paul had joined me for the attempt, and we arrived there about fifteen minutes early, and waited for the others to arrive. In the end, we had five teams assembled comprising a total of eight people - quite a good attendance. There was Kevin (Going Underground) and Phil (K9), Phil 2 (Editorsfoot), Antony (Soup Dragon) and Jamie (Dr Who), Ric (tfpkar), and Paul and I.
After a few minutes' introduction and chit-chat, and after I had ummed and arred about visiting the toilet for the final time (I didn't, and later rued this), we descended to the platforms. Everybody had decided to go northbound from Vauxhall, and the mass start took place at 7:03'51". We all had the same idea at Victoria, well, nearly. Phil 2 almost wrenched the doors open and we all shot up towards the District and Circle lines. I think that I was first on to the very crowded westbound platform, and there was a westbound District train waiting there. Somehow everybody got on, with the notable exception of Ric, who had already had a cunning plan. He'd gone over to the eastbound platform, but had missed his train by a couple of seconds, and so had followed us.
Meanwhile, the rest of us went just one stop to Sloane Square, and then crossed over to the other platform, to go back the other way. However as we pulled in, an eastbound train was just leaving, and so there was no real hurry, although Jamie did have a high-speed collision with a random commuter. It was quite spectacular. Whether that man caught his train though I'll never know!
I think that some of us were disappointed to see that the next train east was a Circle, due in a couple of minutes. Most of us were going all the way to the Aldgate area, and due to the rarity of Hammersmith and City trains, the Aldgate East to Aldgate run would have been far more preferable (look at the map to see why). Paul and I wondered whether it would be better to wait for the next District train to Aldgate East. It would, as it transpired, as least for us two. However, we did take the Circle after all, as did everybody else. Furthermore, due to our two minutes' wait there, Ric managed to catch us up - but then that's Ric for you.
Our Circle arrived, and we went eastbound, not encountering any delays. Aldgate East was still in my mind as the usual place to go to, and so Paul and I had gone to the back of the train. I soon realised where we were actually going - Aldgate - and so for the next few stations we migrated towards the middle again. Phil 2 disappeared at Westminster, and headed southbound on the Jubilee line. He had a very slow journey down, due to an earlier "incident" (ie, somebody on the line at West Hampstead); I forget his next few moves.
The rest of us stuck together all the way to Aldgate. The doors opened, and the seven of us raced out of the station and along the road to Aldgate East station. The time on the clock was 26'06". The sight of seven runners chasing each other along the road, with one of them clutching a clip board with "Zone 1" written in big letters, must have been rather interesting. I was at the front, closely followed by Ric, and the others weren't far behind.
Too late I remembered that the subway probably wasn't necessary at this time of the evening - running across the road wouldn't be too dangerous. After doubling back around the railings and waiting for Paul to catch up, I carried on, and we soon came to Aldgate East. Ric had dashed through the barriers already; I overtook Antony and went through second. I saw a train in the station and thought, "There's a 1 in 4 chance that that's a Hammersmith and City." It was! I desperately lunged down the stairs, and saw Ric grinning his head off inside the train. I leapt on, and the doors started to close. Seeing Antony dashing down the stairs, and Jamie not too far behind, I firmly planted my foot in the door, allowing them on. Paul was nowhere to be seen though, so very reluctantly I wished them good-bye and stepped off.
In one word - absolute disaster. More galling was the fact that as the train moved off, Paul came dashing down the stairs, with Kevin and Phil in hot pursuit. And as often happens in these situations, instead of enduring a seven-minute wait, we began making desperate decisions. Kevin suggested that we double-back to Tower Hill, and take the next Circle anti-clockwise.
We did just that, and theoretically it would probably have worked, but you know what the Circle line's like. We waited an incredible fourteen minutes before one finally arrived, and as we stopped at Aldgate again I noticed that we'd been there exactly twenty-two minutes ago!
And so to Liverpool Street, and we dashed down to the Central line to go west. I saw no train there, and so indicated to the others still descending the escalator to slow down and relax. After a minute's wait, we headed off, with 53'08" on the clock. Kevin and Phil alighted at Holborn, and had great fun going backwards and forwards on the Piccadilly line. (Apparently Kevin had made a massive blunder by going westbound first, forgetting to do the Russell Square run-around.)
Meanwhile Paul and I just carried on, eventually arriving at Queensway. We were tiring a little, and took the lift, before jogging gently along the busy street to Bayswater. And would you believe it - there was a train waiting! Argh! But seeing "Circle line via Victoria" on the board was a relief. In fact the next Wimbledon train arrived within a couple of minutes, which was itself a minor miracle.
We changed at Earls Court, taking my short-cut to the Piccadilly line and having a seven-minute wait for a train going east. Typical. I was also keeping my eye out for Kevin and Phil, who were doing a bit of our route in reverse, but I didn't see them. (In fact they had changed plans.)
The rest of our route passed without much going well. We had two seven-minute waits for Northern line trains, and had a rather tiring walk from Russell Square to Goodge Street. I had a headache due to lack of water, but didn't dare drink because I wanted the loo! Passing the fountains in Russell Square wasn't pleasant.
At Euston we found Phil 2, and discovered that he'd nearly finished. It was quite annoying to hear that he'd be following us for the rest of the journey, but would finish before we would! Things went very well at Moorgate - we just caught a Hammersmith and City going west, with Paul diving through the closing doors just in time. Things went amusingly at Paddington, with me hurdling right over a massive sports hold-all held by two bemused blokes. I suppose you had to be there to appreciate it. This made up for subsequently missing the Bakerloo going south, I feel. Phil 2 reached his finishing station, but it was closed for refurbishment, so had to continue to the next station. His time was 3:00'28" - very close to three hours!
Meanwhile Paul and I continued to our finish. We'd both got really lazy and were walking the remaining changes, but still finished in 3:24'03". Not too bad a time for so late in the evening!
And so to Earls Court McDonald's. Everybody else was already there, and Antony looked quite surprised when we walked in; perhaps he'd assumed that we'd got lost or something. We all felt better after the usual gastronomic delights to be had there, and compared times and routes. The results were as follows:
Paul and I took 3:24'03", finishing at Southwark.
Phil 2 took 3:00'28", finishing at Regents Park (ie Oxford Circus).
Kevin and Phil took 3:16'26", finishing at Southwark.
Antony and Jamie took 2:51'36", finishing at Russell Square.
Ric took 3:00'09", finishing at Euston. (Ric likes finishing there.)
Good stuff. 3:06'28" was the average time. Talking of which, Kevin had the usual fun and games with his timekeeping. He maintains that he dropped his clock, and so first had to synchronise my watch with his, before working out his time from my time.
Still, we had a good time, and here's hoping for an even better time on Friday (1st September 2006)!
-
Going Underground
- The Twilight Zone
- Posts: 8797
- Joined: 11 Apr 2006, 12:24
- Location: Down in a tube station at midnight.
- Contact:
Starkey7 wrote:we had five teams assembled comprising a total of eight people - quite a good attendance. There was Kevin (Going Underground) and Phil (K9), Phil 2 (Editorsfoot), Antony (Soup Dragon) and Jamie (Dr Who), Ric (tfpkar), and Paul and I.
Kevin and Phil alighted at Holborn, and had great fun going backwards and forwards on the Piccadilly line. (Apparently Kevin had made a massive blunder by going westbound first, forgetting to do the Russell Square run-around.)
Still, we had a good time, and here's hoping for an even better time on Friday (1st September 2006)!
It all get's very confusing with 5 of the Brown family sometimes doing these challenges and remembering forum names as well. Phil is actually Ping Pon (Ryan is K9)....
Holborn was a disaster following the earlier blunder of deciding to go back to Tower Hill for Circle line rather than waiting it out for H & C at Aldgate East...
After changing from the Central Line I found myself running up the escalator to exit Holborn instead of going straight to the Piccadilly line...
My intention was to go eastbound to Russell Sq., doubling back to Leicester Sq... In my somewhat dazed state I mistakenly went westbound arriving at Covent Garden, but instead of thinking on my feet and going on to Leicester Sq with the option of doing Russell Sq later... I found myself going back immediately to Russel Sq and then all the way back to Leicester Sq again...DOH
After a 7 minute wait at Euston for Southbound Northern line our luck finally changed at Moorgate... We picked up H & C within 2 mins and our final 7 changes went like clockwork, allowing us to complete in a time I wouldn't have though possible after the early disasters in the Eastern end of Z1....
Yes Friday should be great fun, looking forward to it
Twice former full network GWR holder and former Zone 1 Olympic and World Record holder with The Raven and Soupie
Tube personality of the year 2009
Twice Winter Olympic Biathlon Gold Medalist with The Beer Baron
2008 All Lines Olympic Gold
Tube personality of the year 2009
Twice Winter Olympic Biathlon Gold Medalist with The Beer Baron
2008 All Lines Olympic Gold
-
tpfkar
- Zone 4
- Posts: 396
- Joined: 10 Apr 2005, 20:13
- Location: Milton Keynes
- Contact:
-
Starkey7
- All Zones
- Posts: 2382
- Joined: 30 Aug 2005, 00:04
- Location: Bath, Somerset
Fair enough Ric. The Northern line misbehaved earlier that day, as did the Piccadilly; engineering works had over-run. (What a surprise.) That's probably why a number of us had terrible waits. Oh and don't forget the earlier one-under at Finchley Road which messed the Jubilee up. So it's a wonder that we lot got around at all!
To be honest Kevin, if you hadn't doubled back at Covent Garden to do Russell Square, you might have had trouble later getting there. I can't immediately think how you'd have been able to "go back and do it later". Generally, the rule is that if you're changing between deep-level lines, you won't have to use escalators, although there are a few exceptions.
If you'd like to see my route, click here:
http://www.bath.ac.uk/~ma1jas/londonzone13.doc
See you tomorrow anyway! I know that you're going to be a bit late, and do text me if there are any hold-ups, so that we know what's going on.
To be honest Kevin, if you hadn't doubled back at Covent Garden to do Russell Square, you might have had trouble later getting there. I can't immediately think how you'd have been able to "go back and do it later". Generally, the rule is that if you're changing between deep-level lines, you won't have to use escalators, although there are a few exceptions.
If you'd like to see my route, click here:
http://www.bath.ac.uk/~ma1jas/londonzone13.doc
See you tomorrow anyway! I know that you're going to be a bit late, and do text me if there are any hold-ups, so that we know what's going on.
-
43019
- Zone 2
- Posts: 98
- Joined: 03 Sep 2006, 23:44
- Location: Kington
Starkey7 wrote:Paul and I (and also Phil, aka Editorsfoot) were at Paddington, and we were racing from the Hammersmith and City line to the Bakerloo line. Just before we came to that big downwards slope that leads down to the main station, we rounded a corner and saw two men carrying a large sports bag slung between them. I don't know what the other two did, but I either had to stop abruptly or do something else. I did something else: I just leapt right over the middle of the bag and carried on running. Apparently I cleared the bag quite substantially!
I applaud you, that's a feat and a half!
Unofficial Z1 challenge, 15th September 2006, 1400 start - Result? 3h29m34s. Disgusting! I want a re-run!
-
Starkey7
- All Zones
- Posts: 2382
- Joined: 30 Aug 2005, 00:04
- Location: Bath, Somerset
-
Soup Dragon
- The Twilight Zone
- Posts: 3170
- Joined: 22 May 2006, 22:15
- Location: Worthing
I really didn't feel up for this challenge and I still can't believe that the route that myself and Jamie cobbled together on the journey from Hatton Cross proved to be the 2nd best time so far. But if it hadn't been for Starkey we would have never made such a good time, well that's Starkey for you! It was a very enjoyable evening and was pleased that my fellow challengers persuaded me to take part.Starkey7 wrote: Seeing Antony dashing down the stairs, and Jamie not too far behind, I firmly planted my foot in the door, allowing them on. Paul was nowhere to be seen though, so very reluctantly I wished them good-bye and stepped off.
-
Starkey7
- All Zones
- Posts: 2382
- Joined: 30 Aug 2005, 00:04
- Location: Bath, Somerset
I would have held the doors open for everybody if I could, but I just didn't want us all to be thrown off for "causing trouble". Paul and I relaxed during the second half of the challenge anyway, because he was tired and I had a splitting headache and a huge urge to use the loo. I was torn as to whether I should keep drinking!
Who is online
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 21 guests