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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.
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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.
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.
Next time there, you should try to hit up a run in Phoenix Park. It’s an awesome spot right in the city. Wild deer running all around. I think they call it the largest urban park in the world (bigger than Central Park)!
Could just be me, but I thought it was interesting that the bar in that picture is flying an American flag, neat!
I’ve no doubt that there would have been plenty of other American flags flying in Dublin that week. A fair smattering of Americans have Irish ancestors, and many Irish continue to emigrate to USA so its a bit like putting out a flag for the cousins.
Tough going keeping a consistent pace on a route like that, quite a lot of pedestrians to avoid, Phoenix Park is definitely the place to get a solid run in if you’re sticking to the city centre
Thanks Ray. I’m enjoying all these travel updates as much as the reviews. I’ve done a fair bit of worldwide travel and it’s cool to both see what’s changed (or unchanged) since I last visited and through someone else’s eyes.
Year ago had almost the same run, but before main St. Patrick celebration. City was full of debris due to Friday night parties, the only place of cerenity was the Phoenix park, with deers :)
Here’s the track: link to sports-tracker.com
Can’t believe you were in Dublin! I work at the Guinness brewery so if you come back let me know and I’ll organise a tour and the Phoenix Park is only half a mile away or a cool run
The river (canal, actually) is a great run. Once you get about 2 miles from the sea it really thins out (and goes through some urban wasteland/projects areas), but is flat, fast and unpopulated. You can go quite a ways on it.
Ray, that leprechaun you photographed with yourself is stationed beside the Molly Malone statue, and is there to make a bit of income from the steady stream of tourists photographing themselves with the statue. You’re very lucky you weren’t “encouraged” to make a donation…
Great post and great pictures, as always. I have the same Panasonic camera, and I’m curious where you carry it when you run.
For shorter runs (under 90 minutes), I’m likely to just hand-hold it. For longer runs, I’ll either stash it in a Spibelt (“http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004QQTDA2/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B004QQTDA2&linkCode=as2&tag=dcr07-20) or a CamelBak if I’m wearing one.
Got it. I have a love hate relationship with my Spibelt. I love that I can securely keep stuff with me, but I hate that it seemed to press on my bladder for all of 26.2 in LA last weekend. I’ll give it a try with the camera some time though. Thanks!
Wow I can’t believe you were in Dublin Ray!! I live around the corner from the Guinness Brewery (and pass by that lepruchaun a lot)! It’s so cool to see our capital from your point of view. Hope you enjoyed your quick run around the city streets and like other posters said above, be sure to let us know if you are returning to Dublin so we can take you to the lovely Phoenix park or if you’re returning to other parts of Ireland, so we can suggest nice running spots in Cork or Galway!
:-)
Thanks so much for the mini tour of Dublin, very enjoyable
I am seriously impressed with your dedication. If I had an hour and a half, pretty sure I would have ordered room service and called it a day. Way to go! And to inspire me!
Hey Ray –
Any tips on keeping all the gadgets charged while traveling? I also travel a lot and have had too many instances when I head out for a run or bike and something runs out if juice.
Thanks!
I try and always charge everything at night. And sometimes (if it’s a flying day), I’ll set an alarm at something like 4AM just to wake up, swap batteries/devices/etc… and then fall back asleep.
I also have a small iPhone charging case which works well. And then I have two USB charging batteries (about the size of a phone), which can easily charge a phone about 50-70%, and most sports gadgets to enough for a workout.
2-3 minute turnaround at the hotel!? You must have been pretty much dressed to run on the plane!
I had my running stuff on top, so it was literally run into the room, throw on shorts/t-shirt/shoes, and run out… put my HR strap on in the elevator and out the front door. Quick!
I’ve done a ton of travelling and sightseeing and I’ve done a ton of running and cycling but usually the former cancelled out the latter. Nowadays I combine them and enjoy both even more. And I’m totally with you @Christy, it’s wildly tempting to skip runs when you’re traveling, business or leisure. Luckily my hero-worship of DC Rainmaker provides good motivation to get out the door. :)
Reason you say so many ‘twisty balloons’ was by the date you posted you were there around Paddys week….where every is covered by green!
Anybody an idea, where to hire touring bikes? I am planning a biketrip to Ireland with my daughter (11 years) from B&B to B&B. Not having an idea yet, where to go…any suggestions?
thanx for infos Gero