JUMP TO:

Week in Review–November 23rd, 2013

WeekInReview_thumb_thumb_thumb_thumb[2]

The Week in Review is a collection of both all the goodness I’ve written during the past week around the internet, as well as a small pile of links I found interesting – generally endurance sports related. I’ve often wondered what to do with all of the coolness that people write, and while I share a lot of it on Twitter, Facebook, and Google Plus, this is a better forum for sending it on to y’all. Most times these different streams don’t overlap, so be on the lookout at all these places for good stuff!

So with that, let’s get into the action!

DCRainmaker.com posts this past week:

Here’s all the goodness that ended up on the main page of DCRainmaker.com this past week:

Monday: Week in Review–November 18th, 2013
Tuesday: Swimming, Riding, and Running (and sightseeing) our way around Israel
Thursday: Withings Pulse In-Depth Review
Friday Morning: What the acquisition of MapMyFitness by Under Armour really means for the industry
Friday Afternoon: Florence Marathon Packet Pickup Complete!

Stuff that I found interesting around the interwebs:

Here’s a not-so-small smattering of all the random things that I stumbled on while doing my civic duty to find the end of the Internet:

1) Google Glass gets Strava: There’s a short demo video available here, from their presentation earlier this week. (via Eli)

2) Surviving the Australian Institute of Sport’s Cycling Selection Camp: A well photographed and put together piece from one athlete on getting through the military-style boot-camp.

3) Rev3 coming to Morgantown, WV next year: Everything from a 5K run to a spring, Olympic and half-distance triathlon

4) Wardian Runs 2:31, 2:57 Marathons In One Day (that’s two marathons…one day): One of DC’s well known elite runners first ran (and won) the San Antonio Marathon, then flew to Vegas and ran the Las Vegas marathon that same night. (via Noah Chandler Hawk)

5) Caffeine and Cycling: Social Accessory or Performance Enhancer? Lots of good stuff from CyclingTips this week, including this piece diving into caffeine and some testing done around performance enhancement.

6) Inside the TeamBBB splitup: A worthwhile read…if for no other reason than to understand how not to do things.

7) Got an Edge 605 or Edge 705? Feeling left out with all the cool Edge quarter-turn mounts these days? Well, this simple $5 adapter solves your problem.  (via Blanco)

8) Being the new guy to Pro Cycling Camp: A pretty interesting look at what it’s like to arrive at the season kickoff training camp.

9) Don’t quite understand a wheel from a tire? Here’s a good primer on wheel basics.  Everything you ever wanted to know about that region of your bike from spike to nipple.

10) Eat, Play, Love: Five Surprising Facts About Thanksgiving: A fun chart-filled post about Thanksgiving eating habits and what it’ll take to burn them off in various situations.

From the department of random things:

Sent to me by my friend Bruce, note the name: Roboray.  Brilliant!

WP_20131116_001

Crowd Funded Projects of Athletic Note:

This is a bit of a new section. Most of this content used to be found within the main section, but I figured I’d just call it out up here and make it easy to find. I regularly sift through Kickstarter and Indiegogo (plus a few others on occasion) looking for sports projects. Note that as always with crowd funded projects, assume the project will be late and will under-deliver on features. Thus far, on the numerous products I’ve helped ‘fund’ (except a leather bike handle), that’s been the case.

Race Dots: Ok, these are actually pretty cool looking (assuming they work as well as stated).  Basically, they hold your bib on for running/cycling races without the need for pins. (Thanks to the many that sent in!)

BublCam: This is cool, but I wouldn’t touch it with a 10ft pool.  I think because it violates an internal rule I have about buying Kickstarter projects where the date is more than 6 months out, combined with buying audio/video projects in a market where new cameras come out every 6-12 months from every company.  Way too much churn to buy this type of product off of Kickstarter with that late a delivery date (before typical Kickstarter delays).

Cerevellum: I poked at this a bit during their v1 project days, you can see some of that in this older post of mine.  They now have a new variant up on Kickstarter.

Sports Technology Software/Firmware Updates This Week:

Each week I quickly highlight some of the new firmware, app, software and website service updates that I see go out. If you’re a sports technology company and release an update – shoot me a quick note (just one liners is perfect, or Tweet it at me is even better) and I’ll make mention of it here. If I don’t know about it, I won’t be able to post about it. Sound good?

Site/Firmware Updates:

Garmin Edge 800 Firmware Update: In a bit of an unexpected move, the Edge 800 got not only VIRB support, but extended Garmin Vector support.

Garmin FR10 Firmware Update: This is simply listed as ‘changes for manufacturing’, which generally means some tiny component inside may have been changed.  No visible end-user changes.

Garmin Virb/Virb Elite: Mostly just bug fixes.

Leikr Firmware Update: This update appears to address items related to connectivity to servers for downloading satellite data. (Update note came via e-mail, no link)

Suunto Ambit 2/2s Firmware Update: This update focuses primarily on an indoor swimming bug, as well as a display contrast issue.

CycleOps releases VirtualTraining for Android: This was actually last week or so, but I think I missed it.

iPhone Apps:

20131119_172206000_iOS 20131121_232659000_iOS20131121_232755000_iOS 20131121_234245000_iOS20131121_234255000_iOS

Android Apps:

Screenshot_2013-11-22-19-30-16 Screenshot_2013-11-22-19-30-44Screenshot_2013-11-22-19-30-56 Screenshot_2013-11-22-19-31-49

Windows Phone Apps:

(There were no updates to Windows Phone sports-related apps on my phone this week)

Thanks for reading!

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

*

16 Comments

  1. Amedeo

    about “race dots”, something similar already exists
    link to racebibup.com

  2. Mark

    On BublCam, I generally agree with Ray’s internal rules about avoiding Kickstarter projects where the date is more than six months out and also avoiding audio/video products. But if you look at the backgrounds of the BublCam guys shown on their website, it gives you a little more confidence that they may actually be able to deliver on this product. I’m not saying a huge amount of confidence, but maybe just enough to make it worth taking a closer look.

    • True.

      My big concern though is that CES is in 5 weeks. There are numerous companies working on 360* type cam solutions. I’d save my cash and see what pops up then, versus locking in cash for a solution that realistically won’t hit till fall next year.

  3. Manos

    I am tired of pins. I never put them right. Has someone tested an alternative?

    • NewClydesdale

      Not sure if it would work for cycling, but for running / Tri I always use a race belt. Then you just put the bib on with the ties, and snap the belt around your waist. Spi belt has some race number add ons for like $2.

  4. matt

    The most impressive thing about Wardian’s marathon double is the fact that the San Antonio RnR was horrendously hot this year. I ran it the past 2 years and this year was way worse. Hot and humid. It ended up being 89 as the high that day, a record high.

  5. Eli

    Guess Garmin is worried the Virb and Vector need more devices to support them which caused them to add support to the 800. (As in, shouldn’t be used as evidence Garmin adds functionality to old devices)

  6. John

    Found this great article on lifehacker which you guys might enjoy.

    link to lifehacker.com

  7. christoph

    also newsworhy: Strava seems to open their api again
    link to strava.com

  8. Bart

    Just to inform those interested: racedots are reality – they just confirmed shipment of my pre-order! I’ll be dotted for my next race.

  9. Luc

    In regards to racedots – I’ve just tried them on a 5K run and. I wanted them to work because I like my tech shirts without any holes, but while the dots function as advertised, keeping the bib secure, the magnets are heavy. Heavier than the shirt itself. Maybe after a while you forget that they’re there, but I was aware all the time of little paper weights dangling and playing the drum of my stomach.

    Also beware that on their Facebook page they delete any comments which are not favorable to the product.