Heads up!!! Here’s your massive holiday sports tech deals list! This includes the Garmin Epix for just $419, the Apple AirTag 4-Pack for just $69, the GoPro Hero 12 Black for $249, (or the brand new Hero 13 or $299!) and plenty more! Go check out the full list of 100+ deals 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.
4
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!
5
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 2024 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.
Two big mountain bike rides including some long SS climbing to start spring break.
2 hours spinning class on Saturday morning. A lot of sweat?
I did 2h workout on a indoor bike because it was raining outside :-(
Rode 110k on zwift preparing for some longer stuff over the year.
A racing double header. On Saturday, a Crit race ruined by an untimely puncture while in the winning breakaway. Then on Sunday a Hilly time trial in brutal winds.
I did an hour ride with the static bicycle at home while watching House of Cards :)
riding with the kids…not enough time for anything big until gymnastics competitions are over for my girl.
Knocked out some zwift miles; not been outside since I found it!
I rode my new wheel and tire setup on my gravel bike. Saturday was cold and windy. Sunday was pleasant and windy.
No cycling this weekend, unfortunately due to travel. Hope to get into the saddle again on Wednesday.
Skiied in tahoe all weekend, 14″ of snow Sunday and 26″ of snow today :) I don’t have a power meter yet so this would be an awesome win, I currently train with HR.
On a mission to make my strava heatmap lines join up. 100km between to country cities on country roads
Scrapped a ride for a long walk to the pub with the girl and the dogs. We we’re all winning that day ?
got injured on Friday and couldn’t bike at all :(
This weekend , i ended up cycling on Friday/Saturday & Sunday in co.Sligo, Ireland. and guess what , i ended up cycling 3 times in the pouring rain.
i must say through, it doesn’t always rain in Ireland, just about 300 days a year.
I am training for my 2018 trip Nordkapp to Gibraltar (link to outdoorfitnesssligo.com)
3 repeats of Mt Wellington, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.
I went to Dan Francisco on vacation so I rode there, I climbed twin peaks :)
Tested new tubeless wheel set on my MTB, which does not have a power meter.
It’s probably going to be 80 km ride with my mates, and maybe I’ll convince them to have a café stop in the middle :)
No riding this weekend…recovering from a pelvic fracture. Hope to get back on trainer this week, a PM would help the recovery with Zwift! :)
FTP test on trainerroad for me.
Would love a power meter to take the numbers outside.
Been off the bike for a week or two so going to head out with my club mates and get a few decent km’s in.
Broken by GCN workouts on Zwift. Roll on spring!
Not far enough. Foiled by the weather
Planned: A LSD session on the trainer before the kids woke up.
Did: Went sledding with the kids.
I rode 50 miles on Sunday. Saturday it rained cats and dogs.
I did a group Ride with some friends on sunday :)
A rainy day ruined my idea of a long ride on Saturday. Ended up with a 50 km ride.
100 mile ride with 2000m of elevation- training ride for the Liege-Bastogne-Leige sportive in April. A power meter would be the ultimate training tool! :)
Got a bit bored on a ride with a couple of buddies a bit (a lot) “less trained” this weekend so started climbing hills in 50-11.. my calfs are not my friend anymore..
I did what anyone with young kids does.
Take them to a birthday party, take them to buy new shoes, take them to park run, go food shopping, etc. Then squeeze in as many minutes as possible on the turbo, while the kids nap. Only to be stopped by one of them shouting as they had wet the bed. Textbook stuff. One day I’ll be able to ride again I keep telling myself.
A couple of solid TrainerRoad hours.
I did my first ever criterium race! 38 km within an hour, average HR of 180 BPM and didn’t even finish in the front group. Hopefully better results to come :) a well earned (IMO) rest on Sunday.
I’m in New York so my riding has been on Zwift!
Saturday long walk, stetching legs after turbo session on Friday, supporting the ourNHS March, decided to go for ride with local club on Sunday morning, woke early, cold heavy rain, so went back to bed and did 90min turbo on retro 531pro 1980s Saracen, before having roast beef. Ideal Sunday ;)
Zwift Team ODZ Pretzel ride
Sat 5hr ride : 4 x 20min tempo with 5 min recovery
Sun 3 hr ride : 5 min tempo , 5min recovery 16x20sec full gas , 40 sec recovery – then do it all again
Raining outside, taking it easy and cleaning and maintaining the bikes today.
Rode out side SLC for the first time in a while.
Took to zwift this weekend to ride the volcano loop
2 hours on a muddy singletrack on the MTB :)
I actually took the weekend off the bike to look after my wife, who had a bad head cold
Plan was 150km but ended up sick so all the cycling i did was the 2km ride to the playground with our daughter
Take my kids, aged 2 and 5, for a family bike ride to the locak community farm.
I did a race in France and had a puncture. As the service car was too far I had to give up :(
This weekend the triathlete inside me escaped the British winter to run the Malta Half-Marathon, rather than any cycling. A 1:17 PB was a very positive outcome :-)
I did a big ride with friends
Only indoor over the weekend in the Kickr.
Friday was a big-gear, low-cadence sweet-spot trainer session, Saturday was my rest day and Sunday I did some Z4 intervals and seated sprints. Not the most exciting weekend on the bike, but when there’s 3 feet of snow on the ground, options are limited!
I haven’t spent a lot of time on my bike lately but managed to spend some time on my trainer.
Oh year . I was for the “Grunewaldrunde” in Berlin Germany with two friends of mine on Saturday .
Very hot and sweaty Wattbike session in the pain cave….
105 minute trainer road kickr ride
Rode 50km (49.9km actually!) on some of my favourite local roads on Saturday.
Then did an extra lap of the roundabout on Sunday to push it over 50 clicks….
Brought the weeks total to over 160 km
Watched the Strada Bianca and wished it wasn’t -20C outside in Montreal.
I looked at my bike and went for a 12km run :)
A 6 mile run after a 5 mile wasted walk (golf). Never managed out my bike this weekend
Going to ride my brand new road bike!
12 mile run Sat. 42 Mile ride on beat legs Sunday.
30 miles on the trainer, dying, in Zwift London!
Rest!
I had intended to ride in the 626 Golden Streets open streets event in Pasadena this weekend, but unfortunately, illness kept me at home. On to the next one!
Too bad I did not have time to cycle – had to do a long run this weekend. Used the bikes only today after two weeks without cycling…
Didn’t end up riding this weekend, but doing high cadence intervals on the training this evening.
Im doing my first peloton ride (100k)
Dodging showers and puddles with a friend on a Sunday morning ride
6 hours on the bike to make a good base for the time to come!
Sadly I can not ride a bike for a while because of a fall and make me a kidney injury, although I would like to participate
A hideous hour of sweet spot on the turbo as the heavens opened just as i was leaving for my club ride :-(
I reckon a power meter would put a smile back on my face…
A hectic weekend for me, my daughter’s 5th birthday so cycling was a bit hard. I rode for just over an hour on Zwift, using my soon to be obsolete, but much loved Computrainer. I love it so much that when I saw Ray posting they were stopping that I bought another one (second hand!).
A brief foray to the rock that nearly killed me last November, while mountain biking. Been in the garage on Zwift since then while recovering.
Intervals on zwift.
Quick ride up the new Zwift Volcano route.
Did 105 Km on Zwift to avoid a rainy morning
some drills and 2 x 20 min intervals on the trainer
Only 1 hour indoor on my Tacx Smart. Not a great cycling weekend… :(
Just started a week long training camp in Gran Canaria, so lot of kilometres and uphills so far.
No biking but did run 5 miles today! I have never owned or used a power meter!
Breaking in my new Trek Domane …
2 hours easy with a run.
A trail race (running)!
After a hours and hours on the rollers, I went for my first ride outdoors- probably the first & last 80k before my son arrives :)
Trainer Road, recovery week so Table Rock and Slide Mountain!
Fartlek ride on the kickr. Temperature in Montréal makes it hard to ride outside!
Going to climb L’Angliru
Plan to do some studio cycling.
On Saturday, went on a 150 km, 1,200 m elevation group ride and ended up having to wait for the slower guys on top of the climbs! My new trainer has helped me so much! :D
Only rides to the shops and park, workouts were a run and a swim!
Date with TrainerRoad. Love me some over/unders!
Stuck indoors on a cold (15F) Saturday that saw me ride 2:05 on a 56 mile course. I made it 39 of the miles with 2500 feet of climb.
Leaking Holy water being broken by Sufferfest TGTTOS
200k – London to Cotswolds. Lovely scenery.
Unfortunately nothing outside…Sufferfest session on rollers in the pain cave.
50 miles with the local club. Not in the rain for a change.
Finished 1st Race of the season, a crossduathlon – i definitely need a power meter to not blow up at 2nd run again ;-)
Due to the truly biblically wet and windy weather here all weekend, I was confined to the virtual velodrome. New best FTP though.
Two Hours with 3x 12′ @80%ftp !
Back to cycling (and running very tentatively) after some plantar faciitis with a bit of an explore on some filthy dirty winter roads. Included a u-turns after a farmer told me it was a dead end then another when the road stopped at a field and turned into a muddy footpath.
Zwift pretzel which filled me up
This weekend I did a Crossduathlon in my hometown and next weekend I’ll be doing a cyclosportive of about 100k on the paved roads of Flanders. Looking forward to it!
Rode the trainer for a good 2.5 hours on Saturday. Wonderful time as always
2.5 hour sweet spot ride on Sunday followed by a 45 minute run…