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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.
Riding on a sunny day early in the morning, expecting that it would warm up, so didn’t wear any warm clothing. Fast forward 4 hrs and still could barely feel my fingers! Was a good ride though.
-4, snowing, just got into running so only wearing shorts and a t shirt with no hat.
My coldest one was -25 Celsius. Nothing compared to Alaska or northern Canada but still terribly cold. Was quite windy as well. Wore 2 pairs of running tights but didn’t help much.
Here in Denmark its pretty cold and I had one of my coldest runs in -7C a few days ago.
long run around paris.
riding my trainer in my enclosed back porch is not too bad when the sun is out, but the other day at night my toes get numb. I live in jersey.
-15° C during lunch break last February. People on the road looked kinda puzzled seeing be rushing by with icicles on my eyelashes.
If it weren’t for the ice on the roads and paths, I would really enjoy running in the winter.
I ran after a snow storm and decided it was a good idea to run through a local field at the beginning of my five mile run. It was about 300 yards of two feet of snow. My legs were burning by the time I made it to the other side. I didn’t have gloves and I had to tuck my hands into the sleeves of my sweatshirt to keep them semi warm. I don’t check the temperature… but it was cold and windy that day.
Thanks for all the info!
I live in tropical island so my coldest run was during a rainy day 5am in the morning, only hit 2km as I don’t want to get cough by cold. Anyway, it was fun though ….
I remember it was -15 Celcius. My gloves had gotten wet, so I came home with frostbite.
I’m from Texas so our battle is 100+ heat. However, a few weeks ago I was running in 32F bundled up in a jacket and tights. I passed another runner in shorts and a t-shirt and we each had this look of “This guy is crazy!”
Have had many cold runs and rides, but best that comes to memory was a cold swim…a friend and I would weekly schedule an outdoor swim session at 06:00am, only for one of us to text the other at 05:30am to chicken out eg its too cold, its raining, I’m too tired. The evening before one of these sessions we both swore that come rain or shine we’d both be there for the next session. So we arrived to rain, 14 degrees Celsius outside, 6 degrees Celsius in the water….and I forgot my wetsuit. Lost feeling in my hands and arms after the first 500m, swam the next 1000m at race pace just so that I could get out the water faster. Shivered through the last 500m of the swim, through the toweling off in the rain, on the drive home (was really strange to drive while shivering uncontrollably), took a cup of coffee into the shower to warm me up (shivered through that as well), only to return to normal at around lunch time….needless to say we never has another one of those swims again
Rock climbing on a limestone rockface above a river in winter. The cold fingers didn’t want to work properly and I fell off on the overhang. When I hit the water it knocked the air out of me. Damn it was cold.
Cold eh…. went from warm 23c degree water in Sydney one January to San Fran and into the bay for a quick swim…. with a wetsuit… in 10c water… it was a really really really quick swim!!!!
About -8 C sometime in december. Ran 8 km and I realized that my running gloves were a bit too thin for those temperatures.
Did a couple of runs in -20 C last easter in the Norwegian mountains – oh the things you do when you have a big race comming up!
My run this morning outside Stockholm was nearly -20c. My eyes froze so in nearly didn’t see a thing! Tomorrow ill take the treadmill instead :) Welcome to Sweden!
T-shirt and shorts on a nice sunny day running to the store for some much needed chocolate milk, ended with snow and wind bringing it down to at least 0. Not the coldest temperature wise but the coldest feeling run.
Two weeks ago the temp was about 0C but the snow was more-than-knee-deep… Very memorable!
Cold? I don’t know what your talking about! Greetings from Athens, Greece :-)
Swimming in lake Rinjani, Rinjani is second highest volcano in Indonesia.
My coldest run was when I was in the Netherlands. My old Garmin FR50 kept on going even though I didn’t want to keep on truckin’ through that cold ass weather. Nice scenery though. :)
Here in Greece the weather is not so cold so maybe my coldest run is a joke to most people but it was cold for me. Monday 01.01.13 around 11:00 with 5 degrees Celsius. I wore my tight, my shirt and my jacket. Made the run and after that I went home to eat something sweet. I wish the best for all of you here. Sky is the limit people.
Wet and moderately cold is worse to me than just cold. Just miserable…Christmas day 2011, steady rain, 41F, 4.4mile run.
-20 C in Warsaw with icicles on my eyelash
i was climbing mt kinabalu (link to en.wikipedia.org) last year…. on the way up it rained cats and dogs for 4 hour straight! the climb to the first base camp ( laban rata) takes about 4-6hours. so we were freezing as we navigate our way through the puddles, wrong pool!, that were created… everything was wet.. and cold. i thought that was bad… but.. we had to make the trip to the top at 2am in the morning… that was even worst as we had wet shoes, lucky the clothes were dry.. but half way up.. i really could not feel my toes… really.. i tot i lost them! once again .. it was windy and cold.. and walking and walking and walking.. .with the wind blowing… once on the small peak.. it was beautiful! made a waypoint on my GPS! and went to check my feet.. all toes counted for… sat in the sun for a good 1/2 hour before going back down again…
great stuff… but… shiviring cold.. haha
Colder Bolder 2011: 6inches of snow and temps in the teens. It was a memorable 5k!
Hi Ray!
My coldest run was in january 2011. I was just returned from an accident, and the first day that doctor said “yes, you can run again” it was snowing. But who cares! I was so proud to run again that I go for a 10Km run … I come back home like a snowman!
In november 2012 I was running one evening with a temperature of -5 °C and everything seems great until I had to stop for a couple of minutes … I then started to feel really uncomfortable when my hairs and my clothes started to freeze.
Running in -16 C in orienteering competition – beautiful snowy wood, snow knee-deep frequently, and you still have some ~10km to go to find all the checkpoints. Forgot to zip my tights down to the ankles, so when I finished, discovered that the burning feeling right above ankles comes from some snow being stuck right there on the skin…
Coldest ride for me was in Stanley Idaho. I was riding my bike across the US, and the pavement was wet, but the air was well below freezing. It was getting harder and harder to pedal, even though it was a slight downhill into town. I stopped to look at the bike to see if something was wrong. The water was splashing up from the pavement and freezing on the chain. That stop cost me: It froze solid. I had to walk into town. I camped in the tent, and the next morning had to use my stove to thaw the chain to carry on.
A few years ago I went running at night while it was snowing and -8*F, I didn’t have any warm socks and after my shoes got wet my toes got very cold, and I ended up with frostbite on them. They were painful and purple for a week!
Hmmm… my coldest was 28*F in NorCal, seems pretty warm in comparison to all these posts, haha! My toes were quite cold for the first 1.5 miles. Outdoors trump the treadmill every time!
Never too cold here in Hong Kong at any given time of year but it was about 9c or 48f. Went for a 25km trail run and it wasn’t too bad until it started to pour on us and the wind kicked up. Had to stop b/c of lightning and thunder and got pretty cold once I stopped moving!
My first cycling club Pie ride brought us Palomar mt into the snow. I was frozen by the time summited….and exhausted but the decent scared me straight! Watch would be for my beautiful triathlon wife.
January 14, 2012. Fairbanks, Alaska. The 4mile or 8 mile Airport Run put on by Running Club North. -41 degrees (yes minus…) I wore ski boot covers over my running shoes with spikies on top of them. I did 4 miles and was so overdressed that I had to take off my mittens for a few minutes halfway through the run. 11 finishers in the 4 mile and 4 finishers in the 8 mile.
Training program from the coach said: Run 2h40min. So I ran 2h40m. In -14C. In the snow (I was on a skiing vacation in Norway). And my Camelbak froze after 5min. :(
Came back with somewhat roughed up hamstrings, but so much stronger mentally :)
I run with minimal shoes – so that’s Vivobarefoot Neos. It gets quite cold if you stand still. And on one of my better races I had to stand still for hours with wet feet, waiting to get back my clothes. The weather wasn’t really that chilly, but the process made it dreadful for me.
Ragnar Relay Las Vegas 2012. I started the first leg of our 200 mile relay at the top of Mt Charleston ski resort in 28 degree weather, snow flurries, and freezing winds. My shoelaces became untied one mile in and I could even re-tie them because my fingers were too numb!
It’s the middle of the winter in Ohio. I have the routine perfected. Wake up at 5:00 AM, take ten minutes to suit up in the appropriate Under Armour garments, go for a frigid run in minus zero windchills, come home, throw all assorted clothes into wash machine, wake up the next morning and do it again. Seems like each run is getting progressively colder. Only four months ’till June!!
London 2005. Feb. -1’C. Training for Paris marathon. Run home from work, somehow pulled pulled both calf muscles. Never felt a thing till the next morning. Couldn’t walk for a day. Never ran in Paris. Gutted. Moved back to Sydney. Never run in sub zero temps since!
-22*C this morning here in central Sweden, had to use my Airtrim breathing mask……
Don’t recall the temperature but it was our annual holiday ride. We had 5 people show for the short 25 miler; wind chill was crazy. After 10 miles my waterbottle froze and my lips felt like I just came back from the dentist. Needless to say, we turned around at that point and called it a day….it was epic though….
I did an 8k morning run in Kangerlussuaq, Greenland last february. It was -25 C (-13 F). I had ice all over my face when I returned – but a great run!
I live in Stockholm, so running in cold is not to uncommon for me in the winter. I think that the coldest I have been out in was around –25*C. At that temperature I love my icebreaker merino wool gear! But strangely enough the feet does not get that cold. I have been out running in aqua socks in –10*C. :)
Coldest I’ve experienced in my run so far was this month at 22C. That is already cold for me since I am in a tropical country and all and the climate has been weird recently! Blame global climate change?!?
I live in CA, and I went running back in Chicago for Christmas. I did an 11 mile run, and my nose and chin were completely frozen when I was done. I ran on the treadmill for the rest of my stay.
Cold’est cycling trip last week, -12c cycling in norway. Feet and head relly freezing, used a couple of hours after the run to regain heat :)
the temperature was about -5°C with a cold north wind. We were on our sunday long run trip with my best running partner. When we crossed a wood bridge my speed was to high and the bridge too slippery … i fall and twisted my right thumb.
the coldest run i do was at about -12 C
Two years ago I was running at temps of -25°C (and this is really cold for Germany).
Last year I started a run and it was a nice five Celsius, so I just wore a t-shirt and shorts; halfway through the run the fog came down, the wind picked up and the temperature plummeted so by the time I arrived back home I was barely able to move and had to get help taking off my shoes and switching off my torch. Worst of all was that I was very uncomfortable in… certain places while I slowly warmed up again.
-28 whilst I was living in Levi, Finland. Face returned white after a short run where the breath had frozen to eye lashes, hat, buff etc
I was up in Ankorage, Alascka to see my Aunt a couple Christmases ago and just so happen to be training for my half marathon in Dallas Texas. I had to get some kind of run while I was there so i wouldn’t get out of shape . On my run i recorded a -54F and had to be taken to the hospital because of hibernation. Lesson learned, Texas winters is nothing like Alaska winters!
My coldest run: Austria, 2011, January, sunny, -15°C, it was so cold that I had to cover my gloved-hands in addition with these bags people use to pick up their dog´s leftovers
Signing up for a hundred mile ultra having not done a marathon left a certain student thinking he should probably run a marathon first. So I rallied up the troops being my flat mates which havent ever passed 20 miles between them and off we set. Managed to get lost on a b road in the dark of oxford then off the side of a motorway. But all seemed well, then the shower. Who knew these few thorns actually did cut my legs afterall! So not for the numbing ice do I cry. No! I cry for the dreaded warming up or defrosting period as it should be known.
Running in melted snow: 0° C outside but my feet were soaked and most of the time submerged in water and snow.
Not so cold but awful!
My coldest run was in Versailles; around -10°C. Nothing challenging compared to some here-above comments !
-5°C on the top of the Stilfser Joch at 2800m in Südtirol. The way down with only a thin jacket and tin leg warmers was my coldest adventure on bike. The windchill factor has turned my legs into pieces of ice full of convulsion.
Half way down a station with hot tea saved my life.
;-)
Coldest run: -8°C – it’s not so cold if humidity is low.
My bikeride to the trainstation this morning where I almost slipped twice while evading a car that didn’t want to ride on the snow.
Last year… a nice Warsaw run during a -9F day:
link to fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.net
Cheers!
Big Sky Montana in January wearing yaktrax while trying to maintain fitness for a March marathon. It was cold, the ground was slick, and it was tough to stay motivated after skiing all day!
The last cold run memory I have is a run 7 weeks ago. I came home with frozen eyebrows, kind of looked like Yeti. It wasn’t actually that cold (probably like -3°C), but there was a lot of snowing going on.
My coldest run 12KM was by -13, but after running for 1-2KM my body temp raised and in combination with my clothing it was perfect, only my feet were not warmed up as much as I hoped.
Cheers,
Twan
2 years ago, middle of Sweden, -27 celcius. I basically wore every piece of training clothing I could find. And an Airtrim breathing mask. I did 12 km. Was enough.
Welcome to Stockholm this weekend! :)
Mine isn’t running, but a walk home from work a couple winters ago. It was about -15 and I worked about 7 blocks from home. I was walking quickly, with my head down, concentrating on staying warm on the short walk home. Out of the corner of my eye I saw something flash across my path. I stopped and looked up and what did I see? Three deer (in the middle of town) staring back at me from across the street. They were looking at me like, “What are you doing out here? Are you nuts? It’s freezing!” It was too cold to spend time enjoying the close-up with nature so I put my head back down and continued on my way!
Doing a night trail run through a golf course in Johannesburg in winter… Its not that cold in your crazy Northern Hemisphere terms… but when you’re used to 25 – 30 degrees and it drops down to 5 and all you have is shorts and a t shirt its a bit miserable!
On another note, doing Xterra Buffelspoort tomorrow and weather forecast is over 30 degrees!
cycling at -15C to my summer house, and then spending an hour in front of fireplace with my feet covered in soot (chimney was blocked a bit by snow).
A ridebike, one week ago early in the morning it was about 2°C (beleive me in south of france it is very cold :), my feet, hands and nose were totaly frozen…
In 2011, after ACL surgery, I started running in December. My parents were preparing christmas and I was going out for short winter runs. I really enjoyed it!
One year ago. -23C and fresh snow in sunny forrest. I have had a five layers of apparel. I looked like a funny snowman when I returned back home :-)
My coldest run was -21 c. I live in Östersund, Sweden. About 650 km norh of Stockholm. Here it is snow fron otc-nov til may. It’s often very cold. You need some kind of long johns and pants, jacket, gloves, buff, hat etc. You can’t run hard in this cold temperatures, otherwise it’s easy to get asthmatic problem. This time of year it’s usally -10 to -15. Thats tough to. You always freeze the first 20 min, then you get warmer, if you stay out for more than an hour the sweat will cool you down and you freeze anyway.
Hans, from a cold Östersund, -10 c right now.
A training session last year, -3º C and heavy rain.
My coldest run? February 2012, 30km long – my camelback froze around halfway… With no water and the slipping snow under my feet, I was not that happy during the second half but still managed to finish…
Thanks for the giveaway!
Coldest run,
wasn’t fun :)
-25C. A year ago (2012/02/03) – 10 km.
My coldest run i did was last winter. It was the coldest winter I can remember. It was -19,5C and it hurts to breath.
Since I’ve only started running intensively lately, this week was my first week of running in the cold. And I can say it was not my nicest running experience so far ;-). Not only was it -10°C, the snow on the sidewalks was completely frozen, making running very difficult.
Aqui, no hace mucho frio, lo peor es el viento del norte, que cuando acabas de entrenar ni sudas.
Running at -20C with a mask on face to get some a bit hotter air. The run was in woods in deep snow so I my run was a rather vertical :)
Here in Ankara, Turkey, sometimes we have real “cold” mornings… Last year I ran at -21 celcius and when I got back home all my beard was covered with ice :)… This year I started to swim and bike. So when it is that cold I use the shelter of the pool and my home (trainer)…
A year ago at -13c. It was a lovely run however on the second half it started to become a little to chilly ;-)
0C run in England back long time ago. Dont have much opportunity to run in cold weather, as the place i am staying is hot all year round!!!
My coldest ride was something below 0°C and when I got home I couldn’t feel my fingers and toes anymore!
Swimming – Vancouver Age Group World Championships. We were the last wave they sent out – Ladies 50-55 – nice. They cancelled the swim after us! The boys got to do a duathlon instead – too dangerous. My hands were frozen, punctured just out of transition, but I couldn’t change it, I had no feeling/movement in my fingers at all.
My coldest run was in Warsaw at -18C. That was quite funny, because everyone I passed on pavement were looking at me like an alien:)
Last year, long run at -13C… hard to breathe, but a shining winter sun… great memory !
Ciao Ray,
End of December 2011 an evening run at -17 C. Refreshing….
I’m from Portugal, but I’ve recently moved to Milan (italy) and quickly found out that my running only on shorts and t-shirt all year long didn’t really matched with the northern Italy cold weather. :)
The coldest ever was maybe last Monday when I left my house for the weekly long run at 5:30 and the thermometer was showing -8° C…. ffffrrrrreeeezzzziiiinnnggg.
-25 ° C in Harads (northern Sweden) when the sun rises, wonderful morning run!
Last year, riding in -20 C to work, couldn’t feel my limbs for an hour after arriving :)
I live in the UK and it doesn’t usually get *that* cold; the very coldest run I’ve done was maybe -8C, wrapped up in an Icebreaker top, hat, gloves, longs, so I was very comfortable when I got going. Worst experience running in the cold is another matter – the temperature was hovering around freezing point at the start of a 10k a few years back, and there was sleet falling solidly for the last four miles. All my clothes were soaked in near-freezing water by the end, and my hands were so cold I couldn’t unlock my car door to get back in the warmth. Sleet? You can keep it.
Running around Hampstead Heath – temperature wasn’t that cold, but the wind chill made it painful!
Running during 45′ after finishins a jouney of snowboarding in Andorra at -6 C
My first ever race was a 10km was in the Yorkshire Dales in January with snow on the ground, always remember that. Great running when cold.
Now the coldest I get is low 20C as I’ve moved to Sydney and it always seems so hot and sweaty when I run!
My coldest run was 2 years ago. It was -15C in the small village in the North of Poland. But now in Poland we have freeze (somewhere -20C) from 2 weeks. Tomorrow forecast says it will be the coldest day this winter. And I’m going to participate in the 5k run round the Malta lake in Poznan, with my kids who love to run as well!!!
Living in the Netherlands means running in cold winter months.
Ran a long run on sunday. -6 C, strong winds and snowing. Great and inspiring run! Due to the windchill it felt like -15!
About 2 weeks ago I had a 10K run on the beach here in the Netherlands. Temps were like -5C but there was a strong head wind which made it feel like -12C. Brrr!!
I’m running in the Copenhagen, Denmark area where it is usually quite cold. This week I had a couple of runs outside at -10 degree Celcius, but with heavy winds so probably felt like -15 to -20 degrees. A good thing that it wasn’t raining!
Here in Washington state it isn’t too cold. I guess a few degrees C below freezing is the coldest I ever run.