Imagine our surprise as we summited a John Huttl level hill to turn the corner to an emu growling at us through the trees.
Our host home this evening was a Warm Showers find, Judy’s house in Elk, CA, population 250.
We didn’t encounter too many people on our ride, mainly based on the location we’re riding through, but were happily welcomed by our hosts, Judy, her brother, and Judy’s father. We were also pleasantly surprised to find that 2 other bike packers were also camping in the yard.
Things we noted at Judy’s included, but are not limited to:
1) the emu, how could you miss him, he was fondly named Feathers and he was about 20 years old, and would be sleeping about 8 ft from our tent. Interestingly enough there had been 27 emus on Judy’s land over the years, all inevitably roasted and eaten, excluding Feathers.
2) The outdoor not outdoor bathroom with a crescent moon carved in the door, and the collection of soaps and shampoos from riders past that had been abandoned, eclectically arranged. Noteworthy to our team was that there were 30 gallons of hot water available and the air was crisp with a heavy fog rolling in off the tree line.
3) The “killer” plants on the way to the indoor outdoor shower, noteworthily said to cause a worse reaction than poison ivy, we avoided these like our lives depended on it.
4) Dinner, wow. Judy made a sweet glazed lamb, the outside layer was a crunchy sweet lather of flavors, absolutely solvable to stare at, and the interior of the lamb was cooked to be just medium rare. In combination with the lamb we had steamed potato slices, with carrots, and other veggies, along with a carrot, ginger, cranberry salad marinated in basaltic vinegar. For desert Judy made a conglomeration on fruits crushed together and coated in coconut flour and cloves, similar to a pie filling, it smelled like Christmas. In conclusion the most veggies and fruit we’d been exposed to in a minute.
5) At 8 PM sharp the residents on Judy’s particular road, howl in unison.
6) The Warm Showers experience. We hadn’t ever really experienced staying with a host from Warm Showers that was also hosting other cyclists at the same time. The two cyclists staying at Judy’s with us were traveling solo down the coast. Joseph was retired and after being cooped up for 8 months got vaccinated and decided to take an adventure. The other cyclist, Shadow, was a seasoned rider, having ridden more than 14,000 miles in the states. They wanted to bike in Europe, but Covid had paused that journey, so they began a new one biking here. Joseph, in particular, was very curious about our mission, why we are biking. We rarely get to speak with other cyclists, it’s usually a causal wave or a ‘good job!’ and while it’s fun to toss stories around together and talk to experiences we’ve had along the way, the mission behind the ride is a glaring motivating factor that in some ways makes us different from the cyclists we meet. It’s not necessarily the call for adventure that brings our team to cycle nearly 50 miles a day, but cycling for the conversations we get to have about trafficking like we had with these cyclists. It’s a huge motivating factor everyday getting to introduce people to the topic of trafficking and talking through why we do what we’re doing and what they can do to help.
This was a great example of us really never knowing where we’re going, what we’ll find, or who will be there, only knowing the elevation and mileage, but fully embracing the experience and the people we meet with the hospitality and generosity they offer.
-Edie
