Last weekend, Chicagoans came out of their houses to run around in the street. Between 8:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. on August 1st, a car-free route spanned from Logan Square to Little Village, passing through several Chicago neighborhoods and parks.

[Left: Lots of shiny white bikes were available at Open Streets.]

A number of non-profit organizations, community groups and other partners collaborated to create Open Streets—an event that gives local residents the chance to ride bikes and dance around in an 8-mile playground that normally caters to motor vehicles. Kids jumped on trampolines, others chowed down on free food, and musicians gave a head-bobbin' beat to the event.

Open Streets seeks to provide environmental, economic, and health benefits to local residents, as well as strengthen connections between diverse communities. Plus, the event was FREE and open to the public.

[Right: A little drizzle from the sky didn't stop cyclists from riding last Saturday.] 

For more info, check out the Open Streets page at the Active Transportation Alliance. Also check out Neighborhood Sports Chicago for more youth-based community sports initiatives.

These days I don't have to force myself to think alternatively when it comes to transportation.  Living in New York City, I've gotten use to relying on bikes, skates, and my dogs (i.e. feet) to get from point A to point B.  It's a good thing especially because I've probably dropped several pounds since I moved here from LA (all I do is walk, run, and climb hella steps everyday!). 

But I admit, I miss my car.  A friend of mine and I were talking about having a car in the city, and while it's not really practical, it does give you a sense of freedom; as in I can get in my car and just 'go' whenever I please.  (Growing up in the 'burbs places this unfortunate sense of entitlement on your shoulders when it comes to driving and owning a car.)

In any event, city living has been good for me and for my personal carbon footprint.  Living in such an environment keeps me on my toes . . . literally.  Thinking of alternative means of transportation isn't a rarity out here, it's actually a necessity.

All of which begs the questions, where do you live and how do you get around?  If you find yourself relying too much on the moving metal box, can you think of other ways that might off set such a dependence?

How might you beat gas these days?

While you ponder, check out a cartoon strip I put together for the Beat Gas contest sponsored by YouthNoise/Playcity and Nike.  I had so much fun working on this video alongside my newly found friend (via Craigslist) Akira Oni, who created the illustrations.  Basically, I came up with this poem a few weeks back and I thought it would be really cool to show cartoon characters doing responsible (and very cute) things all in effort to beat gas.

Our enduring love affair with gasoline is problematic, to say the least. In a world with volatile gas prices, air pollution, carbon-induced climate change, questionable long-term access to foreign oil, and a surge of huge gas-guzzling vehicles taking over the roads, there's one lingering question on my mind:

What are we going to do about it? How are we going to shift away from a car-based transportation structure that requires burning fossil fuels?

More specifically, how can you move from point A to point B without driving? How do you use sports to Beat Gasoline?

I'll tell you what I do. I ride my bike everywhere. I walk. I hitch piggy-back rides from friends. I dance down the street, and climb trees, and balance precariously along abandoned train tracks. I rely on human power as my primary form of transportation. I fuel my vehicle with fruits, veggies, and sometimes nachos.

Yet there are so many more human-powered travel options. You can use skateboards or roller blades. You can move with a scooter, snowshoes, a unicycle, or a pogo stick. You can travel by horseback or kayak. You have the freedom to go car-free, and you can get there using your own muscles. 

A few years ago, I rode my bicycle all the way from Portland, Maine to Portland, Oregon in about eight weeks. Trust me, it can be done, and you can have a total blast getting to where you need to be without the constraint of cars, insurance, auto maintenance, speed limits, drivers' licenses, gasoline...

[Right: A pic of me riding through Montana in July. Man, it felt great to traverse the country on two wheels. Well, three wheels if you count my yellow trailer, Bob.]

I know you all have some great ideas about how to use sports to Beat Gasoline. Here's your chance to show the world how it's done by entering the Beat Gasoline contest.

That's right, we're offering some cool prizes—like Global Giving dollars and Nike kicks—to the best video and photo submissions that illustrate how you play instead of burning gas. So bust out that camcorder, film a short video, submit it to www.beatgasoline.com, and show others how we can use sports to Beat Gasoline.

This morning Walk Now for Autism hosted a 5k event in Chicago. Participants gathered donations for Autism Speaks—a nonprofit dedicated to funding medical research, raising public awareness, and bringing hope to those personally affected by autism. Thus far, walkers in the United States and Canada have collectively raised more than $8 million, with Chicago walkers bringing in more than $900 thousand in 2009.

It was a gorgeous day for a family walk along the lake. Participants also had the chance to check out a bike puppet theatre, play in big bright bouncy castles, eat food, watch live entertainment, and bask in that good warm-and-fuzzy feeling you get when you walk for a cause.

Thanks to all of the walkers, volunteers, and organizers who helped to make this year's Walk Now for Autism a success.

Don't fret if you missed this year's walk in Chicago; there are many other ways to get involved. Donate online, organize a team for next year, or check out the calendar for upcoming events in your local region.

I'm moving to NYC in a few days and in the midst of clearing out my LA apartment, and labeling boxes to be "sent" and to be "stored", I managed to come up with a list of ways I can *try* to stay active in the Big Apple.

A little background:  I'm a Midwest girl who became a woman down South, then grew tired of the West, and who's now headed back East where my father was born and raised.  Needless to say, I'm moved around a bit.  I think it's cool to live in multiple places before one finally decides to "settle" - if (and that's a big IF) I ever decided to give life to another human being, I'll be sure to tell her/him to travel as much as possible, embrace your surroundings, and adapt accordingly.

Going from one major city to the next requires one to reorganize her/his lifestyle; my workout lifestyle in particular.  While growing up in Ohio, it was easy to find a track or stadium to workout at.  Even living in Houston for several years, it was a piece of cake to just hop in my car and drive over to Rice stadium for a workout (no worries about parking, traffic, or PEOPLE.)

But when I moved to LA I realized that living life in La-La land requires most people to live in bubbles; work bubble to car bubble to home bubble.  It wasn't until recently that I discovered an entire community of bike riders chillaxing right around the corner from my apartment.  I also discovered that Southland has some amazing workout spots, like the Sand Dunes at Manhattan Beach and The Stairs in Santa Monica.  While all of these outdoor amenities are heavenly, one of the major problems I encountered was getting to and from these places effectively.  That is, if you know anything about LA you know that traffic is horrendous (the worst in the nation) and you literally have to plan hours ahead of time in order to make a simple trip 15 miles away.  Needless to say, I wasn't able to enjoy the outdoor amenities as much as I liked, so because of that, I went ahead and got a gym membership.  Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know.

So now, I'm headed back East where the faces are a bit more familiar and the food is second to none.  But because I overly enjoy East coast food, it's without a doubt that I must figure out the best ways to stay active in a city where there's more concrete than grass and where people literally live on top of each other.  The list goes a 'lil something like this:

Ways To Stay Active In NYC (in no particular order).

1) Walking - walk more than you've ever walked before!  Grocery store, cafe, friend's apartment, work, you name it; you walk to it!

2) Biking - when walking isn't an option.

3) Running - especially in Central Park, and preferably like Phoebe.

4) Walking the dog - similiar to plain old walking but takes more concentration and multi-tasking abilities.  Plus when a dog's gotta go, a dog's gotta go!

5) Guess this is out of the question.

6) Rollerblading and skateboarding. - never done either, but I wouldn't mind lacing up 4-wheel skates and pretend like it's 1979 all over again.

7) Gym - lots of 'em in NYC and I gotta membership, might as well use it.

8) Intramural basketball - Question: how in the world do I find an intramural basketball team to join in the city??  Any help would be greatly appreciated.

9) DANCING!!!!

10) Water sports - while I can list a slue of water sports activities folks partake in on the West side, I'm not too familiar with what East siders do in the Atlantic.  Again, any suggestions you have are most certainly welcome.

Okay, so there ya go.  What do you think?  Am I missing something?



Photos courtesy of Ed Yordon's and Indy Charlie's Flickr pages.