tractakid's second go 06/06/12

[tractakid]

More confident this time, I will once again be at HT4 at 05:02 for the first train. This time, I have a team of my mate Seb and my sister Rachel who will be making the whole journey with me. I have a new route, detailed below. This attempt is raising funds to help my mum visit Uganda in October- be in a team helping a school that takes in children that have been abandoned. If you're gunna be at the Z1 day on friday, any cash donations will be greatfully recieved, if you're both willing and able.

The route looks a bit better than last time, I have greater knowledge of overground changes, and I just recieved an extended mobile battery that I only ordered yesterday! I will take both the extended and normal batteries, which means I get to use my phone a lot more next time. Hopefully, all of these factors will ensure a completion!

let's just hope the tube suffers no line closures!

T4, T123, T5, Baron's Court, West Kensington, Olympia, Edgware Road, Hammersmith, Richmond, Turnham Green, Ealing Broadway, Oxford Circus, Regent's Park, Great Portland Street, Moorgate, Euston, Mill Hill East, Finchley Central, High Barnet, Cockfosters, KKSP, Walthamstow Central, Leytonstone, Woodford (v. H), Epping, Holborn, Russell Sq, Earl's Court, Wimbledon, Morden, Kennington, Stockwell, Brixton, Victoria, Sloane Square, Aldgate, Aldgate East, Upminster, West Ham, London Bridge, Elephant and Castle, Waterloo, Southwark, Waterloo, Edgware, Stanmore, Baker Street, Harrow and Wealdstone, Kenton, Northwick Park, Preston Road, Rayners Lane, North Ealing, Park Royal, Hanger Lane, West Ruislip, Ickenham, Uxbridge, Harrow on the Hill, Watford, Moor Park, Amersham, Chalfont and Latimer, Chesham.

[jbom]

Interesting to post the route in advance.

[The Raven]

Good luck. Hope you get a completion this time and raise money!

May the tube gods smile on you!

[palkanetoijala31]

Good luck. Hope you get a completion this time and raise money!

May the tube gods smile on you!

if i made 1 suggestion to a change of route is southwark why not stay on after london bridge then db and then u dont have to change twice!

[Iain]

Looks good

I'd agree with Andi's suggestion.

Just one thought -as far as I can tell if you're not nicely lined up with a Hainault loop train you can easily do Epping first and then the loop afterwards - I'd check the timings though as you could end up on a worse loop train.

Have fun - are you doing a twitter feed or anything?

[tractakid]

Looks good

I'd agree with Andi's suggestion.

Just one thought -as far as I can tell if you're not nicely lined up with a Hainault loop train you can easily do Epping first and then the loop afterwards - I'd check the timings though as you could end up on a worse loop train.

Have fun - are you doing a twitter feed or anything?

Well, I went to Epping first last time and missed a loop train by seconds at Woodford. I just have to hope one is arriving just as I arrive

I like your Southwark suggestion. I keep forgetting just how geographically warped the tube map is, and how much time avoiding changes can make.

[tractakid]

No chance! Perhaps my teammates could and hold the doors for 5 minutes while I catch up. I suspect that the delays caused to the northern line from doing such a thing would be catastrophic

How much point is there attempting Gunnersbury- Chiswick Park or West Harrow- North Harrow overground?

Has anyone ever attempted Roding Valley- Buckhurst Hill?

[palkanetoijala31]

No chance! Perhaps my teammates could and hold the doors for 5 minutes while I catch up. I suspect that the delays caused to the northern line from doing such a thing would be catastrophic

How much point is there attempting Gunnersbury- Chiswick Park or West Harrow- North Harrow overground?

Has anyone ever attempted Roding Valley- Buckhurst Hill?

Hmm Tube 5 springs to mind no district trains running west to Acton Town but if had run could have got to Turnham green and pic for record!Roding Valley to Buckhurst Hill yes got and done i believe it was 6 mins for the run but i wasnt pushing it but u dont need to all down hill.

[The Raven]

No chance! Perhaps my teammates could and hold the doors for 5 minutes while I catch up. I suspect that the delays caused to the northern line from doing such a thing would be catastrophic

How much point is there attempting Gunnersbury- Chiswick Park or West Harrow- North Harrow overground?

Has anyone ever attempted Roding Valley- Buckhurst Hill?

Gunnersbury to Chiswick Park run has worked for me and Iain and were not the fastest runners. Plus if your lucky you can catch a bus for two stops up the road

West Harrow to North Harrow is a long run but usually worth it since Met trains are so infrequent late in the day.
Don't for get Rayners Lane to North Harrow as well. Its longer but there's the option of a bus

[palkanetoijala31]

Gunnersbury/Chiswick Park is a must! (isn't it?). use the side road, look out for a bus, and turn left at Halfords if coming from Gunnersbury.

North Harrow to West Harrow you should be able to do in 7 minutes ... which is frustrating when you usually only have 5 minutes to do it in.

I've done Buckhurst to Roding both ways as a test, but there's no point in doing it. You can't do it quick enough to 'beat' the train either way no matter which way you go, so you might just as well change at Woodford.

I have done this roding valley run as a test with someone actually going on to woodford and changing i made train they didnt! so explain that one!

[hopeful traveller]

North Harrow to West Harrow you should be able to do in 7 minutes.

Well I jogged it in 6:43! Local knowledge helps there!

[Nigel]

I've done Buckhurst to Roding both ways as a test, but there's no point in doing it. You can't do it quick enough to 'beat' the train either way no matter which way you go, so you might just as well change at Woodford.

I have done this roding valley run as a test with someone actually going on to woodford and changing i made train they didnt! so explain that one!

As some whose nearest station is Roding Valley, and a reasonable runner (when I had a knee ) my view is normally you are better off going on the train into Woodford & back, particularly as the entrance/exit to/from Buckhurst Hill is not convenient when running from/to Roding Valley. But on my Tube 3, I was held in platform for 3 mins at Roding Valley, and then missed the connection at Woodford by a few seconds. At that point I was on 16:20 sub-world record pace (but no guarantee that that there wouldn't have been other problems later on, as I subsequently encountered). So in answer to Andi's point, it can be advantageous to do the run, with perfect information, but normally on average it isn't worth it.

[tractakid]

Looks like i'll attempt Rayners Lane to North Harrow, Gunnersbury to Chiswick Park then. Seeing as I can now be liberal with mobile usage, i'll keep a twitter going. Should I use a hashtag? It will be @tractakid, most of the tweets on there are automated ones made by xbox-website trueachievements.com.

[Steeevooo]

i'd have to ask though - does that mean you always run between Roding Valley and Buckhurst Hill? no, we know you don't - otherwise you wouldn't be so au fait with the woman that works in the snack bar at Woodford. so even you normally go via Woodford.

I didn't think the question was does Andi or anyone else always run between Roding Valley and Buckhurst Hill, just whether it can be advantageous to do so, to which both Andi and Nigel have replied in the affirmative?

[Iain]

Isn't the left turn a bit past Halfords? Chiswick Road? I thought it had a Wickes on the corner but now it's saying on StreetView it's a Mini showroom but I don't know how old the pic is.

There's two ways out of Gunnersbury, one is left out of the barriers which is fairly simple and the other is right - it's not that complicated but I'd have a look on the map first. I did measure them out by counting steps and there didn't seem to be anything in it. If in doubt I'd say go with the simpler one (left) but others may have other opinions.

We had a zero minuter at Woodford once coming off the loop, and just made it (thanks to the driver opening the door for us). We had considered the run from RV to BH but I think unless you're a very fast runner (like Andi) you won't get any benefit out of it