Heads up! Here’s your massive list of sports tech deals! This includes the Garmin Forerunner 965 for just $499, Garmin Epix for $449, the Apple Watch Ultra 2 Black Titanium for $735, the GoPro Hero 12 Black for $299, and plenty more! Go check out the full list here!
I’m DC RAINMAKER…
Here’s how to save!
Wanna save some cash and support the site? These companies help support the site! With Backcountry.com or Competitive Cyclist with either the coupon code DCRAINMAKER for first time users saving 15% on applicable products.
You can also pick-up tons of gear at REI via these links, which is a long-time supporter as well:
Alternatively, for everything else on the planet, simply buy your goods from Amazon via the link below and I get a tiny bit back as an Amazon Associate. No cost to you, easy as pie!
You can use the above link for any Amazon country and it (should) automatically redirect to your local Amazon site.
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Check out my weekly podcast - with DesFit, which is packed with both gadget and non-gadget goodness!
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5 Easy Steps To The Site
1
In Depth Product Reviews
You probably stumbled upon here looking for a review of a sports gadget. If you’re trying to decide which unit to buy – check out my in-depth reviews section. Some reviews are over 60 pages long when printed out, with hundreds of photos! I aim to leave no stone unturned.
2
Read My Sports Gadget Recommendations.
Here’s my most recent GPS watch guide here, and cycling GPS computers here. Plus there are smart trainers here, all in these guides cover almost every category of sports gadgets out there. Looking for the equipment I use day-to-day? I also just put together my complete ‘Gear I Use’ equipment list, from swim to bike to run and everything in between (plus a few extra things). And to compliment that, here’s The Girl’s (my wife’s) list. Enjoy, and thanks for stopping by!
3
Have some fun in the travel section.
I travel a fair bit, both for work and for fun. Here’s a bunch of random trip reports and daily trip-logs that I’ve put together and posted. I’ve sorted it all by world geography, in an attempt to make it easy to figure out where I’ve been.
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My Photography Gear: The Cameras/Drones/Action Cams I Use Daily
The most common question I receive outside of the “what’s the best GPS watch for me” variant, are photography-esq based. So in efforts to combat the amount of emails I need to sort through on a daily basis, I’ve complied this “My Photography Gear” post for your curious minds (including drones & action cams!)! It’s a nice break from the day-to-day sports-tech talk, and I hope you get something out of it!
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The Swim/Bike/Run Gear I Use List
Many readers stumble into my website in search of information on the latest and greatest sports tech products. But at the end of the day, you might just be wondering “What does Ray use when not testing new products?”. So here is the most up to date list of products I like and fit the bill for me and my training needs best! DC Rainmaker 2023 swim, bike, run, and general gear list. But wait, are you a female and feel like these things might not apply to you? If that’s the case (but certainly not saying my choices aren’t good for women), and you just want to see a different gear junkies “picks”, check out The Girl’s Gear Guide too.
It not funny but my running partner is hilarious, do that count.
Not sure if it counts as funny or scary, but – a training buddy and I, pounding out some watts on the computrainer for about 90 min, focusing on all the geekiness of the numbers. We’re down in the basement, tv turned up loud enough to drown the sound of the spinning wheels and fans – we finish, I sit on the stairs leading to the house to take a break and I say “What is that beeping?” We’re not sure, so we go upstairs – smoke alarm, house is filled with smoke. We run around to find that a lit candle had fallen over and burned a significant hole in the carpet, but luckily never reached the couch. We were so involved in our ride that neither of us heard the screeching smoke alarm until we finished the ride. Scary what could have happened, but funny that nothing serious did. Now he’s got new carpeting. :)
Bonjour
Standard failure to unclip on a random weekday morning in the middle of no where. Of course someone I actually know happens to be riding past the otherway at the same time. Of all the odds…
bike + squirrel = me on the ground. Both little guy and I were ok (he avoided my front wheel), but dazed.
I’m going to win!!
Probably a fairly typical GI story — I was running back home in rural IL and was halfway through a 6 mile out and back which had me >2 miles outside of town in the middle of nowhere and in desperate need of some form of TP. I had 3 options — Corn leaves (anybody who knows how lethal these things can be knows I didn’t dare pick this option), undies (and risk chafing), or a sock (and risk blisters). I chose the sock and limped pathetically back into town.
Funniest training moment? Anytime I enter the water for swim practice. Even my coach laughs at my swim stroke.. :-(
When I first switched from a mountain bike to a road bike I was riding to work and decided to hop a curb. Which apparently you can’t really do on a road bike. I ended up sprawled out on the sidewalk in front of the lincoln memorial. Awesome. I then had to ride to work all torn up and covered in embarassment :)
Hi
Decided to go running at the start of a blizzard and was confused why I had to turn around after just one mile.
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My very first ride ever, trying to turn around on a gravel area of the trail, and quickly finding out that is a terrible idea…
Talking to my neighbor about how once he gets the hang of it he will like the pedals, then forgetting to unclip and falling over as I was encouraging him.
I was encouraging my neighbor to relax and just get used to his new pedals when in the midst of my encouragemewnt I forgot to unclip and fell over right in front of him.
One day I was riding bike and I lost myself on a mountain… I waited for someone to appear so that I could ask directions. Nobody was appearing and I had to pee. While I was peeing one bike appeared so I turned back to the road and shout “Heyyy, can you help me please!!”. The man’s face was incredible when he saw me shouting this with my hand on my ####. He looked afraid and started pedaling faster… I stoped the “service” and had to wait more 20 minutes for someone to pass again :)
Hi :) ,
rolling up to a red light, I start a trackstand. Unseen to me at that point was a small trickle of water running across the road. just as i had slowed to a near stop the front wheel slips from underneath me having found previously mentioned water, leaving me flat out on the ground. While trying to regain some composure I look up at the car beside me to see a pair of little eyes peering down at me, clearly amused by my impromptu acrobatics display.
Hi. :)
Wiped out in front of the Lincoln Memorial doing a training run.I had been looking at my watch trying to figure out when I needed to turn around, tripped and face planted on an aggregate sidewalk. Tons of people saw, but NO ONE came to help me.
Funniest training moment happened a while ago when I was in college. While helping the girls volleyball team with there leg workout I took my turn to step into the squat rack. I was one of two males that was working with the team that day. About my fifth rep I start to hear some laughter over the radio playing in the background. I didn’t think anything of it because we all joked around a lot. The laughter continued to grow with each rep. I finish my set, racked the weight and turned around to exit the rack. When I turned around I found that 4 or 5 more of the other players had joined the two girls I was working with. I begin to laugh as I noticed one of the girls has fallen onto the floor and is laughing uncontrollably, & the rest of them are hysterical as well. After about 20 seconds one of the girls that I was good friends with got it together enough to let me know that I had split my shorts during my set. Ha-ha funny until you realize you are going commando that day. It is truly amazing the number of nick names that college kids can come up with that relate to ones anus. I will never live that down.
My boyfriend said I should have mentioned when I was first learning to ride using clips in the backyard, fell over just missing a huge pile of dog poop. Both my dogs swarmed me and my feet were still clipped in, couldn’t get out. I had to scream for him to come rescue me.
‘Hi’
Bamboo Ride
While running, I did not see that there was a huge ice spot on the road…let me tell you that i must have broken an olympic record on how far i flew before falling…of course, in front of other people…
Great blog! I love it!
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Crashing at IM WI last year at 38 mph. Not a scratch on the bike and only a small one on the arm… But I was a bit tentaive going down the rest of Garfoot Rd hill.
I have already registered once, but today after my wife used my Garmin heart rate monitor I put it on the hood of my SUV for it to dry out (black strap on a white SUV). A few hours later I was driving down the road had it flew by. Yes, I forgot it was on the hood of my car. Not sure how I didn’t see it. I turned around and watched about 12 cars go by at 55mph all running over my heart rate monitor. If was like they were trying to hit it. So if you are giving away a heart rate monitor I’m your man.
Hi Ray thanks for the great reviews and giveaways!
Getting dressed in the dark before heading to the gym and having two different shoes on. My reward for trying not to wake the wife up.
cpweaver01@hotmail.com
not getting unclipped in time
Running out of transition from bike to run in my bike shoes. Passed the timing mat and all, had to go through timing 2 times!
There’s nothing like pulling up to an intersection downtown and making eye contact with the car next to you in a meaningful way that says I am not embarrassed to be riding a bike and then slowly tipping over while frantically tugging at your pedals.
hi! :)
Howdy!
Howdy
Um, trying again….
I’m in too!!
Telling a friend who clipped in for the first time that until he had more experience he was going to fall over at some point during the ride… then I promptly fell over.
Riding off the road b/c I couldn’t take my eyes off the eye candy.
Slamming into the wall doing the backstroke at a swim meet.
The day I ran 5 miles with a dryer sheet sticking out the bottom of my shorts…and didn’t realize it until I walked past a building on my way home and saw my reflection.
Funniest training mmoment, forgetting to tie up my swimmers before an open water/ocean swim with good breaking surf. A quick retreival from my ankles and not too many people noticed
Hello
No funny moment yet…
Buying a ladies fitted wetsuit online instead of mens cause i failed to read the description
count me in !
Hi!
alright…funniest moment:
this winter I was running through my woods and there was little animal further on the way. Well, doesn’t really look like cat or dog. Ok, the close I came I realised it was little wild boar. Yeah, from this moment it was a bit more intesive unit…
greets from Germany,
Markus
Like most beginning clipless pedal rider, I set out to practice clipping in and out. I went to the local school parking lot and spent a long time doing so. Feeling confident, I rode back home. Arriving in my driveway, I unclipped my right foot and leaned to put my foot down. Only problem was, I leaned the opposite way and fell right over. Of course it was a nice day and several neighbors were outside to see my display.
Last summer I was doing an out-and-back 20mile TT training ride that I do regularly. There is a section at the end with a slight uphill, a sharp right turn, then an immediate left turn w/ only one house between the 2 turns. After heading up the first hill exhausted I checked left for traffic then put my head down planning to hammer to the finish. After a few seconds I look up just before crashing into a parked car going about 14mph(according to my garmin). The impact snapped the bike fork in half and I broke my nose in the colission. A couple driving buy saw the the crash garage and came and put my bike in their car trunk and gave me a ride the rest of the way home. It’s semi-funny looking back at it now but it sure wansn’t funny when it happened.
hello
probably getting lost, which is why I now carry my iPhone with me on all runs!
Hi
Loved reading the reviews. Thanks for the hard work.
Training is always fun!
My funniest moment was on a ride that I have done countless time. On this ride, however, I underestimated my speed going into a turn and broadsided a fence. No serious damage other than my bruised ego :)
Enjoying my short trail run before missing the oncoming hidden brambles. Tripped then continued with muddy face and knee – nice.
(Least I hoped it was just mud)
mabooth_uk@hotmail.com
I tripped over a tree root on mile 25 of a 50K race and yelled a few colorful words, but the language did not count against me, because I was all alone on the trail and nobody else heard me.
Back when I was young (and dumb) I rode from State College, PA to Altoona (45 mountain miles) with one water bottle and a bag of fig newtons. It was the hottest day of the year and I also made a wrong turn somewhere that added 15 miles to the trip (through Holidaysburg). I was fortunate enough to be able to get a drink at a lonely vending machine at the top of a mountain pass and then get Gatorade at a store in town, but I was downing the fluids all evening while I was recovering.
Forgetting my race bib 20 miles from home, 5 miles from the race start. We barely made it back on time to get them.
No alien abduction. This time, anyway.
I live in very rural, very hilly central Virginia.
When I run in the wee hours of the morning, it is usually with a headlamp strapped to my head. We have no streetlights and it is that dark out here.
Often while on early morning runs, I see disembodied eyes glowing back at me across the fences in the fields beyond.
The eyes are usually about waist high and will disappear if I turn my head — with shining headlamp — and turn it back again.
The yellowish green orbs are pretty spooky with a certain unreal beauty to them.
One morning, as I headed out for the run, I noticed that the orbs were in my backyard.
Throwing caution to the wind, emboldened by not remembering hearing sounds of a flying saucer landing, I slowly crept closer to the orbs. I did not let the glowing balls out of the shine of my headlamp for fear that they would disappear again.
Yep. I finally got close enough to see their associated bodies. There was a herd of deer in my back yard. About 10 of ’em.
They bolted and ran down our road, their hoofs making “clickity, clickity” sounds on the asphalt.
No alien abduction. This time, anyway.
I ran last year with a friend in a wood nearby – he said he knows the way, but after 10km (we were planning to run 10km only) he admitted he has no idea where we are, at the end we found ourselves out after 2 long hours and extra 20km….The funny thing is that my friend did this trail just a week before :)
haviv.rosh@gmail.com
Hi:)
Aside from failing to unclip after a long ride – twice, one after the other, and falling both times. I was helping my wife try on a new wet suit and couldn’t figure out why she was having such a hard time getting one leg on. Until I noticed she had her leg in an arm…
I couldn’t figure out why I was having such a hard time running while pushing my kids in my BOB stroller. Instead of stopping and trying to figure out if something was wrong with the stroller, I kept going. After about a mile I had to stop because it was so hard to push. I look down, and yep, flat tire…over a mile from home.
Hm, well, not sure if this counts as “training” but I just registered for Rhode Island 70.3 and forgot to enter my NAME on the registration form. No big deal, except the fields are set to “Unknown” so instead of realizing my mistake, “Unknown Unknown” is now registered for the 2011 Rhode Island 70.3 ;)
hi I WIN
Hi, Either way. :)
I signed up for my first triathlon before I bought a bike. I hadn’t ridden a bike since probably the 2nd grade but thought no problem…you never forget how to ride a bike. I take my new road bike out for its maiden voyage and fall over still clipped in, going 0 mph in my driveway. Neighbors doing yard work so of course I had an audience (and skinned up knees).
While trail running at lunch with my boss in Austin, he was a few steps ahead of me and suddenly stops. I was looking down and almost ran into the back of him. I took my earbuds out and was like, what the heck? There were 2 mountain bikers there with cameras taking pictures. A hawk had at some point swooped down and picked up a small rattlesnake thinking it an easy meal. The hawk was dead as the snake apparently got the best of him, but the snake was still alive in it’s claws. One of the MBers got the wise idea to place a log across the trail to prevent other MBers from running into the snake. All the while the snake was striking at him ineffectively. I was like wtf?? I could picture a MBer coming down the hill into the left turn, hitting the log, doing an endo and going face first into the snake. What was this guy thinking? I was about to take the log and get the snake and hawk out of the way when I noticed my boss had bolted. I asked the guys where the hell did he go? One pointed and said that way. I was like..oh hell! I had to take off after him because we rode in his car. To this day I can picture the endo thing happening and to this day my boss swears he wasn’t afraid of the snake!
Hi there! This is an amazing giveaway. I’m a “newbie” to the training world & am lacking on everything from workout wear, to accessories & things to help me train better :)
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Hi !
Nothing funny to post, but I’d really like to be entered. My FR305 is about to die.
HiHiHi! Don’t have anything funny to add, but would love the Garmin! Thanks.
I’m new to triathlon. Second season. Everything I do is funny.
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Hi Ray!!
I found myself at a hotel in Omaha on a treadmill running next to this girl. She actually got on after I already was 10 minutes into my 60 minute run and she was jamming! At least a good pace at 7.5-8.0, she was booking. I was just chilling at 6.5 so I thought I would up it to her and use her as a pace (like all the other girls I try to pace while cycling or running). All the while, I was trying to read her shirt in the mirror in front of us and I just started to tire.
I finally just gave up and went back down to my pace and got off before she finished. I later was able to read her shirt and it said 2009 Soccer US Girls Jr. Champions. Hmm…I didn’t feel so bad afterwards but then again, I got hosed!
In the middle of yoga, the girl next to me ended up farting and I started giggling. It was a little too funny (although no one was laughing except me) and I ended up letting a small toot. =P *embarrassing*
Sometimes I commute to work via bike to supplementmy cycling miles. A couple of years ago, I was heading home one day on a sidewalk next to the local university,along a fairly busy street. I went into the grass to get out of a walker’s way, and when I went to get back on the sidewalk my tire caught the edge of the sidewalk for a couple seconds. This caused me to lose control of my front wheel and flip over my bike. To make matters worse, my handlebar somehow managed to snag the back of my shorts and pants me (undies and all) as I went down. Absolutely humiliating to me, but hilarious to anyone watching I’m sure!
Hi Ray, I wish I had a funny story, but I got nuttin.
Not really my funny story to share, but so amusing I had to anyway…
After a swim meet everyone was getting changed in the locker room. We’re all chatting, when suddenly my friend bursts out laughing. We all look over to see that she managed to put her pants on all the way…but they were backwards! She was so tired she didn’t even notice.
Set up my trainer in the living room. I hadn’t had the trainer long and I started riding hard. I thought that it was weird how far my trainer was leaning. My bike promptly unhooked and I fell over while clipped in.
Went for my usually 6AM group training ride, I have to drive to the start. Arrived without my bike shoes.
My first open water swim race started 3 minutes early. Therefore, I had to casually walk from the beach to the water so I could finish putting on my wetsuit, goggles, and cap b/c I didn’t want to freak out since it was my first time in open water.
I ended up getting first in my age division though (even though I was the only one in it)!
At a lake swim event, I swam the 1.5 miles, got out of the water and walked over to my wife. Talked with her a little while, then walked away to go get something to drink. She called me back in a very animated fashion and wrapped a towel around me. Turns out my swimsuit was so worn out that the back side was basically see through. It had been awhile since I had purchased a new suit.
Getting chased by a dog in front of traffic for a half mile!
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Hi, I belong to a cycling club. During our tour de red rose in the hottest time of the year, I was with the presedent of the club and we rode past an egg that someone must have cracked onto the black top along side the road. I pointed it out and sure enough it was bubbling, I turned to him and said “remind me why we are out here” are we nutts!!
That really made us shake our heads and laugh.
This incident made it into our club newletter.
I was just interduced to you web page and I think I’m going to really enjoy it.
Thank you, Lovemovement
Crossing paths with a deer on a wet century ride that was so scared and trying to move so fast that all it could do was move its legs only to stay still right in the middle of the road. The only thing more scared was my buddy leading our small group at the front and who suddenly had to avoid a head on collision with a deer.
Having to answer the call of nature (#2) on a long run and the only place to go on the section of Riverwalk next to the highway was the river. Wading out into the river to find some privacy and feeding the fish hippo style. Enjoying your blog.
Paul H
greydog1234@gmail.com
I’m not sure if this counts as “funny,” but…running the last 15km of a 20km race in Japan barefoot, with cameramen/commentators repeatedly asking me (an African American) if I was a descendant of Abebe Bikila. There’s nothing like having to repeat, “No, no, no; my shoes were just uncomfortable, and…” to various news crews when you’re trying to keep pace.
I’m not sure if this counts as “funny,” but…running the last 15km of a 20km race in Japan barefoot, with cameramen/commentators repeatedly asking me (an African American) if I was a descendant of Abebe Bikila. There’s nothing like having to repeat, “No, no, no; my shoes were just uncomfortable, and…” to various news crews when you’re trying to keep pace.
Not exactly a true training story but I did an endo/face plant while mountain biking, then waited for my bike to land on my back. I realized gravity wasn’t working as advertised so I turned over and found my bike hanging from a tree branch over my head!
I’m fairly new to long distance running and recently purchased a Garmin FR210. I was super pumped to use it, especially to monitor my HR. So excited in fact that I didn’t realize FOR THREE WORKOUTS that it comes with a clasp and loop. I thought it annoying, but of small consequence- bottom line is for about a week I was ‘stepping’ into and out of my heart rate monitor. I’m glad I didn’t do it in front of anyone except my wife!
None as of yet. Love the blog!
I setup a workout on 60-75% MHR, thinking that its zone 2, but the unit displayed as zone 1. I do the workout for 2 hours, and going home thinking Garmin has seriously put a bug and I have been robbed.
Later I found out that Garmin Connect uses Heart Rate Reserve (Karvonnen) method and the unit uses old method
Hi
Running into a bush to answer someone who I later found out wasn’t talking to me!
BOOM!
I was trying to stop my garmin and forgot to think about the clipless pedals.