To build a relationship with God, most people go to church. Cory Foote of Seattle, Wash., is riding a bicycle more than 6,000 miles across the country to do it.Foote, 24, spends his days praying and separating himself from society while undertaking a trip across the country on a bicycle.
"I want to deepen my understanding and trust in Jesus Christ," Foote said. "There’s a lot you can learn on the road."
Foote’s journey recently brought him through Pell City along U.S. 231, on his way to Mobile to visit his former church youth minister.
His road trip began in Manhattan, N.Y., on March 1, but his reason for the trip started months before that.
"I had a seizure in October because I’m a diabetic," Foote said. "I could have died. It was a scary thing.
"In the Bible it says our days are numbered," Foote said. "We’re also trained from birth to save and prepare for the future, and that’s what I had always done. Even though we save and know where we’re going, death still knocks you up a bit."
At the time of his seizure, Foote was attending college at Trinity Western University in British Columbia, working on his undergraduate degree in psychology. He was preparing for his final exams. After the seizure, Foote forgot two months of studying, which caused him to fail all of his finals. He decided to re-evaluate his life.
"I went to Europe to try and find God," Foote said. "I was talking to a man from Greece I had met there named Cedric. He told me I could find God anywhere."
Foote decided to return to the United States to continue his search.
On his trip back, he remembered a man he had met in Seattle, Wash., several years ago named Homie, who had ridden a bicycle across Canada and down the West Coast of the U.S.
Foote decided he would make a similar trip.
"When you think about how much time you have on the road pedaling from one city to another, you have a lot of time to think about life and God," Foote said. "That’s what I needed."
When his flight landed in New York, Foote prepared for his trip. He bought a Greg Lamond Poprad 18-speed bicycle and a small trailer, along with other supplies needed for the trip, including camping gear.
Foote is funding the trip with his life savings, which was started by a newspaper route when he was a kid. Over time he added money from odd jobs and investments. He pulled all his money into a single account, and uses a credit card while he is on the road so he doesn’t need large sums of cash.
After purchasing the bike, Foote worked to learn how to ride it.
"I had never ridden a bike like this," he said. "Where I bought the bike the guys at the shop told me some secrets of the trade. I trained for about a week along the Hudson River. That was a joke compared to what I’ve done now."
To stay healthy, Foote uses a small pump attached to his clothes to automatically supply the insulin he needs to keep his diabetes under control. He has a three-month supply of insulin, which he carries in a special climate controlled container that acts as his lifeline, keeping the medicine at 50 degrees.
"If that case goes out, the trip might be over real quick," Foote said.
One thing Foote didn’t bring along for the trip is a map.
"I just stop and ask people directions," he said. "The only time it backfired on me was in New Jersey.
"People in New Jersey, for fun, tell you directions that will lead you back to where you started. It happened to me three times," Foote said. "When I’d get back they would still be sitting there and say, ‘Oh, it looks like I gave you wrong directions.’ I even got bad directions from a Jersey police officer."
During his trip, Foote spends the night at camp sites, churches, an occasional hotel and sometimes at the home of someone he meets.
Besides spending time on the road alone, Foote said his trip is also about meeting new people.
"I take quite a bit of time off," he said. "I learn from people I meet along the way. I’m meeting tons of people."
One group of people Foote will always remember is a family he met at a Wal-Mart in Greenville, Tenn.
One of the family members was terminally ill with cancer. It was a tough time for the family.
"That’s how I got so close to them," Foote said. "When you’re going through what they were, I kind of took their mind off that. I spent eight days with them.
"They showed me how to skin a goat and ride four-wheelers," he said. "I had never done that before."
The trip has also dispelled some stereotypes he had about the South.
"A big thing I’ve learned is, what we see on TV is not America," Foote said. "The only image I had of Ashville, Ala., is what I had seen on Cops. It was nothing like that. It was beautiful.
"Alabama is a beautiful state. The people are incredible."
Sometimes Southern hospitality came through just when he needed it.
"A lot of rural areas don’t take credit cards," Foote said. "I’ve had more free meals given to me than I ever would have imagined.
"When I was coming through Pell City I met a man named Paul Manning who paid for my lunch. You don’t see that a lot in big cities. I’ve been blessed."
After arriving in Mobile, Foote said he plans to take a few days off to visit with his friend, and maybe even go to the beach.
After Mobile, Foote plans to ride west to Baton Rouge, La., where he has some other friends waiting for him. Then it’s a hard 3,500 mile trip back to Seattle.
He hopes to complete his journey by Aug. 1, and when the trip is over, he will return to school and finish his education.
"I’ll finish my education regardless," Foote said. "The end result of what I do after that is uncertain."
