It was time for the last DC Rainmaker Open House in Amsterdam, and the event certainly didn’t disappoint! It was the largest one to date, squeaking in everyone we could within the roughly 200-person limit we have for the DCR Cave. People came from near and far, with both a strong Dutch crowd locally, but also the most we’ve ever had fly across from the US (and elsewhere) to join us.
As always, the day is divided up into basically two parts. First, in the morning there’s the group run, where we run around Amsterdam for about 8-10KM hitting up some of the sights. As a rule of thumb, the weather on that weekend somehow always ends up being the worst it’s been since last winter. The run starts for All4Running, a nearby running shop. Then later in the evening, is the main Open House event itself, which of course occurs at the DCR Open House.
As always, the event is free, and there’s beer, wine, food, and plenty of giveaways.
Speaking of which, thanks to our partners this year for helping support the Open House with giveaways, including:
– All4Running
– Ass Magic
– Ciovita
– Canyon
– Precision Fuel & Hydration
Canyon is new this winter, but the others have been supporting the site and Open House for years in some cases!
The Morning Run:
So, in true DCR Open House Fashion, it was just about the freezing level and on and off again raining prior to the start of the morning run. That said, somehow, for the entire run, it didn’t actually rain. Fear not, it made up for it a few hours later.
As always, we met at All4Running, near Vondelpark for the run. This basically gives us more time back at the DCR Cave during the day to make it presentable. The All4Running crew is awesome as always.
Paul was there in his banana suit. If you’re not familiar with Paul, he does awesome work by picking up a bag of trash on every run (called Plogging), more on his Instagram and YouTube channel about his efforts.
We grab a quick group photo before heading out into the beautiful Dutch weather.
The general goal is to stay as one group, at least for the majority of the run. This isn’t (usually) a race. First up was Vondelpark:
From there we’d swing over to the Rijksmuseum, or rather, through the Rijksmuseum. Somehow running (or riding) through a building never gets old.
Then, of course, the group photo. The first time ever there were no tourists around to take our photo. Someone has always been nearby and offered, but the weather must have kept most of the (smart ones) in bed. Thus, a group selfie will do instead!
From there we crossed town again, towards Olympic Stadium, and most notably, the community running track next door. A rarity globally, this pristine track has no fences around it, and is totally open to runners 24×7 (and the community at large). It’s where I did all my track-related training and testing in Amsterdam, including this silly post about measuring tracks.
And yes, that’s my favorite statue in the corner there. If you’re not familiar with the statue, it’ll definitely give you a double-take from a distance, especially on a rainy/foggy day.
After that we rounded a few more canals, working our way back (and trying to clock in precisely 10KM).
Time for one final group picture, photo-bombed by a cyclist on the path:
Of course, after everyone left, both myself and Bobbie (The Girl) may have gotten distracted buying new running shoes. I mean, when in Rome, and all that…. A new pair of Hoka’s for me, and New Balance for her.
After that, it was back to the DCR Cave for clean-up, including, sending Bobbie up to jump around in the cardboard dumpster making more room:
Gotta do what ya gotta do…
The Open House:
It was a properly miserable weather night. Pretty much as bad as you get without turning to snow. Heavy sideways rains as part of a storm system that wasn’t quite powerful enough to trigger the Dutch Headwind Cycling Championships that weekend, but almost did. Thus properly sucky weather.
Therefore, we do what any good friend does, and stick some of our best friends outside in jackets at the door to check people in (where they get their raffle tickets):
I mean, we did have a roof sorta over them, and gave them the crappiest of space heaters. Thanks Tom & Kristen for braving the elements!
Directly inside to the left was Ciovita, setup with all the latest DC Rainmaker Gear – including running t-shirts, socks, cycling jerseys, and more. Plus, on the way out you got a free pair of Ciovita socks. Woot!
Downstairs at the DCR Cave is basically just a big open space where we can host parties, or, throw extra gear. It’s the garage space you wish you had, but also kinda didn’t wish you had, because it allows you to never really properly declutter. However, each year the day before the open house, I attempt to make it presentable again:
To the left side, we’ve got the Heat Chamber, the stage to the right, and the bar below us. Plus, all the food to the left too. Speaking of which, Julio was back in action carving up the Spanish ham:
While back at the bar, Bobbie & Birgit were serving up Pete’s beer. He made the custom microbrew for our event, as he did this past summer. See, it’s a good thing to have beer-making friends from Brouwerij Beetje!
Meanwhile, upstairs is where all the tech is, including the main studio, gear closet, and hall of bikes. I had lined up the bulk of the current-gen smart bikes so people could compare them side-by-side. In fact, Muov Bikes was there as well, with two of their bikes that can basically sway or flex as you ride.
And then off to the left there was a Zwift Ride, KICKR Bike Shift, and KICKR Bike V2. Sorta the non-swaying good/better/best type arrangement, incrementing the cost roughly $1,200+ each step. Also, more importantly – people just hang out and enjoying chatting!
Both myself and Bobbie were wandering around catching up with everyone – including, such as below, not one, but two different Olympians in one frame with me (both rowers): Niki van Sprang at right, and center is Jason Osborne, who most recently won the UCI e-sport world title.
Albeit, perhaps the real Olympian is Aleksandra above, as she gets the pleasure of handling all of our unexpected incoming Amsterdam packages these days. From smart bikes to watches, she’s our BFF we call when FedEx is ringing our Nest Cam doorbell and we’re 1,500km away.
Oh, remember that food? Upstairs it was cut on this table, by this team of vegetable swordsmen. Thanks guys!!
However back in the studio, plenty of folks took photos at the main desk where I shoot most of my YouTube videos:
There were numerous companies there, as always. I thought this small single-person startup (TrainingSparkle) is pretty cool. Basically it pulls in your Strava or Garmin Connect activities, including your photos, and makes a printable book out of it. Super cool. I’ll buy one in the new year with all my 2024 activities, and do a ‘review’ of it.
Soon though, it was time for the Q&A session and giveaways. This is basically where we have a bunch of things to give away, while concurrently just answering whatever questions people have – tech or non-tech. It’s usually quite a bit of fun, with a solid variety of questions for both myself and Des of DesFit.
I even have this recorded somewhere, which, I may remember to publish eventually.
Of course, we had plenty of great giveaways to hand out, via the raffle tickets. This included awesome packages from Precision Fuel & Hydration, Ass Magic, Ciovita, and Canyon.
After that, I required that all BBQ chicken wings be consumed before anyone left the premises, as well as all other food. There was no issues getting rid of all the beer – with people staying till well after midnight!
Additional thanks to Jonas for taking an absolute ton of photos (once again!), as well as Shervin for sending over some more photos he took too. Oh, and Des…for flying over to take out the trash.
Thanks again to everyone for making the trip, and making the last open house in Amsterdam awesome!
As for a DCR Cave, Mallorca Edition, open house, that’ll definitely happen (once we get moved in). We’re tentatively targeting an early October timeframe for such an event. We heard from many of you at the open house that said they’d love something in that timeframe as the airfare/hotel is cheaper, and running/riding/swimming is still amazing in Mallorca (let’s be honest, it’s amazing today in mid-December, being 18*C/65*F and sunny).
And don’t worry, we’ll be sure to give many-many months’ notice for that. Now, we just gotta get a new cave location finalized. Sigh.
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