Solutions

I don't miss owning a car, but I have noticed that my view of San Francisco has shrunk to a very small strip that extends from the Mission to Lower Haight. I've gone on some bus-bound adventures as of late, but inertia pretty much keeps me in the neighborhood and at the same restaurants I've been eating for nearly 4 years.

Don't get me wrong - I love the hood. But I need a little expansion. (Partly I feel this is due to my obsessive playing of the new Spiderman 2 game. Long since having won the game, I continue to swing around Manhattan just because it's so frickin' cool to be able to go anywhere. How sweet to swing from the Chrysler building and leap into Times Square ... and do it all in high pixelated-style).

Anyway, as I cannot (yet) be Spiderman, I bought a bike. I don't know much about bikes but mine's red and silver and let's you sit upright instead of hunched over and has a giant squishy seat. And it rocks! On my maiden trek I made it all the way to the ocean and saw parts of Golden Gate Park I never knew about (including the SFPD horse stables).

As soon as my legs recover I fully intend to cruise the Embarcadero ... I hear there aren't any hills.