Here in Missouri there is a rails to trails project called the Katy Trail.  It runs from north of St. Charles, Missouri to Clinton Missouri (about 260 miles) along the route of the old Missouri - Kansas - Texas railroad.  It is one of the best known of the rails to trails projects and from what I've seen of it, it's a beautiful ride.

The problem is that I hate it!  Since it's on an old railway right of way, it's basically flat the entire length (at least what I've ridden of it so far).  The fact that it's flat means that you have to peddle the entire way; no coasting!

The other day we went for a ride where we started at the Katy Trail at Marthasville Missouri, but then took off on the road that went out the back of the town.  As we rode out of town and started pumping up a long hill, I realized that riding a bicycle is a lot like selling real estate!

Say What?  What You Talking About Willis?

Yeah, I know that it's a bit of a stretch, but run with me...or should I say, "ride with me"? 

First of all, real estate is like bicycling in that you're going to get out of it what you put into it.  It's going to take effort.  If all you ever do is ride around the neighborhood, you're going to miss a lot of what you could see if you took off for the open roads.  The same can be said if you always stay on the prescribed trail!

The Katy Trail is cool because of a number of different reasons, but probably the most obvious of which is that it was designed to be a biking/hiking trail.  Along it's route you have bed and breakfast inns, repair facilities, bathroom facilities, even wineries.  The trail is well maintained, level and easy to ride.  Even youngsters can handle it and you end up seeing a lot of them out there.

All of this is cool, but yet I still prefer the open road.  Why is that?  Well, for one whereas the Katy trail is predictable, the open road isn't.  To me, this is part of it's charm.

As Kathy and I pumped up that first hill out of town in the 95+plus heat, it really started to suck!  I down shifted to the point where I was in 1st gear and yet my thighs were burning from the effort.  Sweat was pumping out of my body and my heart was pounding.  As we approached the top of the hill, the road curved out of sight behind the trees that were close enough to block the view, but not close enough to provide shade.

As we "topped" the hill we saw that it was really an illusion and that the hill continued on for at least another 1/4 of a mile (any of you out there getting my analogy now?).  While at the time, that 1/4 of a mile seemed like it would go on for ever, it didn't. 

We topped the hill (this time for real) and took a break.  From the top of the hill we could look back and see the valley that we had just climbed out of and it was beautiful.  The road snaked down the hill after disappearing in the trees for a bit and we could see Marthasville nestled amongst the fields that led all the way to the Missouri River.  This was a view that those who stayed on the trail would never see and while it was indeed a lot of work, it was worth it.

After catching our breaths, drinking some water (it's amazing how good simple ice water with lemon in it can taste when you're doing something like this) and cooling down in the shade (again, a simple thing that is grossly under appreciated by those who never venture out) we hopped back on the bikes and started down the other side of the hill.

As our bikes picked up speed, I could feel the sweat evaporating off of my skin.  While the view had been cool, this was what it really was all about!  The scenery rushing past us as our bikes flew down the other side of the hill.  We shifted up through the gears and pumped the pedals to the point where it didn't matter if we pumped them anymore.  We felt the need for speed and the thrill that went with it! (Sound like one of those days when you have back to back closings and everything pops just like it's supposed to?)

All too quickly, we were at the bottom of that hill and while our momentum carried us a ways up the next hill, it was time to get back to work (seeing my point here now, aren't you?). 

The next hill wasn't as bad as the first one.  Nor was the next.  The one following that was another big one though and we had to labor up it much as we had the first.  When we got to the top of this one, we took another break and decided that it was time to head back home.  Which we did.

Later that night, after having gotten home, I told my daughter about the ride and I bet that you can guess that the best part of the story wasn't about the flat parts or about the little hills that weren't all that hard.  The best part of the story was about climbing the big hills and over-coming the challenges that they presented.

Now, doesn't that sound just like real estate?

R.B. "Bob" Mitchell

ValueList Real Estate Services, Inc.

Bob Mitchell is president of ValueList Real Estate Services,  St. Louis' largest discount/full-service real estate and mortgage company.  If you would like to find out more about Bob, ValueList or our flat-fee listing program, please feel free to visit our web site at valuelistre.com