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The 3rd Annual DCR Open House–Recap and Photos!

December 12, 2016 by |Blog|Comments (26)

Third time’s the charm! And so it was – the 3rd annual DCR Open house this past weekend.  This year I had folks from not only all across Europe, but also even the US join in!  Plus, we had more meat and cheese than ever before!

Like last year, there were two parts to the day.  To begin, on Saturday morning we held a group run around Paris, about 12K worth.  Then following later that evening I cracked open the door to the DCR Cave!

The Morning Run:

First up was a run around the city center of Paris. We started off around 9AM from the DCR Cave/Studio, and then walked out to the bouquinistes boxes along the river to get GPS signal.  And of course take a quick starter picture.

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This would serve as proof of life in case we lost anyone, though one person joined us later in the run – so we could only hope we wouldn’t lose them.

From there we crossed a small bridge past Notre Dame, then it was down along the river on the now closed road.  This time of the morning though it was desolate – perfect for running!

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Despite the forecast being a bit chilly, it was actually a rather pleasant running temperature.  Plus, it was even a bit sunny out, and no wind at all.

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From the river we routed our way up to the Louvre, pausing for a photo in front of the famed pyramid before continuing on.

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We’d then cross the Tuileries gardens before rejoining the river in our quest to reach the Eiffel Tower.

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At last – the Eiffel Tower (plus, nobody lost yet!).  The backlight sun made it a wee bit difficult for a photo, but I think it worked out.  Well, minus my big head blocking the view of one person. Sorry!

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Plus, as we ran down from Trocadéro, I got this awesome shot.

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Since we weren’t quite sure if the backlit photo would turn out, we briefly paused for one more photo near the bottom of the tower:

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From there it was back along the river home.  Of course, there was the 100m sprint, as marked on the pavement on Les Berges:

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Once back at the Studio, The Girl had freshly baked banana bread (with Nutella swirls), plus some other goodies.  Meanwhile, cupcakes for the evening baked in the ovens nearby.

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Here’s the run on Strava, which also has many of the people on the run uploaded to as well (as Strava automatically shows them).

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This route is one of my favorites, and is listed in my Paris Swim/Bike/Run Resources guide (right next to my Restaurant/Food Guide).  Oh, and in case you were wondering – everything on this run was shot with a GoPro Hero5 Black.

Thanks to everyone that came out in the morning!  It was fun chatting with everyone during the run, and we managed to score great weather for it!

The Open House:

Next up we had the main event – the DCR Open House!  This was held within the DCR Cave and Bertie’s Cake Studio (upstairs is The Girl’s space, and downstairs is the the DCR Cave).  Like last year we were definitely beyond the normal limits of the space in terms of people, though this year I was smart enough to run the air conditioner the entire time, which kept the temperature roughly in check (yes, even in the middle of winter).

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As noted before, folks from all over Europe came, and even someone who was in town for the weekend from Washington DC came!  She was sporting my most favorite DC Tri Team shirt!  Boom!

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This year we doubled down on food, with a massive meat, cheese, baguettes, and cupcake spread.  Because everyone wants cupcakes, right?

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And then as is tradition, we also had a little Christmas tree setup.  Though somehow we couldn’t find the star for the top of the Christmas tree.  Not sure what happened there.

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On the bright side, we did have more prizes to give away than previous – so that was solid.  All thanks to Clever Training (which now has Clever Training Europe)!

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Last year we held a contest/quiz for those prizes, but with this crowd well into a few cases of wine, that seemed like an unnecessary complexity for giving away gifts.  Plus, it meant more work for The Girl and I.  So instead, we just had everyone put their names in the bucket (it was from our wedding), and then we gave away goodness from there.

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And of course folks could check-out the cave downstairs, or as it was for one couple – try riding my noble stead, the Cervelo P3C.  We’ll see if they want to post the pic below in the comments. :)

As I’ve found previously – Zwift in ‘watch-only’ mode makes for a great screensaver, and that was the case this night as well.

Plus, I used the TV mounted near my drone section to play videos from a playlist of ‘pretty’ drone videos I have.  Basically, just cinematic videos (non-explainer ones, the full drone playlist is here).  You can check out that playlist here.  One can see the (very slow) progression of my video editing skills.

Speaking of the cave, let’s dive into a quick cave update!

DCR Cave Update!

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It’s been a few years since I’ve done a cave walk-through, so I figured now’s a great time to do so.  So this evening I shot a full walk-through of the cave, explaining what’s changed since a few years ago.  Including what I like, and what I don’t like.  I think YouTube is the best medium for that, so let’s dive into it here (ok, it ended up a bit long!):

With that – thanks to everyone that stopped by over the weekend at either of the two events.  It’s awesome to be able to chat with folks about all sorts of topics (not just sports tech).  And in general, if folks are making the trip to Paris I’m usually happy to show the DCR Cave. Simply get in touch via the contact form.  Though, I can’t promise it’ll look as clean as in the pics above, as that pretty much only happens one day a year.

Plus, as Einstein said: “If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, of what, then, is an empty desk a sign?”

Oh – and as for the Santa 10K Race on Sunday? Stay tuned for that goodness tomorrow morning!

Thanks all!

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26 Comments

  1. Mike S.
    December 12, 2016 at 7:32 pm #1

    You and the girl(s) are most excellent hosts. Amazing photos too!
    I sure wish I still lived in the UK so I could also have taken part.

    Reply
  2. Dave
    December 12, 2016 at 8:33 pm #2

    When will the hammer review be done. Waiting for it for so long. LOL

    Apreciate all the reviews. Thank you.

    Reply
  3. morey
    December 12, 2016 at 8:38 pm #3

    Wow- very cool drone videos. Nice editing and music. the quality has come a long way in the past few years. Fun to watch. thanks. Reminds me of my hang gliding days.

    Reply
  4. Jason
    December 12, 2016 at 9:05 pm #4

    Thanks for the DCR Cave Grand Tour!

    I was interested in the 2.0 AMP USB Charger and not finding the link.

    Can you please post it?

    Thanks!

    Reply
  5. Long Run Nick
    December 12, 2016 at 10:00 pm #6

    Ray, what a cave!! If I didn’t know different, I would nominate you for TV reality “The Hoarders”:)
    What is amazing, you know where to grab whatever you need. As an old Army guy, not sure your “supply room” would pass inspection:)
    Noticed you wearing the AW2 Nike Edition, look forward to your thoughts on it.
    Truly enjoy your blog, though it has cost me money. Currently awaiting my Stryd foot pod.
    All the best to your family. Give Lucy a dog treat from me. Nick

    Reply
  6. Scott E
    December 12, 2016 at 11:04 pm #8

    Man, I’ve had to move furniture in tight locations like old apartments in Boston, but getting all that cr*p, I mean gear, down in the cave must have been tough. I recall the write up related to moving the treadmill, yet this video gives a better perspective of how hard that effort was moving that beast down the stairs. Looks like a new cave is in your future as the trainers and drones will eventually fill up the water closet.

    ~Cheers

    Reply
  7. Holger
    December 13, 2016 at 2:49 am #9

    Hi Ray,

    how can I qualify to be on the guest list to such a cool event?

    Greetings
    Holger

    Reply
    • Ray Maker
      December 13, 2016 at 5:01 am #10

      Each year I put out a post or two in roughly late October/early November*, so just keep your eyes on the lookout!

      *https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2016/10/annual-cave-open-housedecember.html

      Reply
  8. Kevin Walpole
    December 13, 2016 at 4:20 am #11

    You mean this photo Ray?

    Thanks for the excellent hospitality. Was great to meet you, The Girl and The Peanut in person. We thoroughly enjoyed our weekend and would certainly be interesting in coming back next year.

    Joyeux Noël

    Reply
  9. David E.
    December 13, 2016 at 8:18 am #13

    So, did any guests find the secret NDA/pre-release products drawer with the new Fenix in it? And, if so, did the DCR special police take care of them? ;)

    Reply
  10. Sam Mallery
    December 13, 2016 at 10:56 am #14

    I would love to attend this event someday. Maybe if I get to visit Paris in 2017 I can arrange for a cave visit. We’ll see…

    I love sports tech, but audio-for-video is also my thing. In your cave tour video (which was fun to watch), the audio was hurting. The Rode VideoMic Pro that you used is a great DSLR mic, but not when you’re behind the camera. Cheap, clip-on lav mics (like this one link to amazon.fr) tend to work surprisingly well in these situations. You may even try just plugging in the lav from your wireless kit directly into your camera’s mic input to see is that works (if it has a 3.5mm plug).

    Keep up the amazing work! That food spread looked amazing. That running route is the stuff of dreams.

    Sam

    Reply
    • Ray Maker
      December 13, 2016 at 11:18 am #15

      Yeah, I had tried plugging in the lav mic straight-up (both my wireless kit ones as well as the Rode SmartLav one*), no love. But…I like the one you just linked to – and Amazon France as well – boom!

      Ordered.

      (*Yes, I could have recorded the audio separately and mixed in post, but my level of hate for having to re-mix audio tracks in post is high. Just one more thing…)

      Reply
  11. KMA
    December 13, 2016 at 1:48 pm #16

    The route of the run was nicely planned and we visited all main attractions.
    It was nice that we were a multinational group and the tempo not too fast.

    Many thanks to Ray & Bobby for organizing, preparing and being great hosts during the morning reception and the open house in the evening.
    I had a great day :)

    Reply
  12. Artur
    December 13, 2016 at 9:13 pm #17

    Hi Ray,

    Nice tour!

    I’m wondering what’s the wifi extender you use?

    Reply
  13. Nigel P.
    December 13, 2016 at 10:43 pm #20

    Ray, thanks for the tour. What was the first bike hanger that you mentioned please? Thanks.

    Reply
  14. Lukian
    December 15, 2016 at 3:57 pm #22

    Hi Ray, thank you for the great hospitality, the run was great and we were lucky with the weather. Thanks to The Girl and the Peanut too, the food was so good and so muuuuuch. I have a new water bottle too.

    Reply
  15. Nicole
    December 16, 2016 at 1:35 pm #24

    Thanks for the great party, Ray and Bobbie! I enjoyed meeting both of you and your adorable baby girl. And the cave is amazing – I have never seen so many devices in one place. Happy holidays – Nicole from DC Tri Club

    Reply
  16. Ian Blackburn
    December 28, 2016 at 3:02 am #25

    Hi Ray

    Sorry I didn’t make it. I was in Paris with my family but shopping, eating and general walking around Paris got in the way, and we never made it over to the DCR open house. I did do the Santa run with my daughter, which we would never have known about without your excellent blog, but I must admit I’m slightly gutted about missing those cupcakes.

    Maybe next year :)

    Cheers

    Ian

    Reply