Map meeting, every evening before dinner.
Challenging yourself and succeeding
Sometimes in life there are things you just have to do, just to prove you can do them.
Gladys Garavito of Merrill Lynch faced a challenge like that a few months ago when she heard about a 300 mile bike tour and decided to sign up.
She flew into Austin, Texas on a Saturday and started a 300-mile bike tour over the course of the next six days.
“We started in Austin, then moved on to New Braundfels, Blanco, Fredricksburg, Perdnales, Johnson City back to Austin,” said Garavito. “We camped at State Parks. The ride was a ‘supported’ ride, which means the tour operator carried our bags from place to place. We had a bike mechanic follow us in a support wagon and we had all meals catered including breakfast, lunch and dinner.”
She said they would typically eat breakfast around 7 a.m. and then ride to the next destination. When they arrived, they would set up tents, shower, sightsee and be back at camp for the following day’s map route meeting.
“The good news about a supported ride is if you are not quite up to a leg of the trip, the staff is there to support you even if it means taking the support vehicle,” said Garavito.
Garavito outside of Gruene Hall, the oldest largest dance hall in that part of Texas.
Garavito has always ridden a bike, but wanted to try something totally new.
“I have been to afraid to do it, but last year I made a commitment to myself that I was going to do a multi-day ride,” said Garavito.
She did what she set out to do. She overcame her fears and she learned a few things about herself in the process.
“I learned to keep an open mind,” she said. “I learned to concentrate on what I was doing at the moment, I learned to conquer the hill that I was on and not worry about the one coming. I learned that I still have a desire to perform.
“I really enjoyed being on the road and pushing myself.”
Garavito said she really enjoyed the trip and would highly recommend it to anyone interested.
“At the end of the trip I felt great,” she said. “I started the trip slow and would be one of the last few into camp, but by the last two days I was riding strong. I would definitely do it again. I would strongly recommend gel seats and shorts. I had neither the first two days which made the saddle somewhat uncomfortable.”
Garavito said she was the youngest female on the trip at age 45.
“The average women’s age was approximately 58 and average male was 60,” she said. “The oldest male was 72 and the oldest female was 64.
“It was great to see such active older adults all of which were faster than me!”
Goofy answers
Last month, I sent out the Question of the month asking the top five things Realtors must do to sell a home.
When I got this one, I did a double take. It was a joke, of course, so I couldn’t print it with the rest, but I thought it should go somewhere.
To get them to visit your house:
1) In the middle of the night, drive through your neighborhood and steal all of the for sale signs off your neighbors lawns (Hey, they do it to me).
Once they come for a showing:
2) If the prospect is a guy, pay four or five Hooter girls to act like they are your neighbors when he comes for a second showing. If the prospect is a woman, make sure the house is really clean, smells nice, and leave chocolate covered strawberries and champagne on the kitchen counter.
When they’re ready to make an offer:
3) Figure out the least you can afford to accept, and then divide that by two.
After you’ve counter offered, if it seems like they’re still on the fence:
4) Promise to leave your car with keys in the ignition, in the driveway after closing.
And if all else fails and they still haven’t budged on that counter-offer:
5) Tell the seller your Realtor hasn’t eaten in three weeks.”
This was sent by a loan officer who by chance is trying to sell his home and isn’t having much luck ... maybe he’ll read the answers to the “Question of the Month” and learn some new tricks.