A bike ride down Memory Lane

One of the most touching stories is the one shared by Dingfang and Yaoming during our last MIT PN2K meeting. I think what's so attractive about it is that it's one that tells of passing time, and how serendipity can bring about chance encounters, intertwining fates, and lives that inextricably grow together. Yaoming, Dingfang, Will, Carmel, Tian, and Alpha have been some of our organization's most involved members, and I know few people who have more open hearts, open minds, and share their time as freely as they do. Dingfang and Yaoming are our foundation's historians - you might have seen their photos posted everywhere, from our website to our social media. First friendly acquaintances, Dingfang and Yaoming then became team members, friends, and now, they are part of our New England family. So when they shared this story from way back when, it was like a skip down memory lane to a time when I would've never been able to even imagine how big of a role they would play in my life (and in PN2K) now. 

Anyway, I'm delaying the fun - here's Dingfang and Yaoming's story. 

"The blizzard this January was so crazy that for the first time in my life, I saw 4 inches of snow at the front door of my apartment. After the first snowstorm--Juno--Dingfang and I went to Cambridge to film a reaction story for our class assignment.

We saw a few people working or walking around the MIT campus. A surveyor was typing some numbers into the topography machine in front of him. He was working on a new map of MIT. “It seems to be miserable working outside in such bad weather; however, when spring comes, people feel jealous of my job,” the man said, and then kept working.

The weather didn’t seem too bad for some cyclists. We saw an MIT student who cycled to the student center and we talked to him when he was locking his bike. We were curious how people were managing to cycle on the roads full of snow. He told us that for him biking was the best way of commuting between MIT and his apartment. He rode his bike every day (the surface of the road was very slippery, so he had to be very careful). Then he told us there was a group of people who were fixing bikes indoors and sharing tips about riding bikes in the winter. ("Why not take a look?") 

And that was how we met PN2K for the first time: at PN2K’s January bike event.

 It was a party of cyclists. People had their bikes tuned up and also enjoyed music and free food. From Will Reyes, the bike safety officer, we learned more about PN2K.

Then we talked to Ye, exchanged contact information, took some photos, and left. A week later, we came back to PN2K’s general body meeting and have became part of the organization since."

From our PN2K Co-Directors to our team, partners, and all our amazingly generous volunteers, we are all very glad you are on this journey with us! And we hope that you will continue to stay actively involved.