Warm Showers

Warm Showers

by Susan S. Walker

Wheel Issues October 2009

MIGUEL GAMARRA
When touring self-supported, I try to overnight at Warm Showers hosts when possible. I am also a Warm Showers host, so in early August, I was delighted to get a call from Miguel Gamarra, a Spaniard who was touring from Boston to California across the U.S. My first cycle tourist!
   He said he would arrive “around” 6 PM on Thursday, August 6th. I think he waited along the drive because he arrived at 6 PM on the dot.
   We had a great meal together, prepared by husband “Chef Jeff,” and fun sharing touring stories. Miguel, a Spanish truck driver, had prepared three years for his ride across the U.S., even moving to England so that he could learn to speak English more fluently—though he did confess that American English was easier to understand than UK English.
   Miguel took off early the next morning, Friday, for OKC via Hwy 51W to 77S etc. It was an extremely windy day. He was to meet a friend in OKC, and his plan was to then somehow get to Mexico and out of the country so that he could extend his visa. Here is his last update e-mail to me:
Hi Susan.
I am Miguel, your Spanish warmshowers guest. I have had a great time in OKC those days, however the day I left your house there was no gusting wind but constant hard from the South. It was one of the toughest days in my trip from NYC to here. Unfortunately my friend in OKC will have to look after my bike for some months as I have been unable to extend my 3 initials months as a tourist, not even if I leave the US for the Mexican border for one day. It is very umpleasant but better than carrying on ilegaly. I will be back in March next year. Have a good trip to Vermont. I wish you go back to the road soon. Thanks again for your hospitality I had a great time with you.
Regards. Miguel

CHERYL SLACK
On October 12, a little over two months later, Mary Cash called me from Cooper’s. There was a woman at the shop who was cycling from Winnipeg, Canada, to Corpus Christie, TX. Would I like meet her?
   I was immediately excited. What was the woman’s name? Wasn’t Liz Ford by any chance? (Liz was the Winnipeg, Canadian I rode the first ABB Great Mississippi River Ride with in 1998. She and I got along splendidly and had lots of laughs and a great time together. We still communicate.) No, this woman was named Cheryl Slack.
   I met Cheryl at the shop and we went to Panera where I treated her to lunch. As we chatted, I learned that she was the oldest of 7 children, married, had one child (a 21-year old son), was a PADI certified SCUBA diver, and belonged to a mountain climbing group. But what she really liked was going it alone.
   She was holed up at the Circle D Motel and could not be enticed to spend the night at my house. She valued her “alone time” too much. That was why she was riding solo. Said solo she didn’t feel compelled to make small talk, to eat where or what everyone else ate, to wait for anyone or ride too fast to keep up with anyone; could stop and start whenever she liked, and could camp or motel as it suited. She was on a Trek hybrid outfitted with panniers and a handlebar bag. She had left Winnipeg on August 28 and was averaging just 25 or 30 miles a day.
   When I asked Cheryl what motivated her to ride from Winnipeg to Corpus Christie, she told me that though she was only 55, she had recently retired from a government job of 34 years and had tired of people telling her she ought to do this or ought to do that with her free time, so had just taken off on her bike to “get away from it all.” She began her ride with no real thought of where she was going to stay or where she was going to end. Said she pulled Corpus Christie out of the hat because it was almost due south from her starting point in Winnipeg.
   Back at the shop after lunch, we exchanged e-mails and said our good-byes. I saw Cheryl later in Food Pyramid where she was buying quite a few groceries, perhaps to extend her stay at the Circle D?

ERIC FOLTZ
The same day I met Cheryl, I got an e-mail from Eric Foltz via the Warm Showers network. Did I have a warm bed and shower for a cyclist who was very wet and cold? The photo at left—snitched from Eric’s site—attests to the cold. That’s ice in Eric’s beard.
   Eric had started his cross-country ride in CA on Sept. 7, but his last week in Kansas had been cold, wet, and miserable, so he was heading south through Wichita to warmer climes along the TX coast.
   His website (www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/5841) introduces Eric as a professional photographer and a veteran who served as an Army Ranger in Iraq and Grenada. He is riding to raise awareness and funds for the Wounded Warrior Project: www.woundedwarriorproject.org.
   Eric arrived about 3:30 P.M. on Homecoming Saturday. I gave him little time to clean up. He needed a bike shop, and we had to fight the Homecoming Parade crowd to get to Cooper’s before 4 P.M. when it closed.
   Mary & Wes Cash were handling a passel of post-parade shoppers when we got to Cooper’s. I picked up my new helmet, chatted with Tom Gosnell, and said hi to Mark Thompson and David Kincannon while Eric bought a new tire and also a new nosepiece for his Oakley glasses.
   Below is a photo of Eric as he leaves Sunday morning headed south into TX. A very interesting and well-travelled guy. Go to his istockphoto.com/ericfoltz site to see his photos, and to his website above to read about his travels and to donate to the Wounded Warriors Project.
   To all three cycling tourists: Open roads, open minds great times! I’m envious.