Love takes root on the boulevards

By Ted Villaire

The weather looked perfect as 200 riders set out on the inaugural Boulevard Lakefront Tour one summer morning in 1989. The route guided the cyclists through Chicago’s often-overlooked bouquet of parks, leafy greenways and historic neighborhoods that make up its system of boulevards.

Alison Janus and her husband Rob Jones recall the day clearly because it was the day they met.

They both came to the ride with friends. The atmosphere was convivial and carefree as they pedaled past lagoons, flower gardens, kids playing in the parks and the stately Victorian homes along the boulevards.

About halfway through the ride, somewhere near Garfield Park, Alison and Rob struck up a conversation.

Since Rob served as deputy chief architect for the Chicago Park District, he was familiar with the history of the parks and the boulevards.

“It was a good conversation,” said Alison, who works as a program officer for the Steans Family Foundation. “It helped that Rob and I were riding at the same pace. That was important.”

When he noticed she wore a ring on her ring finger, Rob thought she might be married.

Lucky for him, she wasn't.

“The ring was a gift from my grandmother,” she said. “He was eyeing the ring—that was a good sign. I knew then he was interested.”

At the end of the ride, Rob asked Alison out for dinner. “Thank goodness it was a 33-mile ride, because I’m a shy guy,” he said. “It took a while to gather the courage. I was so glad when she said ‘yes.’”

The couple married three years later.

Since that first ride together, they’ve returned to the BLT again and again.

“We mark our calendar year by it,” said Rob, now employed as an architect for the University of Chicago. Alison reckons she’s completed 14 BLT rides and Rob said he has 10 or 11 under his belt. Their 16-year-old son, Max, participated in many of them, as well.

Recently, whenever the couple rides the BLT they wear the official ride T-shirts they received that first memorable year.

Neither Alison nor Rob guarantee love-at-first-pedal at the BLT, but they both agree that it’s a terrific event for meeting people and exploring unfamiliar pockets of the city.

“It’s a great way of seeing Chicago,” Rob said. “People don’t realize what a treasure these boulevards are.”

Ted Villaire is Active Trans' writer and editor.