To me, a warm shower feels great just about anytime, but never more so than after a long bike ride.
That's why the Warm Showers website is so great; it guides bicycle tourists to hosts who are willing to put them up for the night, maybe feed them, but at least supply them with a warm shower.
Right now, there are some 2,300 people around the world listed on Warm Showers who are willing to offer hospitality to touring cyclists. More than half are in North America, but Europe also is heavily represented. There are also hosts scattered throughout Asia, Australia and South America.
“The extent of the hospitality depends on the host and may range from simply a spot to pitch a tent to meals, a warm (hot!) shower, and a bed,” says a description on the website.
Roger Gravel, the registrar of the site, says credit for its origin should go to Terry Zmerhal, who wrote:
“I borrowed the idea from LAB (League of American Bicyclists) after doing a cross-country trip. I was very grateful for the people who offered me a place to stay from the LAB hospitality guide and from people I met along the way so I wanted to return the favor myself.”
Roger said he discovered the list's existence in 1996 after he had taken a bike trip to Florida in 1995. No one was managing it and it was essentially dead.
“I asked around for a copy of it and someone, I think it was H.C. Edelmann, sent me an old copy. I then contacted the listed hosts and the WSL was born again,” Roger says. It became database and map enabled earlier this year.
With the aid of a Google Maps mash-up, registered users can click on a flag that marks a host's location on a map, and get such specifics as name, phone number, address, and comments. A text list can also be generated for download. The website also features a forum where cyclists can gush about their hosts.
The Warm Showers website has earned itself a listing in the Cyclists' Yellow Pages at Adventure Cycling Association.
House fees or monetary gifts for the hosts are not necessary, unless otherwise noted, and hosts are under no obligation to invite a cyclist who has contacted them.
Statistics-wise, the US has the most hosts — 1,176, with California being the most hospital state — 141 hosts. There are nearly 500 hosts in Europe and 127 in the Oceania region.
Roger says he wants to thank Steve Ciccarelli, who went to the trouble of making a cgi-bin program that collected the data, and Chistiane Gauthier and Mario Harvey who translated the page into French.
“I also want to thank all the hosts that are or have been on this list since its creation,” Roger wrote.
While we're at it, I'd like to thank them too.
Neither my friend nor I knew about the League of American Wheelmen's hospitality list in 1984 when we bicycled the TransAmerica Route, until we stopped in Berea, Kentucky. A woman walked right up to us, introduced herself, said she and her husband hosted cyclists in their home and would we like to spend the night. Warm shower, comfy bed, washer-dryer, fresh-baked
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