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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!
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Have some fun in the travel section.
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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.
Grew up in the Adirondacks (the real upstate NY) playing hockey and cross-country skiing in the winter. All 9 months of it. The last full winter I was there we had a wicked cold snap, where the HIGH temperature for the week was -20F. Had a couple of nights getting to -50F. Still skated on the lake, and skied in the woods. Skiing was better since I was protected from the wind. It actually wasn’t too bad once you got moving, but I wore a mask to protect myself from frostbiting my throat.
I usually flooded my rink once a week, but figured the water would freeze before it had flowed out to a nice even layer. And didn’t want to even think about getting wet either.
Long run starting at 4am with temperatures hovering around 25 degrees F
-2º C several years ago in Bilbao
It doesn’t get to freezing out here in SF, but running in driving rain blowing sideways sure does chill you to the bone!
It may not be as cold as most, but it was during my third leg of Ragnar Relay TN. It was about 30 degrees, but that was my last run at around 4 am after only 3 hours of sleep in the previous 24.
I don’t run but my one of my coldest rides was this week -34 with a 25 kph wind. Did laps around the section mile north of my place. Back before I learned about cold weather grease I had the bottom bracket freeze solid and unscrew the bearing cups don’t remember the temp that time must have been in the low -30’s
My coldest run was 45F in Sunny southern california
New Years Eve run this year. 12 degrees F. I was in SLC visiting from Dallas, so my blood is thin to begin with.
Did half mile repeats during an ice storm in DC last year. After 45 minutes of repeats, my beard, jacket, gloves, and shoes were completely frozen in with ice. Nothing makes repeats more miserable than repeats during an ice storm.
Just a big blurry mass of track practice. In March. In Michigan. The early season would have a foot or two of snow to run through on the roads. A bunch of mid-20s days.
Then there was the state cross country finals my senior year. November, and a tonne of lake effect snow! But it was only about 30, in your standard 80s/90s track/CC singlet outfits.
It was -2F yesterday morning – got up to 10F. I stayed indoors!
Blizzard came down while I was out for a trail run. Got so cold I couldn’t turn the key in the door, had to ring the door bell to be let in
Correr por la playa nevada y brisa de la mar
It wasn’t the coldest time I’ve ever been running but during the DC Blizzard a few years ago I ran. During the run I helped two cars out of the snow and ran across the reflecting pool.
A few years ago I ran in my snowboots after 1 foot of snow. It was cold and slow but kinda fun and definitely memorable…
10 miles, 0F in Wisconsin Rapids! Never done it again :-)
Coldest ride must be last winter -25 degres c. I was riding my 29er on frozen paths in the forrest. When I strayed from the path the front wheel sank in the 78cm snow and I did a beautiful OTB into the snow. The rest of the ride with lots of snow in my clothes was quite cold.
-2c with a biting wind. No leggings, couldn’t feel my feet after few minutes. Not to be repeated
The coldest day I ran was last week for my long run. It was zero with windchill for 10 miles. The worst part was the wind at 23 mph.
I recently moved to CO and ran 10 miles in 8º weather, while it was snowing. Brrr!
Due to a cold front on the US East Coast, it was this week. 13F with 20-30 mph winds – at night.
11F, two days ago. First time I’ve gotten mustache-cicles. Fun.
Running the Herbert Glacier Trail and then up to the face of the glacier…or at least as close as we dared get that day. link to dropbox.com
Running in while the snow was falling was a lot of fun. It’s snowing again today so I’ll probably get another in tomorrow morning
We had a track workout this past Wendesday and it was 10F at 5:30 am when we started. I hate running in the cold and dark.
My coldest run had to be the day before new years this past year on my 11 mile run. all the people who drove by had this “you must be crazy” look on their faces.
We did 3 hours of riding last Saturday. At 7am in the dark it was about 35 degrees. Most clothes I’ve ever wore on a bike! A few climbs loosened it up but the descents were a bit cold.
One day with -5 C in San Miguel del Monte in Argentina I had to cross a river swimming.
Thanks,
Patricia
The first winter after moving to MT for grad school I had a friend that was into snow biking and we did a 5-mile ride at right about 0*F. Really fun, but I probably won’t try biking (or running) at that temperature again.
Was out running Saturday. And there was so cold that I could not feel my fingers, even though I had gloves on.
But I realy could when I got home. Av Av Av It hurt as the heat slowly came back into his fingers.
It was a few days ago on a short mountain run at Andorra, snow and without cold equipment it was the coldest for me
In winter I usually run on a treadmill, but when the snow falls, I always take a run outside. My coldest run would be the one from last month. I went running in the evening and it was freezing, about -2°C, but there is nothing like a run on a snowed up road!
First of, welcome to sweden :) It’s been below -10 C on several runs this winter but the lowest was -15C just before christmas (proof: link to funbeat.se)
Just for the record btw, I actuelly like running in the winter, the only problem is all the layers of clothes you have to put on…
I ran the 8+ mile #bostonninjarace at 9 pm Wednesday night in 8F (felt like -8F) weather. My sweaty hair froze solid.
I did 10 Km last year with -1 degrees C. It was difficult.
Jorge
Going from Idaho to Vegas for a Mt. Bike race years ago we expected it to be warm. We took warm weather clothing (short’s and short sleeve jersey.) It ended up snowing on us almost the whole race. I think it took a full day to get the feeling back in my hands.
Last night out for a one hour run in -26C!
Wooooo!!! Ontario, Canada!
Two winters ago I was training for a spring hm and it seemed it snowed just about every weekend after Christmas. As I struggled to keep my footing my pace dropped and the low temps and wind made the long runs an exercise in trying to forget how cold I felt. Brrr!
Well I don’t know what the temperature was but everyone when snowboarding on the fresh powder and I decided to go running… So I suppose it was a little cold out.
It is -22 degrees C (-8 degrees F) today and it is the warmest day in the past week. Fun
2006, in Moscow Russia, I used to take my daughter to daycare on my bike in -27C, it was cold, my husband took my other kids to school in our car so I was left to pedal around in the snow and subzero cold.
Mountain biking at -3 with strong winds. Apart from that it was night. All these in Athens Greece
Ran last weekend when it was 24 F, but the wind was blowing with 25 mph gusts.
I ran a race around Colorado College around Christmas and we started to get a freezing rain during the race. most of the run had protection from the wind from some buildings and trees, but running to the finish line I turned a corner and got a face full of wind and when I blinked, my eyes froze shut! Fortunately my gloves were up to the task and I didn’t end up on my behind, but it was nuts! My friend’s sweater was frozen solid at the end of the race too. It is still one of my favorite race shirts!
I wimp out on the bike and ride the trainer if it gets too close to freezing. A cold, dark, windy Xmas 2012 ride (well, the day after) was enough to make me realize that I want avoid anything colder.
Last Ferbuary 10k run at -25 °C. It was COLD. Finland is nice place to run in winter… :)
I tend to shy away from the really cold days, but my coldest this year has been about -15°C/-25°C with the wind. Both my running partner/dog and I had some pretty frosty whiskers by the time we got back! We’re out when it’s warmer than around -15°C though. Sadly, -30°C or lower with the wind has been the norm for the past week or so. Luckily it’s supposed to warm up to the single minus digits for my first winter triathlon on Sunday :).
did a ride in around 35 degree weather and forgot to wear socks… no bueno ice cube feet.
My coldest was about 15°F absolute temp, wind blowing at 40-50 mph at 11,000 feet elevation in the Indian Peaks Wilderness early this winter. My eyes teared up immediately so I could barely see and I had to hold one hand in over my face on the wind side to prevent frostbite. I ran as fast as I could half-blind to get back in the trees out of the wind. Running above treeline in danger of losing about 1/2 of your face is plenty of motivation, the hard part was being half-blind on a trail with snow drifts. Oh well, I do like trail running. That was my coldest experience, I had no idea where the wind chills put the temps.
I feel un-qualified to comment on cold running as I live in Oakland, California and that’s where most of my runs take place. But I borrowed that watch from my husband when my 405 JUST STOPPED WORKING for no reason at all and I LOVED it. So, I hope I win it!
Well, at the risk of being mocked, here goes… I did a trail run up off Skyline a couple weeks ago at dusk to recover from my first 20 mile run the day prior and my lips kinda froze. It was maybe 50 F. I know, I know. Don’t hate me because I don’t ever see snow. I respect you all, truly!
15 degrees on my long run before Philly. 21 miles in the cold and rain with my friend Allison. I couldn’t feel my fingers when she asked me to remove her emergency butt-gu from the back of her tights. She couldn’t feel to it out herself. BTW, two weeks later Philly was “unseasonably warm.”
Emergency butt-gu.
I went out for a 9 mile run thinking I could beat the weather moving in. I thought my wind breaker was good enough to keep me dry if it rained, I was wrong. At the half-way point on the out and back the rain and wind hit hard. The temp dropped from low 40’s to about 35 degrees and I had a 4.5 miles of headwind to run in with driving rain. The rain was coming down so hard I had a sheet of water coming off of my visor. Normally I like being out in stormy weather to admire the power of nature. This time I was so cold I just wanted to get home and get dry. I was so cold when I got home that I needed help getting out of my clothes. I did get a better coat for future rainy runs…
4 miles in single digit temperatures up at Lake Tahoe this winter. Brr!
Here in the UK it doesn’t usually get too cold, but recently we’ve had plenty of snow and cold mornings. The coldest I’ve noticed was -6 C last week on an early morning run before work.
I love running in the snow, maybe that’s because we don’t get snow very often here.
Ran the other night when it was 20 degrees F with 35 mph winds. Wind chills well below zero. Eyelashes froze.
I live in Victoria, BC Canada and my coldest run these days isn’t too bad, around 0°C. I grew up in Edmonton, Alberta though and would cycle commute year-round. Cycling at -40°C is definitely an experience…
Went for an 8 mile run one morning after it snowed heavily the night before; after about 6 miles I accidentally stepped in a patch of black ice and slipped into a ditch with a bunch of bushes, ripping my shorts along the seams. Needless to say, I ran my way back home in my whitey tighties
Running in Chicago 20 F
My coldest run was a couple of years ago in Cormorant, MN when it was -22F and 15 mph winds. Had to wear many layers.
My coldest run was about a week ago, it was 5 degrees with a windchill at about -10. While out running, the water bottle that I was holding in my hands started to freeze. I like slushes but I really perfer them flavored. Happy running everyone!
50K in Feb 2011 Midwest USA -> Post-holin’ through the snow until it started to melt… Then it became a dangerous crazy slip & slide!
Coldest run? Not sure I could even call it a run — more like a “shuffle.”
Remember “snowpocalypse”? I rode out the storm at my parents’ house, so I could do them a favor and shovel out their driveway. First mistake: I forgot how long it takes to shovel a 125 foot driveway canted at a 25 degree incline. After eight hours of shoveling (with breaks of course), the power was still out. The generator of course needs gas to run, right?
Second mistake: not filling gas cans before I came over to their house. Even though the driveway was clear, the county hadn’t plowed the street, so I couldn’t drive to the gas station. I grabbed 4, 5 gallon gas cans and a tobogan and set out.
Progress was slow, so I tied the pull string for the sled around my waist and ran. And ran. And ran some more. 3.5 miles to the gas station. When I arrived, my feet were cold to the point I couldn’t feel them.
Luckily, I caught a ride home – mostly anyway. I got dropped off at the start of the unplowed section; so I ran home for another mile. Feet, face, hands, fingers, toes, etc. were completely blue from the cold. Base layer soaked with sweat – made it even colder to get changed.
Third mistake: not bringing enough pain killers for the next day & the lactic acid onslaught!!!
My coldest run(s) was back in high school in the early 80’s, while training for Cross Country. Back then, we used to run in sweats and ski jackets, with none of the awesome clothing that’s available nowadays. Aside from feeling like a jogging Michelin Man (with all the puffy layers), you’d work up a good sweat that would then turn into a layer of ice.
Doesn’t get too cold here in New Orleans. Coldest run of the season so far was a 16 miler after dark in a drizzly rain. It was about 40 degrees and windy.
24 degree for a 18 mile run in preparation for the Phoenix Marathon. Frozen water, frozen nutrition. I should have stayed in bed!
It happenned when I did my first (and only) Ironman in Hungary.11h 30 min into the race a cold shower came, and the air cooled down, and I almost died of cold wearing only a shirt.
I finally finished, but had nothing to put on…. fever and a bad cold was the outcome, however it was worth it?!:)
Hi Ray, I remember a ride here in Philadelphia where my beard iced up pulling all the skin underneath, it hurt for two hours. Any both of my water bottles froze up at the same time leaving me witho nothing to drink
Not a running story, but a true nordic ski race story from 1977. Air temp -23F, windchill -63F (and yes, I was young and foolish enough to actually be out there!). 3 6.5k laps, mostly wooded, but the last 1k was along a golf course fairway, a gradual uphill and yes, into the wind. Finished the race in a bit of a hypothermic haze, then joined every one of my male competitors in the very small men’s room — all of us with our hands in our pants trying to unfreeze the most painful parts of our anatomy that could get frostnipped/frostbitten. I think windpanel men’s briefs hit the market a year or two later….
Probably around -22/-23C last winter…my face could barely move when i was done. My gf could not believe I actually went out to do a run in this kind of weather. It was -43C on Wednesday night here in Montreal…and NO, I did NOT go for a run…you crazy!? :)
I’m not much for running in the cold. When temps start nearing 50, Iook for the closest treadmill. One year, I ran an 8k where temp was well below freezing. The primary access to the event was via a highway that was closed for an extended period of time due to an accident. Those of us who arrived early were left standing at the starting line for over an hour. Thankfully, they passed out free HOT Chocolate for us to help keep us warm until the event got started.
Oct 2011 triathlon in houston area – air temp was in the low 40s, water temp was 65ish, and I had no wetsuit partly due to being new to the sport, I signed up for the tri at the last second, and it is Houston so who needs a wetsuit, right? After getting out of the water and onto the bike, my quads had a hard time moving in order to pedal. Then after getting off the bike, I could not feel my feet. I tried the flying dismount only to find that I had no feeling in my feet and could not feel them hit the ground in T2. I could not pull my shoes on either because my fingers had been conformed to my aero bars (could not feel my fingers either) and I could not move the tongue of the shoe out of the way. Fun times!
My coldest run in recent memory was today. Only 12 degC, compared to weeks and weeks of 25-35 degC every day. So cold that I had to wear a t-shirt.
Running at @5AM on a Monday morning with the temperature around -7degC executing a red zone workout came close to questioning the wisdom of running Boston in April! Mind over matter :-)
Oct 2011 triathlon in houston area – air temp was in the low 40s, water temp was 65ish, and I had no wetsuit partly due to being new to the sport, I signed up for the tri at the last second, and it is Houston so who needs a wetsuit, right? After getting out of the water and onto the bike, my quads had a hard time moving in order to pedal. Then after getting off the bike, I could not feel my feet. I tried the flying dismount only to find that I had no feeling in my feet and could not feel them hit the ground in T2.
Oct 2011 triathlon in houston area – air temp was in the low 40s, water temp was 65ish, and I had no wetsuit partly due to being new to the sport, I signed up for the tri at the last second, and it is Houston so who needs a wetsuit, right? After getting out of the water and onto the bike, my quads had a hard time moving in order to pedal. Then after getting off the bike, I could not feel my feet or fingers
Oct 2011 triathlon in houston area – air temp was in the low 40s, water temp was 65ish, and I had no wetsuit partly due to being new to the sport, I signed up for the tri at the last second, and it is Houston so who needs a wetsuit, right? Bad idea
Oct 2011 triathlon in houston area – air temp was in the low 40s, water temp was 65ish, and I had no wetsuit or warm clothes
I don’t do much running but every morning during the fall I bike to work wearing gloves, winter hat, winter pants and a ski mask. And I still end up with frozen hair.
Last year, febuary, -14° C. I had received my new bike and I wanted to test it. Only 25km, but terribly frozen toes.
10K run last Tuesday, wasn’t that cold to start with but hailstones kicked in about half way round which stung a lot.
My coldest run was from the shuttle bus to the hotel entrance while stuck in Chicago on winter. The snot froze in my nose between the bus and the door.
During the winter of 2002, I made it a goal to do all my training runs outside in the suburbs of Chicago, IL. There was one particular run when it was windy, so my eyes were watering more than normal. It was also quite cold, so when I blinked, my eyelashes stuck together. After one particular blink, one eye froze shut for a moment or two. Scary, but also kind of cool (or cold!).
A very not typical dip into the single digits in south Louisiana several years ago. Quite a shock at first.
I’ve had some cold runs and bikes, but the worst cold weather sporting experience I can remember was skiing in Northern Vermont in January several years ago. 5°F at the base of the mountain, 0°F at the top with windchill’s around -20° to -30°F made for a very painful and short day on the slopes.
This past week minus 12 burrr! In Milwaukee are spoiled it has been 2 years since it has been that cold.
…i am a winter runner, i love running in the cold, i have run so many times in the cold that i can’t remember the colderst
Ran in the snow in 32 degree weather during my 26th birthday!
Coldest run was in Kazakhstan. I came prepared with enough layers, but winters there are brutal. In Kazakhstan winter runs you!
I live in Toronto so cycling in February (last winter) should be out of the question but my excited inner cycling spirit defies logic.
I suited up wearing the appropriate garb for -13 degree Celsius weather (aka really f’n cold) and at about 25km’s into it, hit a patch of unavoidable ice, went down hard and my front wheel decided to impact a light pole (in lieu of my head) causing it to morph into a trapezoid ultimately rendering my bike useless.
I was stranded, in the middle of no where, in -13 degree Celsius weather and if I had a Garmin FR910XT it probably wouldn’t have helped, but it would have definitely looked good on my wrist.
Ran for an hour in -40 temps many moons ago. The cushioning in my shoes felt almost non-existent a few minutes after embarking.
Probably around 18 F run a few winters ago. Although, running the Manhattan half on Sunday which will be around the same range if not lower.
I love running in the cold. My best PRs have been in the Manhattan Half Marathon, 3rd week of January, usually around 15F. It’s fun, and after finishing, everyone is covered in a thin layer of frozen sweat.
Byt my coldest experience was memorial day 2011, Lake Tahoe, a week before Escape from Alcatraz. It snowed in June!!!!!!! and the lake temperature was 47F. The beach was snowed in, and tourist were taken pictures of the stupid guy in his wetsuit plunging for a swim. After that, the Bay waters seemed balmy!!!
i’m not sure the temp, but somewhere in the teens F, in Dallas. My hands were so numb at the end that I couldn’t unlock the house door and started to panic.
One of my first Sprint-Tri: Indoor 400m swim, then stepped outside to high-30 temps with wind around 18mph gusts up to 25mph. Made the windchill low 30s. By the run, it had warmed up to high 40s. It’s amazing I ever did another Triathlon after that.
Deep South, so I’m not used to cold weather. Give me 95+ with high humidity anyday!
Sometimes, here in Victoria, BC, it sometimes drops below freezing. I don’t feel i really have much of a ‘cold’ experience. Sometimes it feels pretty cool out riding tho. ;)
I live in Southern California, so one day I had to run and it was a whole 60 degrees. Yeah, tough running weather.
I live in Park City, UT. 3 winters ago, my wife dropped me off at the gym about half a mile from our condo so she could use the car for some errands. She called me 45 minutes later saying that she was somehow locked in our garage so i had to run back in my shorts and t-shirt while it was snowing and below freezing. …BRRR
The Las Vegas 1/2 marathon a few years ago started out cold, but then got flippin’ freezing. Night-time races…
Running on the frozek lake in Jonkoping, my study exchange place in Sweden :) Hope you’re having a good time!
P.
My coldest run (i know lamely) was yesterday. I started running 6 months ago and lost 30 pounds and now training for a half. It was 27 degress out there but wind chill was down to 9. I made it !
Long run at -2C two weeks ago, while being heavily underdressed… finished the run and had a glass of warm milk.
Last week I went for a run at -5C, which isn’t to bad, but there was a strong wind which made it that it took me about 35 – 40 minutes before I could feel anything again.