Should You Consider Becoming A Warm Showers Host?
Nikki Rellon, our house guest for the post RAGBRAI festivities. Former Kickboxing Champion, Transcontinental cyclist and Master Chef…oh and she lives on a big pink sailboat
https://bionicgypsy.com/about-niki/
I have never officially joined Warm Showers. My wife and I have enjoyed hosting so many traveling cyclists, we really should. So, it was no big deal when our friend Dustin called saying he was full up and a German tourist needed a place to stay. Frankly, I get excited just about any time Dustin calls. Almost always it means he has a touring cyclist in need of a part or wanting to hang out for a bit.
Nikki was ridding her exotic, custom built titanium bike on RAGBRAI when a helpful stranger broke her deraileur hanger. Apparently, no one in SAG ever heard of a universal deraileur hanger. She had to ride her motorcycle in to The Quad Cities (two minutes in our tiny parts bin and we had the likely fit as well as a universal… smh). We enjoyed an afternoon’s conversation, a few too many drinks and a couple excellent concerts (you will find most tourists are more interested in your stories than their own). After a second night’s rest and a simple motor bike repair, she’s on the road, heading back to her pink sail boat, docked in Georgia.
While Nikki and her story are quite remarkable, we have found that touring cyclists in general are almost always the most fascinating people. We’ve hosted the son of a giant fast food franchise founder. He is an accomplished photographer and a back country forest ranger. One friend has paid for her trip around the world through her photography (she ended up meeting her husband along the way). We’ve had a college professor and a surgeon join us. They’ve been from just about every religious and political perspective.
You might think these would make us feel insecure about our tiny and rather plain home. On the contrary, a warm shower, after weeks in a tent, feels like living in a castle. Never once have any of our guests made us feel any less than wonderful. Some will be life long friends.
You can learn a lot more by clicking on the embedded links, but Warm Showers is just a place for cyclists to stay a night or two as they are touring. They post a request a few days ahead of their arrival. People usually look at their profile and decide whether to offer them a place to stay or pitch a tent. Seriously, when and where are you going to meet more interesting people, THAT LOVE BIKES, without even leaving your home!?!
Yes, it’s possible to be stood up. Things happen that hold up cyclists and frankly, sometimes a cyclist might not feel safe at a host home (we used to have a medium sized dog). This is nothing compared to the wonderful encounters you might have. Give it some consideration.