Eurobike Day 1: The Fun Stuff

Now that I’ve got a fair chunk (but far from all) of Day 1’s sports technology posts knocked out, I figured I’d give a walk through of some of the more entertaining aspects of the day.  As well as just some random odds and ends I saw as I walked around.

First up though, was entering the massive convention center in Friedrichshafen.  It’s in Germany, though I’m staying in Switzerland…across a lake.  More on that at the end.

IMG_1090

The entire convention is huge.  You can see the map below, each one of those blue blobs is a ‘hall’, as will follow in the picture after this one.

IMG_1091

This is what just a single hall looks like.  It’s massive – far larger than a football field (or soccer, or any other field for that matter).

IMG_1092

Inside them are huge booths by pretty much every company in the industry.  In some cases you’ll see smaller brands sharing booth space – either under a distributor, or just a few companies splitting the ‘tab’.  Even the smaller booth spaces close in on $10K for the four day event.  The Giant booth space below was…well…giant.  I can’t imagine how much it cost for the space, staff, and then the booth structure itself.

IMG_1178

There’s all sorts of creativity in booth design.  Like, ya know, building a barn.

IMG_1131

For cycling companies, the booths are packed with more bikes than you’ve ever seen.  A Noah’s Ark of sorts.  Except, a Noah’s Ark after it’s been at sea for a long while and the bikes have had time to breed baby bikes.

IMG_1252

IMG_1094

Sometimes the wrong bike species do the romance dance.  For example, below we have a bike, a deer, and a desk.

IMG_1415

Or, the always favorable chainsaw bike:

IMG_1125

This bike didn’t hide anything, or mince words:

IMG_1180

But, it’s not just about the bikes.  For every bike company there’s plenty more selling other wares.  So even if you think you’re looking at a bike, in reality, you’re looking at a bunch of bags and a teapot:

IMG_1245

Or a watermelon.  Which, btw, is a totally awesome helmet to have.

IMG_1099

Sorta like the ladybug one:

IMG_1101

The booths have all sorts of antics to try and get you in.  For example, the time-honored tradition of tossing a cycling glove against a dartboard while narrowly missing civilians passing by:

IMG_1333

Or bringing in some sort of ancient times warrior that must have lost a previous battle with the lady in pink below giving him the stink eye.

IMG_1368

Then we have this booth – perhaps my favorite (though I didn’t get any) – complete with a full on wheel of parmesan and leg of ham.  I’ve argued we should have this in our apartment all the time.  Somehow, I’m losing that argument.

IMG_1249

Failing any of those tactics, you could always just go the route of topless booth ladies.  However, I did note that the trend continues that most cycling folks actually steer away from booths with so called “booth babes”.  I’ve seen this the case at Interbike as well in previous years – and the same was true here too. Their booth was pretty much empty.

BoothLadies

While the below massage ladies were quite available early in the morning, by late afternoon things had filled up as people started slowing down.

IMG_1123

Personally, I just kept on soldiering on – following the motto of the best sticker I got all day (well, the only sticker I got all day) – from Kinetic:

IMG_1382

Though, I did make one stop for lunch.  Actually, two stops. I had lunch twice – since I skipped breakfast. I figured it was a fair trade.  Who wouldn’t want sausages twice?

IMG_1127

Then there was seeing the Chancellor of Germany.  She was up on the big screen when I walked by:

IMG_1339

Then, about 10-15 minutes later when I was moving through a hallway, I got caught up in a big crowd just as she came through to one of the booths:

IMG_1354

A pretty cool highlight for the day!  It definitely doesn’t happen all the time!

IMG_1364

I’d have meetings till just after 6PM (while starting before 8AM) before heading out to catch the bus to the boat.

IMG_1444

The boat in turn would float 45 minutes across the lake.  From there I’d spend 5 hours at the McDonalds writing posts.  Why McDonalds?  They’ve got awesomely fast free WiFi and a near unlimited supply of Diet Coke.  And McFlurry’s (Snickers!).

Following that I’d walk across the border through the backwoods.  Yes, walk.  A small little gravel trail with a tiny signpost indicating I was crossing from Germany to Switzerland.  That’s all.  No border crossing or anything else.

A few hundred yards later I’d arrive at my hotel – which happens to double as a soccer (football) arena. I didn’t fully grasp that when I booked it.  I just saw that it had WiFi.  But it’s otherwise a fully functioning indoor soccer arena with about 20 or so rooms.  Not at all fancy rooms.  Just simply cinder blocks painted white and simple non-destructible furnishings.  But again, WiFi.  So, I’m happy.

IMG_1450

With that, back to another 3-4 hours of posts.  Thanks for reading!

Welcome to Eurobike week! This week during Eurobike I’ll be tweeting from the exhibition show floor quite a bit, as well as posting frequently. Here’s a quick and handy link to all Eurobike-related posts.

FOUND THIS POST USEFUL? SUPPORT THE SITE!

Hopefully, you found this post useful. The website is really a labor of love, so please consider becoming a DC RAINMAKER Supporter. This gets you an ad-free experience, and access to our (mostly) bi-monthly behind-the-scenes video series of “Shed Talkin’”.

Support DCRainMaker - Shop on Amazon

Otherwise, perhaps consider using the below link if shopping on Amazon. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. It doesn’t cost you anything extra, but your purchases help support this website a lot. It could simply be buying toilet paper, or this pizza oven we use and love.

Post a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked.
If you would like a profile picture, simply register at Gravatar, which works here on DCR and across the web.

Click here to Subscribe without commenting

Add a picture

*

13 Comments

  1. Mitch

    Cool photos.
    Just saw the bike with the chainsaw and think I recognised some of the other kit on it… I think that one is set up to help firefights in the forest/bush…… Not 100% sure if it is… but is seems there is a “rake/hoe” tool mounted on the front forks… standard tool for wild land fire fighting :-)

    given the hard work involved in forest fires…im not sure you would want to cycle to one to start work.

    BTW.. love the desk… beats the idea on the fad on walking desks :-)

  2. GrumpyITDude

    I so want that Kinetic sticker

  3. Tim

    I need that sticker…

    I wonder if the local Kinetic office in Minneapolis has any… :)

  4. Eli

    Looking forward to your edge touring post. Hoping its just a stripped down 810 and any new functionality like the round trip routing feature that comes with it gets added to the 810

  5. Andrew

    Is there anyway for me to get one of those stickers. My road machine needs one.

  6. Damien

    How can you be losing the wheel-of-Parmesan-and-leg-of-ham fight…..? I thought The Girl was a foodie too!!! :-)

  7. Felipe P.

    Love that sticker! If you need one for your bike, try one of these… Worked well for me. :-). Their “Shut Up Legs!” Decal helps you up climbs too.
    link to lagomedia.com

  8. Bjørn Berg

    Great job! Love your coverage of the Eurobike!

  9. You lucky bugger!
    Thanks for your efforts Ray. Keep it coming please.

  10. Guillaume

    Must hide that post from kids, else I’ll be forced to hunt down ladybug helmets :|

  11. morey000

    Great KK HTFU Sticker. Don’t know where I’d put it, but I so want one.

    I’d suggest grabbing a few of them and doing one of your ‘give-aways’. Hey, I already have two garmins and a powertap. What I need are one of them stickers!