Streets Alive! livens Ithaca with music, dance and fun

Whether saddling up for Nerf rocket jousting, exploring an aluminum foil-covered Physics Bus or just wandering around, locals took to the streets Sunday for the biannual Streets Alive!

Starting at 1 p.m., part of Cayuga and Court streets were closed to cars and open to the hundreds of pedestrians who traveled on foot, bikes, roller blades, skateboards, and even pogo sticks.

The long winding line for ice cream was telling of the warm, sunny weather. All along the streets from Ithaca High School to the Greater Ithaca Activities Center, various vendors and organizations had stands with snacks, activities and information. People danced, drew chalk art, hula hooped and played music.

In the high school parking lot, people could try out electric bikes or take part in an obstacle course.

There was also Nerf rocket jousting, where teams of two, riding electric bicycles at high speed, faced off.

Greg Kops and his 9-year-old son, Suli Kops, were one of the first teams to try jousting, and they became the first champions. Suli shot the Nerf rocket as Greg navigated.

"Jousting is a skill we had never known we had or had an active desire to cultivate, but today was the opportunity to see what we were made of," Greg Kops said.

Laurence Clarkberg, of Ithaca, of Boxy Bikes, was showing off electric cargo bikes and also tuning up bikes as part of Friends Bike Clinic. Clarkberg has taken part in Streets Alive! for three years.

"We're blessed to have this community of bikey people," Clarkberg said.

Also at the high school was Tompkins Consolidated Area Transit, where supervisor Stuart Douglas demonstrated how to use the bike rack on the front of the bus. TCAT was the first in New York to offer bike racks on buses, first introducing them in 1996.

Parked just off of North Cayuga Street, it was hard to miss the aluminum foil-covered bus with small bicycles parked all around it. Inside on the Physics Bus, kids got to toy with fun experiments.

Erik Herman, of Ithaca, who helped found the Physics Factory, said he loves being a part of science outreach.

"These exhibits are physics phenomena that you wouldn't otherwise see, and secondly they're made of things you are familiar with," Herman said.

For example, there was an old television altered to react to noise around it. Sound waves were displayed on the screen.

Herman said he "digs" Streets Alive! because he believes "two wheels are better than four."

Music could be heard at almost any point, with a drum circle in Thompson Park, a Zumba station blasting tunes on Cayuga, or a marching band walking down North Cayuga Street.

As part of Streets Alive!, Cultura Ithaca hosted a Cinco de Mayo celebration with music, food and performances.

At Thompson Park, the Tompkins County Health Department hosted a water taste test with samples from seven municipalities, including City of Ithaca, Groton, Bolton Point, Cornell University, Newfield, Trumansburg and Dryden.

The majority of the 175 samplers Sunday preferred the City of Ithaca's water, with 42 people voting for it. Trumansburg came in second with 34 votes, and Bolton Point took the No. 3 spot with 27 votes.

Erich Mueller, who gave rides in a five-seater bicycle, said Streets Alive! is a great community event.

"It's just fun, it's nice and low key. Everyone comes out," Mueller said.

Follow Kelsey O'Connor on Twitter @ijkoconnor.