Touring - Register to host bicycle tourists

Someone here or on crazyguyonabike turned me on to this idea, please go to this site and consider being a host for bicycle tourists:

http://www.warmshowers.org

I tried to register for that site, just to see what it was about, but the owner of the site refused to approve me because I didn't provide enough information.

Ah, well. At the time I was in a tiny apartment and didn't have room to host anyone. Now I'm in a little nicer place. *shrugs*

Maybe I'll try again sometime.

you do have to give a fair amount of information, but you can say that you are not able to host at the moment.

i felt awkward about hosting a bicyclist when i signed up (didn't want to step on my roomates toes, so to speak). but now that i have my own place, i have little to no reservations. i haven't had anyone ask yet, but then again, there are also six or seven other people who live near me. maybe they have better guest beds...

great site, wsl.org !

i am a member, we had our first tourist here sept, '06 . i was recipient of wsl hospitality (x2) in 2004 during an atlantic coast tour.

true, it appeared to be 'hard' to become "member", but it was worth it for me. i strongly advocate joining so we can each support fellow tourists!

share the tour!

I live a few miles from the Pacific Coast Bike Route in Los Angeles, so I decided to sign up a few months ago. No one contacted me and I kind of forgot about it...

Then, suddenly this week, 2 different groups email me asking if my place was available. Go figure... One couple is biking down from Canada to South America pulling a trailer with their 3 year old. I hope they decide to stay at my place...I bet they have some great stories to tell.

Stayed with four families from this list on my ride around Australia in '02, and all four were awesome. Still keep in contact with some of them, and glad I met all of them. Highly recommend it as a great way to meet people who share your passion for cycle-touring.

Couchsurfing.com does a similar job to warmshowers. It has more members and is not cyclist-specific. If you don't want to host non-cyclists all you have to do is ignore emails from people who don't mention their bike! The FAQ says you are not compelled to host anyone: "Do I have to let everyone stay at my house?
Not at all. You can pick and choose whom you want to host. You can meet people to hang out for coffee or a drink only, or you can even make your couch completely unavailable."

I have registered at both sites and it was easy. I don't agree that warmshowers is hard to register at. It took 3 minutes, and the fact I said I was away travelling wasn't a problem. If you say you're not around you can claim to have a 6 bedroomed house with parking for 50 bikes. It makes no difference.

There's actually about 5 different websites which you can sign up for to host people.

I have been on the WSL for a number of years and have had two guests stay with me. It was a wonderful experience. I love to cook for hungry cyclists and as I have a complete bike shop in my basement I can help out with any needed repairs or adjustments. Though I have not actually stayed with anyone on the list, I was able to get some needed route information from a member in Cape Breton this past summer. WSL is a great idea.

I am registered with both Warm showers and couchsurfing, so if you ever find yourselves in the North of England, (and I am not off myself somewhere).

You will be made most welcome.

george

When I traveled in Ireland this summer, I stayed with two WarmShowers hosts. Wish there were more, these experiences were wonderful. So far, nobody's called to have me host them, but I'm waiting!
Cheryl

My house is just 3 blocks off of Adventure cyclings Atlantic Coast Route. We have hosted a few riders in the last few years. It's always been great to have someone stop in. Now that I'm on the WSL we are hoping to have even more. That it it give us a reason to keep the house picked up. LOL

Like Toolboy I have a complete shop set up, can even do frame repairs if needed.