VBiking on the Esplanade

Posted on August 12, 2017November 13, 2017 by PN2K Team

We did our first trial run of a bike ride using a VBike. We decided to keep to the Charles River bike path along Memorial Drive, given the new construction there in the past year (thanks DCR for all the renovations!) and the fact that we wanted to keep this ride more relaxed and social (conversing while biking). We went around the Museum of Science on Charles River Dam Road and then looped back on the Esplanade. We decided to stop for a quick break on one of the docks, which is where we met a ZipCar representative and his friends (one from the City Council) who saw the VBike and were instantly attracted. They came over and asked questions, super intrigued by seeing something other than Hubway! (aside: the lack of docks along the Esplanade and the restriction on 30-minute rides makes using Hubway infeasible for biking along the Esplanade — one of the sadder things I discovered long ago). Anyway, to finish off the trip, we decided to go for vietnamese cuisine at Pho in Boston, had great conversation, and called it a night. Good times!

Yaoming speaks with Aditya about VBikes. Aditya and his friends had questions about VBikes and dockless bike share. Admittedly, I would be, too, considering if I had friends who didn’t own bikes, I would want them to have this option for riding along and down the Esplanade — one of the great joys of Boston.

PN2K Blue Heron Bridge Ride

Posted on June 3, 2017November 13, 2017 by PN2K Team

Did you know there was a hidden gem along the Charles River, called the Blue Heron Bridge? For cyclists of all experience levels who live in the Greater Boston area, you must check out the Charles River Greenway, which begins at the McKenna playground in Waltham, MA. For our cycling group, we had John Innes leading the ride with co-biking leaders from the MIT PN2K team (Yaoming, Tian, Rudy, Ye, Dingfang). We were glad to welcome nine other cyclists in our group of 15. We are proud to host this bike ride for four new cyclists (meaning they don't have bikes and it's basically their first times riding in the city -- we are honored their first time riding was with PN2K!) We bought our four cyclists 24-hr day passes for Hubway; however, a word of caution: in a large group with new cyclists (or cyclists riding at different paces), we do not recommend depending on Hubway outside the main Hubway cities. We love that Hubway promotes biking for short distances, but having to undock and dock bikes before every 30-minutes ended (sometimes docks were all full, and we had to find another dock nearby) and having to take four detours away from our trip to undock/dock bikes was logistically challenging and stressful. Nonetheless, this was a great learning, teaching, and bonding experience. For us, it's all about getting more cyclists out there, even if it means some trial-and-error.

Here's a shot of our group at the Blue Heron Bridge. A beautiful ride on a gorgeous day! [PC: Yaoming, Dingfang]

The great thing about holding these bike rides is that we have the chance to meet new faces, burn some calories, eat some snacks, enjoy the great outdoors, and learn new things about the cities in which we live (for instance, how long the Charles River Greenway bike path extends and how to take safe bike paths to reach specific destinations like restaurants or shops). Before our bike ride, we held a brief bike safety talk (thanks Rudy) and post-ride, we brainstormed a few things after this bike ride, including do's and don'ts for future (long) bike rides. You can bet we discussed ways of encouraging new cyclists to bike with us without using Hubway in the future (sadly, four 24-hour day passes should have cost us only 4 x $8 = $32 but as our entire group including four cyclists went over 30-minutes four times, the cost of over-charges was 4 cyclists x 4 overcharges x $3 per overtime = $48. Total for the bike ride was a whopping $80 for which really should have been a free bike ride. Yikes! Well, thank goodness we had some UA Finboard funding to cover this, but $80 might have gotten us a (rudimentary) new bike for PN2K 😉 Besides this, we really enjoyed hanging out with everyone and seeing some old faces! We hope to ride with others again and hope more people will join us as our rides evolve.

If you're interested in being one of our future bike leaders, please drop us a line at pn2kmit-officers@mit.edu. We are always looking for more 3-season and winter bike riding leaders!

Keep Calm & Pedal On!

More photos from our bike ride on Facebook here.

Welcome to 2017!

Posted on March 5, 2017April 23, 2018 by PN2K Team

Welcome to 2017 PN2Kers!

In 2016 after the summer happened, our team and MIT PN2K officers received so many inquiries from you all, wondering when our next bike event will occur (OK, there was about 5-7 inquiries--which we consider a lot!) It made me realize the importance of MIT PN2K's mission of serving the biking community at MIT and the Greater Boston community (as our events are open to the public). So like any team, we had a different round of officers operating the club after last summer, and sadly, due to lack of communication, performance was low. However, we are rounding out another year and we shall learn from past experience in recruiting excited, dedicated, and high-performing individuals to our team. (I was actually just reading a post earlier today from Steli, a really charismatic fella I met at the Business of Software Conference in 2015, about hiring A+ players).

Last December 2016, PN2K was contacted by Dustin Weigl, the brother of Christopher Weigl, who was also struck in a bicycle-truck collision the year after Phyo's accident--same type of collision, also in December, also fatal. I can't help feeling inspired by Dustin's story. From his brother's accident, he started pursuing ways of making cycling safer in the city. Dustin is now a first-year master's student in the Technology and Policy program at MIT. It's a heart-wrenching story, and it took me back to painful memories of Phyo and when I had buried my head in my work with the PN2K Foundation, just to churn past that pain. Anyway, it's been fun reuniting the most committed members of the MIT PN2K Club, and we are all looking forward to hosting our next bike safety event on March 27, 2017. (You heard it here first!)

To keep up the work of the club, we are changing a few things up:

First, starting on March 2017, bike safety events will be open to members only. The services offered at the bike event require you to be a member with us, but the membership is affordable, allows you entrance to future bike events, and comes with benefits and discounts to select bike shops around town (see our Member Benefits page). Costs are $15 for students, $20 for MIT affiliates, and $25 for everyone else. (Purchase membership now)

Not long ago in January, we held our IAP social bike ride. It was great fun, and we even witnessed a car crash right in front of us! We were very lucky. Luckily, Tian and Frank (the two in the front) were alright. Luckily, Peter Cheung casually dropped in to ride with us that afternoon. Luckily, when a driver/witness next to us had said, "It was those cyclists!" Peter called that BS out immediately ("That guy [driver] ran the red light! He ran the red light!") Luckily, another witness at the intersection was part of Boston Police. Luckily, the guy who ran the red crashed into the car next to us, instead of Tian and Frank who were on the other side of the collision. The group of us talked it out and then decided to laugh it out at Bertucci's in Kendall. We had discussion from bike safety and infrastructure to politics and hiking. A great time with great friends over great food.

Join us for future bike rides and events! We're short-staffed so don't have the means to post all the exciting things we're doing on our blog immediately -- the best way to stay current is to join our mailing list (pn2k-bikesafety@mit.edu) and to join us as a member ($15-25). We're also currently building our MIT PN2K team for the upcoming 2017-18 school year. So if you feel you got what it takes to be part of an A-team, let us know what you want to bring to the table and nominate yourself (and friends) here (https://www.pn2k.org/mit-pn2k-nominate/). We need everyone to help, not just cyclists. G'luck and bike safe!

~ Keep Calm & Pedal On
Chief Jedi

MIT convoy to Boston Bike Party “PRESENTS”

Posted on December 11, 2015January 19, 2017 by PN2K Team

Photo above: Snapped this shot while passing through the entrance of China Town. Thought the stunned reaction of the crowds around us was amusing.

From Boston Bike Party's event: PRESENTS! (bike ride Friday, Dec 11, meeting at Copley 7 PM)
Our MIT convoy met at the MIT Student Center (84 Mass Ave) at around 6:45 PM to head over as a group together.

Don the ribbons! Tie the bows!
Where we're going, no one knows
Haul the trailer, prepare caboose!
We'll be biking, bells and toots

Second Friday, every month
With some exceptions, almost bar none
Two hundred, three hundred cyclists galore
When you see us, you'll be floored!

We take over the lanes, we take over the place
We take over that aisle you don't admit is a bike space
We reclaim the land, we reclaim our honour
We reclaim on wheels, with masses as armor

We don't shout, we don't fight
We don't use guns, violence, or start plights
We simply hoot, we simply holler
We simply shout "Boston Bike Party is baller!!"

~ PN2K fans of BBP

Cranksgiving’s Crankin’ Cranberries

Posted on November 21, 2015January 19, 2017 by PN2K Team

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Photo credit: Lucy Fan

We present to you, Team Crankin’ Cranberries! In the photo above, from left to right, we are Lucy, John, Faith, Jane, and Ye. (Actually I mistakenly thought the team had named itself “Cranky Cranberries” so officially, we are the Crankin’ Cranky Cranberries, but.. what’s in a name.)

The ride, organized on the Saturday before Thanksgiving (Sat, Nov 21) was a free ride that is “part scavenger hunt, part food drive, and part bike ride.” A grassroots event, one of the main organizers is a cyclist by the name of Dave Boudreau. Cranksgiving was in its second year, and the goal was to pull in more than 10,000 lbs of food so that families in need in the Greater Boston area could enjoy a nice meal during Thanksgiving. The goal was achieved! (you can read more updates on the fb event page here)

Our team came together through a series of chain messages in which we realized that we all had more mutual friends in common than we thought! Then Faith joined us in Copley Square and helped us navigate the JP/South Boston area later (thank goodness also for GPS).

Our route ran from Trader Joe’s in Boston to Harvest in Central, Star Market, the Red Cross, some expensive whole foods store in JP (where I bought the most ridiculously priced can of organic cat food, but hey! somewhere there is a happy feline), a cat food shelter, another store, and finally Coppersmith in South Boston. Total cost was no more than $15 per person.

All food was donated to the Greater Boston Food Bank, Red Cross, and the Somerville Homeless Coalition. Organizing team of Cranksgiving – way to go! That was eventful, and I’m glad to have taken part in something so meaningful.

A Ride to Remember 2015

Posted on November 15, 2015November 22, 2015 by PN2K Team

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[Above, photo credit: Kyle Ramey] Did you know that the third Sunday of every November is World Remembrance Day? This Sunday, we followed Peter Cheung on a remembrance bike ride around Boston in honor and in memory of those who lost their lives in traffic fatalities. The ride ended near Boston Commons and was followed by a vigil, led by Laura Everett, where stories were shared by family members of loved ones and friends who became victims of road tragedies. We had 150 yellow roses that were laid on the steps and then later taken to the ghost bikes around town, along with “Crash Not Accident” signs. I am still learning about the origins of some of these movements – another important one being #VisionZero (a study showing that once a European city adopted Vision Zero, the rate of fatalities went down significantly). But in the meantime, it’s good to know that at least there are people who are doing something and care, including the Massachusetts VisionZero Coalition and the Boston Vision Zero Task Force. So thank you to all the organizers, including Boston Cyclists Union, Walk Boston, Mass Bike, and LivableStreets Alliance!

Phyo’s ghost bike on Mass Ave & Vassar St with yellow roses from the World Remembrance Day bike ride organized by BCU (the Crash Not Accident sign is placed on the side of the pole, visible to motorists and vehicles making right turns from Mass Ave onto Vassar St)

Boston Globe Article on event

Full album photos by Kyle Ramey

Fall Foliage in Waltham (bike ride!)

Posted on November 7, 2015November 22, 2015 by PN2K Team

I cannot easily describe the bliss that ensues from jumping into a huge pile of very crunchy leaves on a wondrously beautiful fall afternoon. Maybe this photo captures it, I’m not sure. And when your leaf-group is later joined by a mother of two toddlers (yes, she did jump in with us after failing to persuade her toddlers to do so), you feel the immense joy of letting go of worries and just playing and becoming one with nature. The journeys that these bike rides take us on.

Photo background story: For our regular readers, you’ll notice that in our Oct 25 post (titled “Fall Foliage + Bikes”) there is a majestic fall-coloured tree in the background. Today we passed by the same area and to our utmost sadness found that all the leaves were gone and the tree with its many branches looked very dead. I almost grieved. Then I mentioned how fun it would be to jump in a huge pile of leaves and the rest of was history. Left to right: Lucie, Ye, Jane.

Halloween Bike Ride 2015

Posted on October 31, 2015January 19, 2017 by PN2K Team

Once at Copley Square, we were blown away by the array of costumes and the creative genius that sparked some insane ideas. (I wonder how much wind resistance they put up with?)

Those who came last year might recall the 700+ cyclists that rode out in the streets and the wild battles between a few motorists and cyclists that followed (traffic was not obeyed as streets were inundated with bikes). This year, Boston Bike Party organized the masses, and they followed a strict code. Click here to read about how we rode (also a great resource for people organizing random, large groups of bikers in suburban areas).

Thanks BBP for a wonderful time! Join our upcoming events:

PN2K presents "Bike Trivia" on Sunday, Nov 8 @ 2-5 PM: For those needing free minor bike repairs, pressure-washing, bike safety tips, or some free food, music, and good company, come have fun and test your bike trivia knowledge at the MIT Johnson Z-Center (front lobby) in Building W35. Free admission. We have helmets for $20 donations, bike lights for $15, memberships for $25, and sign-ups for shirts for $40.

Boston Bike Party presents "Sleep Tight" on Friday, Nov 13 @ 6:45 PM: Don't ride alone! Roll out with us in your costume from MIT to Copley Square for a ride around town.

Keep Calm & Pedal On!

Cornucopia, rain, and bikes

Posted on October 12, 2015November 22, 2015 by PN2K Team

Every 2nd Friday of the month, Boston Bike Party holds these large parties - on bikes! Organizers and volunteers plan a ride around town - so if you have no plans on a Friday evening, you have a bike, and the weather's great, you have NO EXCUSE not to join us. How about when it's drenching (like this past Friday)? To be fair, the rain let off by the time the ride started (thank goodness!) Personally speaking (and I hope this helps others), I don't have fenders on my bike - and because I love the lightweight look and feel of my bike, I haven't seriously thought to install them. Thus, the huge stripe of cold wet rain and mud that ran along my back afterwards. Oh well. Embrace, accept, and then you can properly enjoy splashing through puddles.

For the first time since summer, the bike ride reverted to Winter Mode, meaning volunteers helped to control traffic at intersections in order to keep the group safe and together. The music was an eclectic compilation of sorts - But when songs like "Lean on Me" and other familiar pop songs came on, it was hard not to bounce around to the beat of the music. It was just really awesome, surrounded by bikers in costumes, doing wheelies, playing drums, and ringing cowbells - overall a really positive and vibrant feel.

The rain did nothing to abate Yaoming and Dingfang's enthusiasm to capture some highlights (click here for full album photos)

So, how to join? It's easy: if you've never been and want to cycle with us to Copley Square, meet us at the MIT Student Center front steps (either 6:45 PM or 7:15 PM - check with Boston Bike Party's website and follow along on our Facebook community page as we announce updates from the PN2K side). Don't forget the Boston Halloween Bike Ride on October 31, which was my official first large group ride - it was a BLAST. Keep on the lookout for more news.

*Note to newbie cyclists wondering how to keep dry while cycling: find a store that sells legitimate camping gear for weatherproof items.

Pre-BBP with MIT PN2K details

Posted on October 9, 2015January 19, 2017 by PN2K Team

We will be meeting outside the MIT Student Center Front Steps (exact address: 84 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139) this evening at 6:45 PM (ready to leave at 6:50 PM) from MIT and heading over to Copley Square, Boston.

If this is the first time you are joining us, we're excited to have you! Here are a few tips to keep safe and warm:

Bring your own bike (make sure it's safe aka no flat tires or dead brakes), helmet, bike lights, and bike lock
Bring a bottle of water to stay hydrated (or coffee/tea in a thermo)
Bundle up! Dress in layers, wear gloves if you have them! (they are a good investment)

If you don't have helmets or bike lights, we have them for $20 and $15, respectively. Contact us ASAP to coordinate.

Keep Calm, Pedal On, advocate for cycle-tracks, and ride predictably!

“The British are coming!”

Posted on October 4, 2015January 19, 2017 by Ye

This Sunday morning, we went along the Minuteman Bikeway. Historically, this route is a close approximation of the route that Paul Revere took on his famous ride on April 18, 1775 to warn John Hancock and Sam Adams that the British were coming (marching from Boston to Lexington).

Sometimes I forget that we're in New England and surrounded by places of historical significance. Then I see historic markings and trace them back in memory to all those history textbooks I poured over in high school. So if you want to explore, jump on a bike and get out there-- especially as we enjoy the last few weeks/months of nice weather in Boston before the winter storms!

Cycling along the path and back, I saw so many families and kids biking - It was fair to say that the number of kids I saw today was more than the combined total number of kids I've seen from all my years of living near central Cambridge/Boston. Wouldn't it be nice if this sort of path stretched all along Mass Ave and had drop offs at each location (like a Subway station express, but for bikes!) -- long, smooth, and contiguous.

So where did we go for food? We biked to Izzy's where they had the most aromatic facility, with mozzarella and tomato basil sandwiches. Amazing. I biked home and for the first time ever tried Life Alive's Swami bowl. Another fascinating treat.

Keep Calm & Pedal On!

Accidental Sunday morning Hub on Wheels

Posted on September 20, 2015January 19, 2017 by Ye

Weekend morning bike rides are purportedly the best - You've been working hard all week in the office or in school, and you wanted to ooze every single minute out of this weekend and reclaim the time that is yours. Perhaps Saturday went in a flourish and now you're left in a mild state of panic, wondering if Sunday will be stolen from beneath you as well. Long bike rides take care of that, I'll tell you. At least, this Sunday morning Jane and I decided to meet at 8:30 AM and trek out to bike along the Emerald Necklace. It was almost difficult because I'd been going to bed around 2 or 3 AM repeatedly each night before, but I resolved to kick my circadian rhythm back into gear. The sun glowed brightly that morning and as we got to the start of the Emerald Necklace trail, we saw large herds of cyclists pass by. Anyone who knows me knows I have the attention span of a mouse --- and that fun, cool things will hold my attention captive. So I couldn't take my eyes off the endless swarms of cyclists.

Jane: Alright, let's go!
Ye: Wait, more cyclists... more cyclists! Where are all these cyclists coming from?
Jane: Hm.. not sure. (Let's go?)
Ye: Maybe it's a race. <still looking at the cyclists> Wow... there's so many of them.

It was as if I thought the longer I stared, the closer I'd get to the answer of where they were all coming from, and what they were all doing. But alas, my duty towards my friend beckoned and we started pedaling along. Not long after, the trail we followed became super rocky, and as we looked on google maps and saw the cyclists were following the same path we were...

Long story short, we ended up cycling with them. We got to Jamaica Pond, where I remembered cyclists weren't welcome, so decided to jump in with the patrolled crowd. Technically, we weren't supposed to be there, but technically we were going in the same direction as well. It wasn't like our presence was causing harm (*initiate defensive thinking-mode*), and the greater the numbers, the safer we, as cyclists are, right?

It was great fun. We ended up skipping off later and finding a place to eat (salmon, fried plantains, and empanadas). Whatever other work that could be done, whatever other concerns, everything was washed away during my this bike adventure. It's almost like a mini-traveling addiction - similar feelings must arise from the same source: feelings of curiosity, independence, exploration, discovery of new places, surprise, delight, and an animation of senses in a short period of time. Jane and I finally parted knowing that we will be back for more on another weekend morning -- and we hope that more people who want to join will not fear coming with us on our leisurely bike rides. The best time to start is always now.

MIT PN2K goes to BOSTON with BBP (it’s a social science)

Posted on September 12, 2015April 23, 2018 by PN2K Team

Have you ever met someone new and thereafter began to see his/her face everywhere all of a sudden? It's like working on bike safety - the more you dabble in this field, the more bikes you begin to see everywhere: on advertisements, commercials about relaxing, vacations, childhood memories, etc. Bikes somehow become omnipresent.

And you wonder how did you miss all this before?

When you see brain and cognitive science studies on attention, you begin to realize our limitations on perception. I've sat through classes (taught by Professor Aude Olivia - brilliant lecturer, highly recommended) where we watched an image for 30 seconds. At the end, we're asked to note the things that had changed. (What? Things changed? WHEN?) You then learn that the image had transposed into another: a person disappeared in photo 2, a banner gained stripes, colors changed, a lamp post moved, a building morphed! And you didn't notice a thing. It's humbling - And it's fascinating. As it turns out, we're all slaves to our brains and "nothing gets past you" isn't true.

Selective attention tests demonstrate that at any point, your perception of the world is based upon what your brain selectively decides to process; the perception is an amalgamation of still, selectively-processed snap-shots in time. How does the brain decide what to process? Various factors, one of which is familiarity. The more familiar a face is to you, the more it will stand out against others.

Now let's think about this in the context of bike safety: drivers will stop at red signs, obey standard red-yellow-green traffic lights, and look for green directional signs with arrows on highways. What cue triggers them to recognize a cyclist? To be honest, cyclists don't have much going on for them that would make them stand out; and that's why many of them wear bright green safety vests (scientifically the color that is most noticeable). That is why PN2K sells bright safety green t-shirts and bike lights for cyclists. You want to stay safe on the roads that lack proper bike infrastructure? STAND OUT. Have bike lights. Make motorists see you - if their minds cannot process your presence, they cannot react in time to dodge you or give you enough space.

The point of the above is not meant to persuade you to further investigate into the nuances of our brains (as interesting of a field as it is); it's so you can begin to relate, scientifically, to the fact that people's attentions are divided up, simply because there is an overwhelming amount of information to process in the world -- and this is a reason why accidents happen. The accident is never intended! (thus the term "accident") and not everyone is a demonic driver out to get you. In fact, some cyclists are also drivers! Keep that in mind when they honk in support of bike parties.

When cyclists are few, drivers might not be trained to notice cyclists; but when you put together 2 or 3 cyclists, their presence becomes more pronounced, as does their safety. As more and more cyclists become regular road users to the point where the numbers cannot be ignored, cycling will become safer as drivers become more aware of their presence.

But what can you do now? Well, you can participate in advocacy groups, you can give cyclists loud horns and bells, make them do unusual tricks that capture attention (wheelies; unusually tall bikes; naked cyclists), raise hell, threaten to TP parliament -- or you can throw 500+ cyclists together in one large massive un-ignorable group and shout "BOSTON BIKE PARRRR-TY!"

I learned last autumn that some things can increase your safety more than helmets: (1) bike lights (2) more cyclists out on the road. The latter is pretty important, and BBP does an awesome job organizing and leading 500+ people from point A to point B. And that's why PN2K wants to help. We want YOU getting out there as well, no matter if you're a freshman, international student, temp transfer, a grad student who just learned how to ride a bike -- come out and join our bike convoy! Our convoys (bike groups) will leave from the MIT Student Center to and head to Copley Square at 6:45 PM* every second Friday of the month (*7:20 PM during the summer; please refer to our Events page calendar to be sure). Besides the fact that it's incredibly fun and empowering to bike alongside 500 other friendly cyclists in solidarity, learning a lesson about 'strength in numbers' is something you can acknowledge but not truly understand until you ride in a crowd where to your left and to your right, all you see are cyclists and more cyclists. Beyond that, it's also worthwhile to know the 3-4 people biking with you from PN2K who will welcome you happily and become your cycling family.