Contributor: Joe Diomede
This past autumn, my wife and I were on a cycle tour in southern France. We live in the foothills of the Pyrenees, so we are so lucky to have such wonderful cycling roads, almost literally, in our backyard. We are Warmshowers hosts and have been for over ten years. We have hosted more times than we have used Warmshowers on road trips because when I travel solo, I am old school and use paper maps (yes, I even have a film camera stashed away in my handlebar bag!) and try to not stay too connected. It reminds me of the good ole days when I knocked on doors, spoke to locals, and had no idea of what the night held in store. I mostly do not enjoy having an evening’s destination when on my bike.
On our last two trips, my wife and I used Warmshowers and have been treated with so much hospitality that I can see why it is so popular with traveling cyclists. On our most recent tour, we put out a message to a few people at the last minute, and as we were having a snack, Angie took a look at her phone, and there was a response. We were only four kilometers away after a long day’s ride, so we got directions to her place after we exchanged numbers, and started off towards our night’s refuge. As we were crossing three valleys on this particular tour (the Tarn, the Lot, and the Dordogne), we were used to the ups and downs, but this uphill was especially impressive.
The last four kilometers of the day were basically straight up to a beautiful small village, made even more beautiful with the colours of autumn. We were her first guests, and we had a lovely night cooking together and creatively setting up at her place. She was still figuring out how to host people, and the damp mid-October nights were pretty cold. Since we got on so well and felt we had a good connection, we found a different solution to our night’s stay, which worked out well. Our meal together was wonderful, and as she was also new to cycle touring, I was able to give her lots of valuable information from my nearly 40 years of traveling on my bicycle.
Life is a continuous journey where we constantly learn new things. I have never really worried about places to stay when cycle touring, as disconnecting really suits me when I am on a solo bicycle tour. I must say, though, after having such nice contacts using Warmshowers on our last two tours, I do think a little bit of connection will seep into my upcoming tours. A combination of wild camping, campsites, and Warmshowers seems to be a pretty darn good mix. I will still carry my film camera for those truly special pictures. I will still knock on doors and ask farmers if I 
can sleep in their barn or put up my tent in an adjacent field. However, now I will occasionally pull out my phone if I do know (approximately) where I’ll be that night, and send out a quick message to all those welcoming folks who want to give back some of the kindness they have encountered on their journeys. After all, that’s why I host, so why not spread that love of cycling?
Catch up with the Diomedes on their website: The Acoustic Cyclist
