To be fair, if I can manage a sub-4 hour time on my own on my first attempt (although I did do a couple of R15s beforehand) anybody can! (The only reason I only just managed it last year was down to the heat and that I did end up at one point wandering aimlessly round Earl's Court station mildly confused with dehydration... plus a few crap changes)StonePony wrote:I am liking the look of this challenge - any event which has a rule to stop after an amount of time and go directly to the pub is good in my book (I have a feeling I may well hit the 4 hour limit.)
In my noobie way I was thinking about what i might need for the endeavour and came up with what seems a short checklist of
Pen/Pencil
Tube Map
Stopwatch
Bottle of Water
Some Snacks
Stout Walking Boots
Z1 Travelcard (if such a thing still exists)
Beer Tokens
I think that covers the essentials or am I missing something vital?
As for your list, well I agree with Tubeguru that trainers are better than walking boots. I'd also suggest that snacks aren't needed either except maybe a packet of mints or something. Although four hours is a long time, when you're on the network it does go rather quickly and you'll find that you won't really have eaten anything. Once the challenge is over, pop into a Maccy Ds or something before getting to the pub (Although I will gladly be corrected, I don't think the H&G do food by the time we get there post-challenge).
You may find that a Z1-2 travelcard is better than just a Z1 one as you might find you end up just poking into Z2 a couple of times. Of course, you could probably wing it with a Z1 regardless, but we're not allowed to say that here. If you can get a travelcard from a Network Rail ticket office rather than a London Underground one, that might be better as they seem to be printed on more robust card than LU tickets - I'm actually planning on getting mine when I get my train ticket up from Tiverton... on the Thursday... (I know I can get travelcards for the same day, not sure about for different days. Only one way to find out!) (Also, if you're called Going Underground, you might want to get a spare ticket just in case the one you have dies... not that that ever happens of course... )
Also, take more than one pen... last year I lost two pens on my way around with them falling out of my pocket.