Directing Samurai visits Boston

Meet Directing Samurai. She is one of the spunkiest people I know, and I'm very fortunate to call her co-director at the PN2K foundation. She brings the enthusiasm and creativity to so many of our ideas, as well as the impetus to take chances and move our foundation forward. This weekend, she visited Boston/Cambridge and met our entire MIT PN2K team in person. I was so excited to finally present Directing Samurai's PN2K shirt to her (you can see that the photos radiate the same excitement). She also geared up with the elbow, knee, wrist guards that we will be selling for $20 on our website and at our events, and after she realized she was overdosed on hype and no longer jet-lagged, we decided to go shopping for some surprise appreciation gifts for the team. How did we get to our destination point? We biked. 

So here you see Carmel on a Hubway bike, sporting our black PN2K multisport helmet, looking super chill. (Like this helmet? We're selling a limited number here)

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After meeting with everyone, we did some video shooting for our kids bike safety event - Before Carmel arrived, we were online and video chatting about ideas for a kids bike safety video. What we came up with is a hoot... Neither of us are cut out to "sing" the lyrics to our song on camera, so if you or someone you know wants to be a PN2K video star, shoot us an email. However, we did get some nice footage to show basic safety instructions for kids, like looking both ways before crossing the street, how to lock up a bike (safely! and with a U-lock), signaling, wearing your helmet, bike lights, safety gear, etc. 

Finally we went out for food with the team. What you see above is a little something we encountered after crossing the Harvard Bridge along Mass Ave (which, by the way, was ridden with congested traffic and vehicles in bike lanes by motorists who were clearly not following the letter or spirit of the law). While locking up our bikes, I noticed two things: (1) cars were cutting across the bike lane in the intersection, even as greenly painted as it was (2) there was a huge cone lying unused, neglected, and clearly abandoned beside me. I took up the cone, placed it at the intersection (the cyclist there at the time looked really confused; I guess cyclists aren't used to being cared or looked out for!), and stood back and admired the spectacle. It was amazing. Dingfang noticed first the immediate effect that one single cone placed at the intersection created - all of a sudden, cars and buses steered clear of that bike lane (or rather, that cone!) It makes sense right? During driving tests and all during practice, you're trained to not knock over a cone -- but never to avoid driving in a bike lane. Well, no one ever said the DMV was perfect and fair to all road users. 

All in all, a grand time was had by all. We did a mini-photo shoot before Carmel left, and Dingfang and Yaoming even took time off Sunday afternoon to interview Carmel before she left. That will go down in my books as one of the most fun, effective, and productive weekends to date. 

Keep Calm & Pedal On! 

 

A tribute to our STEAM education programs

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As PN2K moves towards bike safety educational initiatives and programs, we find ourselves moving away from some programs that have been instrumental in our foundational development and will move towards impact in the broader bicycle safety field to align with our greater mission of ensuring that all cyclists, including kids and their families, stay safe on the roads. We have exciting plans underway and have secured funding from the MIT Office of Government and Community Relations for 300 kids' bike safety books and will be starting work with MIT's Daycare Facilities to develop our kids bike safety educational sessions. 

Once upon a time...

...in 2014, we kicked off our collaboration with MIT Amphibious Achievement to inspire high school students to pursue their dreams through STEAM-education, hands-on workshops (STEAM represents "science, technology, education, arts, math"). The structure of these exciting on-site visits to local companies and start-ups for Achievers was created by PN2K as a means to inspire students to pursue higher education and introduce them to potential career paths. 

Guest speakers inspire students with personal stories of how college shaped their career paths and life journeys. A large chunk of time is dedicated to experiential learning (hands-on building and “learning by doing” activities), followed by a quick debrief. 

The four workshops PN2K hosted: 

Laser-cutting

STEAM #1: Danger!Awesome (Apr 5, 2014)

See photos & blog

Rocket-launching

STEAM #2: EcoVent (Mar 3, 2014)

See video & blog

Flying Airplanes

STEAM #3: EcoVent (Nov 22, 2014)

See photos & blog

Glass-blowing

STEAM #4: MIT Glass Lab (Mar 3, 2015)

See video & blog

In May 2014, we also gave out a $500 award to support a high school student in pursuing their life aspirations through higher education - Congratulations Miss Lucie Sanon! The $500 is awarded to an Achiever demonstrating dedication, potential, vigor of character through scholarship and athletics, and commitment. Read more in our blog.

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Accidental Sunday morning Hub on Wheels

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)

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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. 

Blobs or dog? Closure explains our tendency to take information and relate it to something with which we feel familiar and comfortable.

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. 

 

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Click here to see PN2K's full photo album of "Boston Bike Party: Boston"

Resources: 

"Ramblings on Psychology." 22 April 2015. Accessed on Sep 17 2015. <http://ramblingsonpsychology.blogspot.com/2015/04/what-you-see-isnt-what-you-get.html>

 

Keep Calm & Pedal On 2015

Whelp. We did it. 

Where to even begin? How about photos; I heard they're worth a couple thousand words. 

Full photo album here 
Credit to Yaoming Duan & Dingfang Zhou, PN2K Historians 

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We're pretty serious when it comes to finding awesome people to work with us - why? Because we take your safety seriously. We're working to transform the way that people think and feel about bicycling, and we want you to be part of it. We want you getting out there, cycling safely, getting fit, building friendships, and owning the roads when you're totally in your rights to do so. But we don't want to see one of you in the news connected with an accident or fatality, and that's why we run Bike Fest. Specifically, that's why we run our Bicycle Treasure Hunt at the start of the year. 

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In September, we cater especially to people who know how to ride a bicycle but have never done so here before either because they are new arrivals or because they have never felt safe. This year we did this in partnership with Urban AdvenTours; we rented their bikes at a nonprofit discount and provided that guided tour in a semi-controlled environment. 

Why, you ask? 

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[source: http://www.cityofboston.gov/news/uploads/16776_49_15_27.pdf]

According to the City of Boston's Cycling Report (2013), bike accidents peak during the start of the school season (around September), due to the herd of students arriving on campus. If you think about it, this also includes freshman, transfer students, international students, etc. all cycling around for the first time in unfamiliar territory with different traffic signals, cycling infrastructure, and different road behaviours to which they might not be accustomed (e.g., "What?! Why are there no bicycle traffic lights?? Where are the segregated bike lanes? Did that bike lane really just disappear??!!") 

Yeah, we've seen it all. 

source: http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2010/aug/13/cycle-to-work-scheme-bargain-ends

During Bike Fest, the long line was for Bike Boom, who was running the free minor repairs and tune-ups. For those of you in line, we just want to say: next time, leave your bike, roam around and mingle. There's no reason to stand in one place for an hour or so when you've got so many cool people around you. On our end, we'll be working on adding stations for people to play bike safety games and more easily socialize. We also had our usual air/oil station (which there was an expedited line for), our pressure washer working its magic (between W20 and MIT Z-Center), and 200+ half Chipotle burritos and six platters of Subway sandwiches. That doesn't include the case of bananas, apples, and bottles of water donated by Whole Foods, or the granola bars and chips from Star Market (thank you Sponsors!). Rejjee also contacted us a few days before the event - so we thank Ken and our volunteers for helping to register the bikes for Rejjee and for MIT Parking & Transportation Office! (All bicycle registration forms were turned in on Tuesday morning so your tickets should have been issued.) 

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For those of you wondering, we were supposed to end our event officially at 5 PM; but it ran past 6:30 PM. Let's just give a huge round of applause to the volunteers and team (Will, Dingfang, Yaoming, Tian) who woke up early and stayed until 8 PM (because that's when we all actually left the venue), not to mention the loads of preparation, printing, and transporting of goods/bikes to and from the event; and then the actual handling of the event. I later asked Tian if she could come up with her best analogy for what it felt like at the registration desk. Her response: "Tornado? Nah, it wasn't that bad. More like a tsunami? Came in waves, then calm, then waves of chaos, then calm, then after-wave of people who came after 5 PM."  

Thanks to the impromptu volunteers on the day of, and to those who stayed until past close for take-down/clean up. A shout-out to DJ Quentin and WMBR for the upbeat music (we liked your "Bicycle" by Queen, too ;)) Thank you tour guides for keeping all cyclists safe and accepting slightly larger groups than last year!  Admittedly, we ended up with a waitlist, had more registrations on the day of than last year, and still accommodated everyone. 

If the idea of cycling with a group to discover the hidden treasures of Boston (without tour guides) entices you, then you should join MIT PN2K. We'll be holding regular bike rides and socials. That is the perfect time to not only ride around without limitations but also to build confidence riding with others and becoming familiar with the territory and bike rules. Not to mention, you'll discover a lot of places on your biking adventures that will take the load off of daily academic pressures. 

Here are some dates to remember:

 

Friday, September 11th

@ 7:15 PM (meet at Student Center) 
Leave @ 7:20 PM
Boston Bike Party: BOSTON
For all cyclists
RSVP: here (or just show up) 
See the info post on our PN2K-Community Facebook page. 

 

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Show up at 7:15 PM @ the MIT Student Center (ready to roll by 7:20 PM) for Boston Bike Party's monthly city bike ride with 800 other cyclists. Pace is casual/social. Don't forget your helmet, bike lights, and lock.

Friday, September 18

@ 6:00 - 7:00 PM 
MIT PN2K's 1st General Info Session/Meeting of the Year
MIT Building 1-132 (where is this?)

  • Learn about the different committees
  • Plan socials/bike rides (next group bike ride: Fri, Sep 25th)
  • Join in the fun

 

 

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Till next time! 🙂 And remember, 

KEEP CALM & PEDAL ON.

**RAFFLE PRIZE WINNERS** 

Congrats to the following winners of our raffle prize from Bike Fest! All winners have been contacted. If you haven't received an email and your name is listed below, please contact bikefest2015@mit.edu so we can email you with details on where to pick up your prize. 

$110 Urban AdvenTours gift card - Przemyslow Krol 
$50 Ferris Wheel tune-up gift card - Solene Dewey 
$47 bike lock from Bike Boom: Yaoming Duan
$40 Starbucks gift basket - Jisoo Min
$25 Star Market/Shaw's gift card - Jack Reid
$25 Broadway Bike School gift card - Jay Morgan (winner of Bike Treasure Hunt raffle prize) 
MIT Facilities thermos #1 - Eeshan Bhatt
MIT Facilities thermos #2 - Warren Brodrick
MIT Facilities water bottle #1 - Catherine Gillespie
Water bottle from Ferris Wheels Bike Shop: Emmanuel Felina

Prepping for the big Sunday

Preparation for MIT Bike Fest 2015 has been insane. For the first time ever, it's been forcing me to learn how to delegate tasks to the team, and it's wonderful - because the core team is very committed and I feel like we are all working diligently together to make sure this big event coming up is a success. Thanks to Tian for helping to schedule my day for me (this morning: Tian - "Did you just wake up?" Me - "No, I've been awake" Tian - "You're supposed to be printing now!"). Yaoming and I went around picking up all the goods ordered for Bike Fest: T-shirts, food donation from Star Market, raffle basket from Starbucks (to throw in with donations from MIT Facilities and gift certificates from local bike shops). We headed to MIT Activities Midway to check in (huuuuuge line) where we eventually met with Dingfang and Will. 

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MIT Activities Midway consists of the entire population of students coming to one area where all the student organizations congregate and entertain (with info and food). We did our bit, Yaoming helped package all the bike helmets that Will wheeled all the way over from Next House, and our historians then went to drop off these helmets at the MIT COOP for our big day Sunday. [left: photo of very useful MIT bike maps that show the cycling cages - both indoor and outdoor - at MIT, as well as fix-it stations, and cycle routes.]

Thanks, students and community, for joining us so far! We are excited by the energy that the start of the new school year comes in, and we hope that we can help keep you guys safe on your bikes while you're with us. 

Don't forget to join us for our first GBM on the third Friday of this month, as well as other social activities and bike rides each week. Check out our calendar under "events" on PN2K.org for the latest info or like/follow us on social media.

Keep Calm & Pedal On!

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