ACA routes and Warm Showers hosts

[5kdad]

My wife and I are Warm Showers hosts, but not many cyclists pass through our area in rural Arkansas. We've only hosted 3 cyclists in 5 years. I'm planning a tour this summer, planning on staying mostly on ACA routes. I know there are WS hosts along ACA routes, but wonder if they get over-whelmed with requests for lodging? Anyone with experience, using WS hosts along ACA routes?

[John Nettles]

I am about a mile off of BR66.  We get 5-7 per year so it is not bad at all.  However, on the more popular route, i.e. the TransAm, the can get tons.

I "think" there is some guy in or near Missoula that has hosted hundreds of cyclists yet he keeps doing it so he must not be overwhelmed, or just can't say no.

WS is a personal decision.  What works for me not work for you and vice versus.  Regardless, I thank you for being a WS host.
John

[canalligators]

We live less than a mile off the Northern Tier, which is also the Erie Canalway Trail here.  We would host 5-10 parties a year.  That number would be higher but we needed to say "Sorry" to people who didn't honor our need for 48 hours notice (we worked opposite shifts).

[JHamelman]

It is all personal preference for hosts. A few years back we had a short series on our blog about being a guest and a host. I'd surmise as a WS host already you know these things but maybe there will be something useful to you regardless. Check them out here:

How to be a Good Guest
How to be a Good Host


Best,
Jennifer

[EmilyG]

If you communicate in advance, and give folks a heads up, Warm showers people are usually so wonderfully kind.  we appreciated how quickly most people replied, especially when they could not accommodate us. 
Traveled on ACA routes for three months last year, and utilized Warm Showers 10 times (campgrounds/city parks 57 times, kind strangers back yards 3 times, emergency hotel 5 times, once being an expensive "glamping" "tent" in the Adirondacks while we waited for bike park over a stormy 2 days). 
Hope you have a great trip.
-Emily

ps, we stayed with the guy in Missoula!   He has a HUGE house and yard and is open to all. 

[Ty0604]

I am about a mile off of BR66.  We get 5-7 per year so it is not bad at all.  However, on the more popular route, i.e. the TransAm, the can get tons.

I "think" there is some guy in or near Missoula that has hosted hundreds of cyclists yet he keeps doing it so he must not be overwhelmed, or just can't say no.

WS is a personal decision.  What works for me not work for you and vice versus.  Regardless, I thank you for being a WS host.
John

The WS host south of Missoula is a personal friend of mine. He has a large house and only a single roommate so he enjoys hosting. So much so in the past he's given the ACA "business" cards to hand out to cyclist passing through his area. He'll even stop cyclist on the way and ask if they need a place and, on hot days, drive the route and pass out bottled water to cyclist on the long stretch between there and Dillon.

And to be clear, he host hundreds of cyclist/hikers per year. I imagine he's hosted close to 1,000 if not more since he joined WS.