The passion of the bike

The passionate pedaler

This cyclist’s work life and love life are both bikecentric.

OMG, GREAT DRESS Willobee’s dating policy is ‘no wheels, no deal.

Photo: Ben Reed

“It’s funny to try to date somebody who doesn’t ride a bike,” says Emily Willobee. “I feel like transportation is a pretty fundamental part of your personality and how you relate to people. I’ve had this conversation with friends: Would you even date someone who doesn’t ride? For most of us, the answer is no.”

That’s not a surprising perspective, coming from the program director for Mayor Daley’s Bicycling Ambassadors. In that capacity, 24-year-old Willobee happily traverses the city year-round, sharing her bike love with other Chicagoans. Environmental benefits are one big reason she loves biking; another is versatility. “[When you’re biking,] you’re not trapped to a certain bus route or train tracks,” she notes. “You get to see different parts of the city that you might not otherwise see.”

Willobee’s passion for cycling brought her together with her boyfriend of a year and a half, whom she met through mutual friends while hanging out in a parking lot, doing bike tricks. “He’s a little less die-hard than I am,” she admits with a laugh. For example, if he’s feeling sick, “He’s more likely to take the train. I don’t think about public [transit] most of the time.”

An enthusiasm for bikes threads through every aspect of Willobee’s life. She and her roommate get a “bicyclist discount” on rent from their bike-activist landlords. Their basement houses about 35 two-wheeled steeds; Willobee owns five, each with a different purpose, from a cruiser with a crate for schlepping groceries to the mountain bike she rides when playing her favorite sport, bike polo.

“It’s like a combination of soccer and hockey, on bikes,” she says of the sport, which involves two three-person teams chasing a rubber ball around tennis courts. “It’s a really great way to improve your bike skills, because it’s a tight space and you’re riding one-handed. Playing polo is a good reminder that it doesn’t hurt so much to fall off your bike.”

—Web Behrens

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