Snake challenge Fri 31st Oct

[RichieG]

You can add me to that list too

[Soup Dragon]

I will be going Neil by not being there.

Is that a reference to me or another Neil? I'm confused.

I was refering to you Neil, in that I can't be arsed to do the snake either.

[Going Underground]

ping pon overslept and and Dr Who gave it a miss as they were planning to team up......

It was a gorgeous sunny morning in Epping and we split into 2 x teams, Matt & Steven and Richie, Ryan & Kevin

We drew one of the two possible 127 routes at random and Peter's variation came out... much to the joy of Matt & Steven... My team drew the number 1 start and despite the fact that good service was on all lines the trains were not leaving Epping as they should, nor indeed Woodford when we got there to find a 7 minute wait for a "loop" which terminated at Hainault as it was defective then another 5 minute wait there... We knew that the other team would surely do better around this stretch so our lead was probably being eaten into....

Everthing went well after that for a while up until Victoria, where 3 westbound trains departed before a very busy eastbound Upminster arrived following a 6 minute wait....
The frantic central London changes went well, although Ryan was struggling with a stitch and Richie was feeling the pace and was rather warm in his cosy fleece

So we head up on the Jubilee line and were around Willesden Green - Dollis Hill when we get a call from the other team that had just surfaced at Finchley Road...
We really needed a good Uxbridge connection at Wembley Park and we arrived to see 5 minutes on the board with their Jubilee train 6 minutes away
Time seemed to take an eternity here the boards ticking away at the same time, 5 mins / 4 mins etc...
Our luck held (for now) and we did get away in time to keep a narrow lead but then we lost another 6 mins waiting for a Picc line at Rayners Lane...

Ealing Common was our last hope and we needed a District within a couple of minutes...... 7 minutes passed and then we were caught

The lure of food & drink was too much so we all decided to stop our watches at Ealing Broadway, the times at this stage being 4hrs 28mins and 4hrs 7mins...

A most enjoyable day all in all and it was agreed that is well worth another go probably in the spring and hopefully with more teams....

Also good to meet Richie for the first time as well

[Soup Dragon]

Without the aid of any map I used SoupNav (TM) to guide me back to Worthing.
Eventually SoupNav managed to locate the A23 after some initial problems, and then it was plain sailing all the way home.

Very much enjoyed the darts, although sadly as the designated driver I had no chance to reach the legendary "alcoholic window of oppurtunity". However with my highly developed darting skills I did manage to encourage my rookie partners to win 10 legs.

[al]

Meanwhile, I debated the legality of going to Oxford from Croydon via London Bridge and Lancaster Gate (walking to Paddington) on a route †ANY PERMITTED NR ticket with joy54, who didn't know the answer. Anyone?

Going via London Bridge (as opposed to Victoria) is fine, but you would not be allowed to exit at Lancaster Gate as it is not a NR station. You probably would be allowed to exit somewhere other than Paddington, however (such as Marylebone) that WAS an NR station, as I think the gates only look for the + sign, and are not intelligent enough to know which terminal you are meant to be using.

My preferred route for the above was always via Farringdon, due to the ease of changing. But you probably didn't need to know that...

[greatkingrat]

Yes, you are allowed to exit at Lancaster Gate, although I don't know whether the gates are programmed to allow this or not.

The official list of valid stations is
Aldgate, Amersham, Baker Street, Balham, Bank, Barking, Blackfriars, Blackhorse Road, Cannon Street, Charing Cross, Ealing Broadway, Edgware Road, Elephant & Castle, Embankment, Euston, Euston Square, Farringdon, Finsbury Park, Greenwich, Highbury & Islington, Kensington Olympia, Kentish Town, Kings Cross/St Pancras, Lancaster Gate, Lewisham, Limehouse, Liverpool Street, London Bridge, Marylebone, Moorgate, Old Street, Paddington, Queens Park, Richmond, Seven Sisters, Southwark, Stratford, Tottenham Hale, Tower Hill, Upminster, Vauxhall, Victoria, Walthamstow Ctl, Waterloo, West Brompton, West Ham, West Hampstead, Wimbledon

[RichieG]

I guess as the n00b here I should add my tuppence as to how my first toe-dip into TCing went

All the 'practical' parts of the route have already been mentioned at this point, so I shall concentrate on my thoughts and feelings instead

I suppose I went a little unprepared... I wouldn't quite call it a 'fleece' as such, but when I left my friend's house at Upton Park it was actually quite cold. Still, it wasn't until much later that I finally took it off, the thought of carrying it putting me off. Thankfully, I can manage in different temperature conditions so was OK (well, that's my excuse...). I was also let down by my knowledge of many of the stations we had on the route, my usual stations up as far as this point being Paddington, the NR part of Waterloo, and Upton Park. Of course, I have been to other stations, but none with the 'in-depth' knowledge. There was only the one occasion where my running skills (or lack thereof) let me down, and I had to stop as I couldn't carry on. (My not-very-good running ability was the reason I went with the Browns given Brown Sr's ankle!)

To be honest, I was a little embarassed at first - sitting on the Central line train at the beginning of the day studying the maps and the Way Out Map and the pages of station information that Brown Sr had and wondering what other people on the train thought of that, and also the sight of us three moving down a train carraige at a time whenever we stopped at a station. As the day continued however, I realised that this of course is London and not the South West of England, and people generally ignore other people.

I was also surprised at how quickly the four and a half hours actually went, and actually the adrenaline rush that occured running around the stations, following Brown Jr, was actually more exhilarating than I'd expected to be honest.

All in all, it was a good toe-in-the-water experience into TCing, and hopefully (all things being well with work) I'll be there at the R15 in December

(Shall I mention what happened in McDonalds, when I accidentally dropped my chips on the floor... then being kind in my Southwesterly way to pick them up... then when I sat back upright I knocked the tray off the table, with two open sachets of tomato ketchup, and the remains of a burger on it, which subsequently splattered across the floor...

Or perhaps I won't mention that... )

[Starkey7]

Sounds brilliant Richie. Wish I'd been there!

[Going Underground]

To be honest, I was a little embarassed at first - sitting on the Central line train at the beginning of the day studying the maps and the Way Out Map and the pages of station information that Brown Sr had and wondering what other people on the train thought of that, and also the sight of us three moving down a train carraige at a time whenever we stopped at a station.

After a couple of challenges that "awkward" feeling soon goes away and you really don't even think about the other passengers... You will find that a lot of people actually ask what you are doing and show an interest in this aspect of tube usage......
I remember my first Z1 running around and wondering what people thought of this out of breath idiot dripping in sweat
I still tend to use the "Tubechallenge" shout if people are in the way at interchanges..
Other than "excuse me" I haven't figured out a good one yet.....

Hopefully see you at the Dec R15 from Wood Lane