You can never be too early for a meeting!

Friday, 1^st May June 2012: Another day another meeting, although this one was in Cambridge on the Science Park. It had not long been arranged, so the day before I got confirmation of the time as I don’t like being late.  I got a text confirming the meeting – which was first thin the next day. The trouble was that I had also arranged for the Squealing Pig’s (my Discovery 3)  dodgy air con to be fixed on Saturday at 8.30am. Which was the time I had “remembered” for the Friday meeting.

So in my mind that meant getting up at a particular time to check the weather and then prepare for the meeting and cycle there and find the place and hey presto. The good thing about cycling is that the variability in the estimated time is really quite low and as I normally allow for a slower pace than usual it means I can speed up a little in order to make up for delays caused by wind.

So I got to where I thought the place was, although the building was home to a number of companies and I couldn’t get in the front door.  So I rang the person who had organised the meeting to check I was in the right place and so on. She offered to ring one of the people I was supposed to be meeting as usually started early. “Early” I said. To cut a long story short my meeting was actually supposed to start at 9.30am and not at the time I had turned up – 8.30am.

As the weather was pretty reasonable I had spent the hour riding around and took a few pictures on the way. My amble took me along the northern section of the CGB, which runs alongside the Cambridge Science Park. Strangely the transport page of their website features pictures of cars driving along through what looks like a tunnel, fortunately the words focus on sustainable and pleasant ways of getting to work. (Starting with walking and then cycling etc.) It just goes to show that the perceived view must still be that image of motoring is sexy?

At this time of year it must be a great way to start you day if your route to work allows you to cycle along the CGB cycleway.  Various flowers are coming out.

Cycle Way – Cambridgeshire Guided Busway (CGB)  – Cambridge Science Park

And how about that for a blue sky – I guess these wide margins require some care – but they do provide a bit of colour and presumably also supply a habitat.

Cycle Way – Cambridgeshire Guided Busway (CGB) – Cambridge Science Park

A little further along and the red of the filed poppies was in evidence. I have to say that the CGB cycleway really does demonstrate the advantages of proper cycle routes, by which I mean flat, wide, straight, away from busy traffic and on commuter routes.

Poppies on the CGB Cycleway

This is the same scene only I managed to get a cyclist in the shot as well.  This is the stretch of CGB approaching Histon with the tunnels for toads or frogs, I can’t remember which.

Poppies on the CGB Cycleway

And a close-up of the poppies – Papaver rhoeas I think.

Field Poppy  or Red Poppies along the verge

The poppies stand out in the green of the background.

Field Poppy or Red Poppies along the verge

And on the way back through to the Science Park on the Ditton Meadows side of the railway there was a bit of what I though might have been wild camping. But then saw the tyre tracks and wondered whether they got there by car. Then it occurred to me that the police might have visited the tent and it could be a bit of wild camping after all.

Wild Camping on Ditton Meadows

I turned up for my meeting on time and admitted that I’d actually gotten then an hour earlier. It was an unexpected cycle ride – but very pleasurable as a result. Fortunately I had gone dressed in shorts and a t0shir for the meeting as it was to be informal.