Day 16-18 Helena - Grant

Home. In the last three days I have ridden over 300km and climbed over 8000ft, (no wonder my backside is sore again!), passing some amazing homes and getting my thoughts wandering to the meaning of home. Travelling from Helena to Grant, through Butte and Wise River, I have seen some different places where people live. Canada and north Montana had Mansions by lakes and exclusive log cabins in the woods, as we travel further south it’s RV’s, huts, wood houses, ranches and communes, all places where people have chosen to make their home. Home for me has always been a person, not a place Whether for you home is a person or physical building, one thing most of us experience in life is a change in one or the other. I have been on trail for three weeks now and it’s interesting to see how riders are reacting to being away from their homes and loved ones. Many are home sick, cutting their journey short due to work commitments or the longing of home. It’s a horrible feeling missing home, that person/place of warmth, comfort, where you feel loved and safe. But you don’t experience life staying warm on the sofa. To be out solo can be very lonely at times, despite the other cyclists we are all alone. Everything here is huge, the cars, the houses, the landscape, the mountains. The vastness of Montana has really made me feel small. It’s beautiful and lonely riding for miles on these roads. I suppose I have been home sick for about a year, since the amazing person I called home didn’t feel the same anymore, I am lucky I have my wonderful girls and family and friends I can speak to when I get internet. Who do you call home? Whomever they are give them a cuddle from all of us out here, who can’t give that cuddle to our loved ones we call home tonight.Read more