Feeling the pinch: Some young drivers switching back to bikes

You know the feeling – the ultimate freedom of finally having your own car.

You pick up a couple of friends, turn the music up, roll the windows down and watch the blocks – or cornfields, depending on where you drive – fly past.

Driving around has long been a teenage way to pass the time on a sticky summer night. But these days, with gas prices so high, local teens are thinking twice about wasting precious gas on aimless wandering. And they're making other changes, too, as they realize a slowing economy and high food and gas prices affect them, too.

Also on this date

• Longtime friends remember close-knit Urbana neighborhood
• Calabrese not backing down from 'Goliaths' in election
• Area districts still waiting for revised ISAT results from state
• Champaign murder suspect arrested in western Chicago
• Lincoln's Challenge Academy class begins quest for new life
• Champaign County Habitat for Humanity celebrates 50th home
• Obituaries

» More