by Chris Jones

Yesterday, visitors to Golden Gate Park had an opportunity to try out this newfangled European bike sharing scheme that is currently all the rage somewhere that's not here. Seven bikes were hauled in by a Canadian company called Bixi and set up for temporary use by locals. After sniffing around the vehicles and touching them to make sure they were real, park goers enjoyed riding the three gear bikes around in circles, or something.

Unfortunately, the bikes were hauled away at the end of the day by the Bixi folks, possibly never to be seen in San Francisco again. Life in this city can be such a tease. Remember when Gavin Newsom guzzled a glass of water collected out of the tailpipe of a hydrogen fuel cell car and we all thought global climate change was over, hooray? Yeah? That was five years ago. How's your new hydrogen fuel cell car treating you? Exactly.

The current injunction against the City's bike plan obtained by local bike hater and noted professional dishwasher, Rob Anderson, remains in effect indefinitely, preventing implementation of a bike sharing program in San Francisco. Now, despite the fact that the EIR that was conducted for the bike plan was certified by the city's Planning Commission, clearing the way for the injunction to be lifted, appeals have been filed by Anderson and the South Beach-Rincon-Mission Bay Neighborhood Association to prevent the plan's implementation. We'll see if these appeals go anywhere in court. Everyone cross their fingers. Holding your breath not encouraged.