T-38 days
38 days to go!!
Normally about now I’d look back at my first T- blogs from previous years and see how I normally start these things off – but following a small itchy finger blog deletion incident I don’t have that resource available 
So, here goes some all new, original material! This year will be the last Grand Prix at Silverstone for the forseeable future it seems, so we need to see it out with a bang! This year’s party includes Ross and myself as always – Andy Green has gone, though efforts have been made to get him along for part of the proceedings (he only reason he is missing was due to a slight timing error) – but Mel returns for the first time since 2006. Sam will be along but for the first time with us – and Ross is bringing a few of his friends from uni along – so we’ll be hoping to give the Grand Prix an amazing final send-off…
Despite it being the final one ever, I will not be present for all three days – I am in Corfu until the morning of the Friday, and fly back into Bristol, arriving – if on time – at 13:30. Allowing a generous 1½ hours to get through the formalities and back to the car, this means setting off to Silverstone at 3pm – whilst Practice 2 is still in progress. A detour via Milton keynes to pick up Sam’s sister, and we are on line to arrive at the circuit at – according to Google Maps – in 3hr 20 – so should be arriving by 6-7pm. Ideally earlier, but we’ll see 
Logistically this creates challenges – I’ll have to pack for Silverstone on top of a holiday abroad, and if tickets aren’t sent out before I fly abroad then all manner of problems could occur, but Sam and I have and are thinking things through to try and ensure every eventuality is covered. Several what ifs have been explored and we haven;t failed to come up with an answer yet!
Tell you what, by the end of the holiday/GP weekend I’ll be shattered – and then I have to go back to work!
Bring it on
Did the letter about the staff at WRU get posted….! I know you told me I probably shouldn’t read your blog… but…. I couldn’t resist… Geek
P
Not yet, went to Post Office for some stamps but the queue was so long I’d still be there now…
Welcome back! I am all over this shit dawg!
I’m impressed with the BBC so far as well for the most part
The worst part of the team in my mind is EJ, his interview with Bernie in Malaysia was just cringeworthy!
The best bit… has to be The Chain being back
And you’re right about the muppet, his blog is really good, he certainly is coming across better than when he was getting too excited behind the microphone!
Awww, you’re so sweet
)
Well, of course it will rain, as it always does when we actually get some time off together and make plans, don’t you just hate that guy called sod!!! Grrr! xx
Can’t wait, June is gonna be a fantastic month
D yay xx
:’( stupid depressing survival Sunday :’(
Why have you tagged Sheffied Untied… who are they? ;o)
Sorted
Woah…. a posting!!!!
You shouldn’t need any more things to keep you focussed, if you aren’t focussed now then you never will be….
It looks like Turkish coffee. If you’d called it that, everyone’d think you were very cultured.
YOU think oystercards are annoying…. try bloody working with the damn things then you will realise the TRUE extent of their annoyance
Was amazing, got better the further and further forward we got. Song of the night was either “Return of the White Rabbit” or “Girl From Mars” for me, or “Kung Fu” for that matter, on sheer crowd reaction alone
It worried me slightly when the person behind the glass at Gloucester Road rubbed the oyster card on the reader for several second when registering it…
I thought that your paper travel card was far better than anything with a chip in it
Of course it’s a valid hobby. When I went to that very 1st Z1 one day I really didn’t know what to expect and thought it would almost certainly be my 1st and last challenge. I wasn’t expecting to fit in at all or that people would talk to me. I couldn’t have been more wrong, everyone was friendly and chatty and of course the full network talk cropped up. I looked rather terrified at a tube map commenting “I wouldn’t know where to begin” It just looked so daunting, scary and impossible. Pete Lupton (Fat Buoy) said he had a route and would go around with me Amersham – Upminster. It never actually happened and it seems crazy looking back but it wasn’t even going to be a record attempt, just a “we will get around all the stations” which at the time just seemed impossible. The thought of ever doing this for a world record just didn’t seem a remote possibility, it’s madness this person I saw on the tube; Geoff Marshall is brilliant how could we ever even try for a GWR?
We supported Ric Brackenbury, David Scard and John Stark on a full network challenge visiting parts of the network we had never been near before and did a food drop for Peter Miller and his brother on our way to the start of the inaugral “snake challenge”. I can’t remember how the discussion came about to team the Browns up with John Stark and he came up with a full network route one lunch hour and we thought he was brilliant. Wow we have a route to do full the network this is amazing, this must be the only realistic possible route.
So we went out and did it on for children in need in November 2006, we hadn’t even run it through Transport for London journey planner but who cared, who knew we had a route!!
Since then Matt has teamed up with the Browns, Antony and his son Phil and my 2 boys Jamie and Ryan. We have spent many hours route planning at “headquarters” being the Air New Zealand office at Radius Park….
Wow actually there are hundreds of possible full network routes, Geoff Marshall isn’t so great after all, the time is not impossible to beat I have routes over an hour inside that!
So moving to the present day I have 2 world records, neither in great times and neither that satisfying or pleasing. Matt is incredibly unlucky also not to have 2 world records. The time has come down greatly and route planning, strategy and fitness have dramatically improved.
The alternative challenges and other events such as Zone 1 day, The random 15 championships and tube olympics are fantastic get togethers where we have met and made true and great friends. The social side after these events is also great fun with darts at the pub, a darts league and also social drinking and darts days without any tube challenging!
Yes it is indeed a valid hobby
So much for team spirit eh
Olly Olly Olly, oi oi oi, Olly Olly Olly, oi oi oi, Olly, Oi, Olly, oi, Olly Olly Olly, oi oi oi!
You know nothing
Ick.. I know someone with Crohn’s disease (a particularly complicated and tricky case as far as I know, though). It does not look fun.. :S
I don’t know much about it, they assure me it is manageable if indeed I do have it, but I’ll be tested further in due course. It’s wait and see time, taking it in steps – I am back at work tomorrow for the first time in a month and feel vaguely healthy for the first time in over a month, so these are good things
660-1 I get for that. Fancy a quid on it?
Don’t forget to also make a weekend trip to Schloss Wizbit um Deutsch zu sprechen
good luck wiv that he deserves more than most reminds me of July 8th 2008 i was determined that Sara would get her reward for all her hard work.
Hard Work? What hard work? Following you around
lol