HUMBOLDT PARK — The new Bloomingdale Trail has attracted thousands of bikers, joggers, walkers, bladers and, it appears, some crushes.
Call it "Crossed Paths."
Consider Jose, who was jogging on the new Bloomingdale Trail and was so taken by a woman he encountered on the path that he took to Facebook to try to find her and ask for a date.
"Friends, I normally keep to myself when I run my daily 10k. I occasionally wave to friends and family. Even trail regulars that make eye contact. But today [Monday] around the 6pm hour, I couldn't help but stop and glance," wrote Jose on the Friends of the Bloomingdale Trail Facebook page.
"There was a marvelous redhead on roller blades. Needless to say this young lady has been one of the most beautiful women I have ever seen.....EVER! (literally been all over the world)."
Jose, who lives in Humboldt Park, works as a fleet clerk for a major airlines and asked that only his first name be used for this story, has been running the full length of the 2.7-mile-long elevated path twice daily.
"I was running eastward from Ridgeway and saw her near Central Park [Avenue]. I noticed her right away, the reddish hair. I could not help but stop and glance," Jose said in a telephone interview.
Alisa Hauser says not everyone was amused by Jose's online post:
The two may not have made eye contact, as the woman had "big, bug-like sunglasses" on, he said.
He described the woman as being in her mid-20s, wearing a white top and tie-dyed pinkish or black shorts and traveling on pink roller blades or inline skates.
When asked if he made any motion to engage the woman, Jose, who has been single for almost two years, said, "I felt a little embarrassed to wave, usually when I'm running that is all I'm thinking about. I see friends and family and don't wave and they think I'm giving them the cold shoulder."
Jose ended his Facebook post with, "Unfortunately runner etiquette really doesn't give you a chance to speak. So dear Mystery lady in red. If you happen to be a friend of the trail I would like nothing more than a chance to meet. Whether it be on the trail, over a drink, or even over dinner. Till then I hope to see you once again.....beautiful lady in red."
Jose's post brought 67 "likes" and a long trail of comments from fellow users of the trail, which runs through Wicker Park and Bucktown on the east and Logan Square and Humboldt Park on the west.
"I think that takes a lot of courage to put yourself out there! I hope you find your lady in red!!" one trail goer wrote, while another added, "Love this! Let us know if you connect! #firstweddingonthetrail"
Jose said that, should the "mystery woman" see this story, she can find him on Facebook by searching "Jose Luis El Snoopy."
The path opened last month.
(l.) Cyclists on the trail and at right, a photo of Jose, or "El Snoopy." (Facebook)
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