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.
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 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.
Genoa Halfmarathon
Took other roads for 150km trip, than usual, to check new sites, new cities, etc.
After 100km was exhausted, realised too late but this “new roads” was sort of copy of Strade Bianche route :)
Rest of the road I simply tried to maintain my motivation to make to home faster :)
Had a fully functional training weekend with my brother including rowing, running, lifting heavy stuff and moving not-too-heavy stuff around quickly.
15 miles in 35 degree weather with 25 mph headwinds and rain on Saturday – I guess I wanted to be able to better understand what the runners were going through this morning at Boston.
I did my first trail ultra (50k) yesterday. And today i’m feeling it!
On Saturday, I went for a group run with my running team in Sintra, and our coach reminded us the truth behind the world ‘pain’. We are amateurs, so 1000 D+ in 2 hours got some of us crawling on all four to finish. But no pain, no gain, so it ended up with a smile!
Trainer saturday evening/night, after cheese for dinner :)
First two rides on my new bike!
I started the weekend with a 20k hike with a full backpack and finished the weekend with a 11k run.
Some rare swimming after a week’s holiday.
Hiking with my Husky and sweet spot training on my turbo!
Started “spring” soccer training in 32f degree weather
Dragged the heavy legs back home for 18k from a family shopping trip …
Dug my car out from this crazy ice/snow storm we got this weekend.
Realized that all my S/B/R training is fine and dandy until I have to move laterally. Completed a couple of Zwift workouts Saturday and Sunday mornings. Sunday afternoon I played an hour of walleyball, this morning I hurt in places I forgot I could hurt.
Ran an easy 8 on Saturday and time-trialed 20 hilly miles on Sunday.
It was cold, snowing and ice raining, so I stayed inside. But, can 1 hour of zwift count as athletic adventure?? :)
Not very athletic, but my 3 year old daugther supported me on her bike during a easy 4,5km run. It was her first ‘longer’ bike ride on two wheels. #prouddad
Ran 5 miles with my wife on Saturday, both working on getting back in shape after a new-baby hiatus. A new watch would be excellent.
Worked 12hrs Sat, ran 10km, Worked 12hrs Sunday did a Fat tire bike ride in the cold and snow
Cycling was planned, but work in garden needed to be completed – took longer than expected :-(
Ohh -well this coming week should be fine to make it up
Hi Ray, as part of this year’s challenge to cycle from Leiden (Holland) to the north of Luxembourg on one day, I did a 183km bike ride this weekend. Much more and longer training ride ahead,for which I could really use a new power meter ;)
LBS anniversary sale followed by a shorter sharpening brick before the race season begins this weekend.
I spent Sunday watching the fascinating tactics of Mr Sagan & co at Amstel Gold whilst working away trying to emulate them on my rollers. He came away with a fantastic win and all I got was hot and sweaty!
This weekend I made some chicken strogonoff. I don’t know if this is somewhat athleticsm or not. But I used low fat milk cream.
Ran a 5k in MI in 30f weather and pouring rain with 20MPH gusts. Came away 2 secs away from a PR.
Running with my family, specific training with my 10y son for his race in May
Recovering from Gastrointestinal this weekend and trying to get my nutrition back under control
I was supposed to do a run on Saturday and bike ride on Sunday, but ended squeezing it all for Sunday. So I ended up with a morning 8-mile run and an afternoon MTB ride.
Enjoyed a run with my 9yr old son who has discovered a love for running… which is cool with me!
As I’m injured right now, my only activity was ‘toe yoga’ (don’t know what is it? Ask Jay Dicharry)
Very aggressive wrestling match with my 3-year old (who is going thru an Incredible Hulk phase). Very effective HIIT session (which also included lots of hits).
Rehabbing my knee this weekend with a slow 5 miler…feeling stronger!
Slogging through my runs in a sudden heat wave after cool spring thus far.
tempo run on the treadmill watching the NBA playoffs
Mile repeats. Cold rain forced them unto the treadmill.
A ride around the St Edmunsbury Tri route in preparation for the event in a couple of weekends time.
40 mile bike ride (outside) last Thursday, just before a 22″ snowfall this past week-end here in MN. C’mon Spring!
Ran cables in the crawl space under the house for hours :-(
Did my first Zwift race this past weekend, 2nd place in C category!
Saturday was 1.5 hr Zwift session and TRX and Sunday was 2 hr Zwift as I watched the snow fall in South Dakota in April….
Did a 100k fast and steady on Saturday and tried a 2h recovery ride on Sunday. Needless to say it ended in 3h on/off hilly sprints ;)
Did my usual 12 miles easy run and a 30 minutes “soaking” in the pool. Legs too tried to be “flipping”. And went for a hearty breakfast thereafter to compensate my tumbling tummy.
Went on a mountain bike in an area I’d never been to before. Phone stopped working and got lost in the fog, had to bust out the map reading skills…
Doing 100km for the first ride of the year with my cousin…
Well, I wasn’t ready. :’D
Managed the Saturday intervals, Sunday just could not muster the enthusiasm!
Just recovering with a nice long walk with my dog in the forest. It was a beautiful weekend and although I had a day’s worth of paperwork to do, I was happy to get outside for the few hours. Spring is in bloom with shorts weather and flowers.
I had a run!
Few hours on Zwift.
New PR for elevation on 87mile training ride in preparation for 150mile, 2-day sportive in two weeks
Is learning for exams an athleticism? If it’s then I’m an athlete ?
Indoor session on the treadmill because it’s spring in Canada and that means ice storm. :(
Family was in town so 48hrs off the bike with the occasional twelve oz curl.
Rode my Giant Tough Road on a tough road, connected by single track to a rail-trail and had a total of 18 miles.
I went to Palmer Motorsports Park for a circuit race. It was only a 20 mile race but it was 2000ft of climbing. The course opened in 2015 and I just loved the twists and turns of the course where you could turn at such high speed. I could only imagine what the banked hairpin would be like if we went the normal direction instead of the reverse.
Monday is rest day. No Training :-)
Did a 11km run on Zwift on Saturday and enjoyed a 80km sunny, windy ride with a friend on Sunday!
90 mile bike. Windy and cold.
Did a 20km run in central London with my funky new running group.
I won the Zwift EU Crit Series live final in London!
Two hours of hill repeats on the bike for a total of just a bit over 1100m, not a bad way to start the weekend!
I ran a little (very little) and did some swimming and dodged rain drops.
Did 18km run, wondered where all my fellow runners were that I normally see at that time on that trail then realised that it was my local marathon and London next week
Sunny 80k for coffee and bacon butties with my pals.Awesome
Coached my kid’s flag football team!
Played 220 minutes of basketball :/ Sore!
Did my first 100mile gravel grinder and the battery in my old Garmin did not last my slow pace…
Looked out the window at the massive April winter ice and snow storm, wishing I could go and do something. Anything.
Teaching my daughter to ride her new bike,
I did a 40K gravel ride since I was not fully recovered from a man cold from hell to run the planned Österlen Spring Trail Ultra…
My first 100k ride of the year. Feeling rusty.
5K easy run!
Ran 18 miles in the PNW on a cross country mud bog course and didn’t loose my shoes in the mud!
I have done a lot of bike trainer watching Amstel Gold
I did a 4mile run in preparation for the mothers day 5k here in Fredericton NB!
I met with a group of friend for a 10k run followed by a 10 mile bike ride. We’re all relatively slow runners and have crappy bikes so it was a rather lengthy adventure
I rode bikes in the mountains both Saturday and Sunday and also went for a hike on Saturday. Action packed weekend here in VA!
Cut trees which made me more sore than my 5 mile run.
10 km run in the Forest near Versailles with great weather… made it a bit shorter than usual because my family was waiting for me for lunch at the restaurant… first things first!
Was supposed to be a swim and a ski but turned into a recovery weeked!
just a cruise on the mtb
New gadgets would make up for the fact that I can’t ride outside yet since we just got 2 feet of snow this weekend.
Epic 20 mile bike ride in stormy conditions!
Rode the local mountainbike singletrack – on my brand new cross cycle. Really need a powermeter for that one.
lovely spring skiing in Les Trois Vallees
Knocking off another century to try to rise up the leaderboard for the Year Century Challenge club on Strava
The athletic part (like in mind games) was to convince myself to go outside. Then I had an easy 6km run.
Did some training for the Rasputitsa race that I’ll be doing this weekend.
16 miles at goal marathon pace in the spring sunshine!
Just a nice and slow run around the water, 8 km.
Training for a half marathon!
Approximately 1 mi open water swim in the Carribean, off Cancun (sounds rough, I know, but in the end I also came home to snow in mid-April in Chicagoland!!).
No time for a training ride but ran after my 2.5 yr old son on his balance bike all Saturday afternoon…
I did the New Forest Spring Sportive, 107k on the bike. A bit chilly, but got the legs moving. My riding partner left me for dust but made up for it with a fat burger at the end!
Playing first ever game of baseball as I wait for my bikes to arrive from Australia…stage 2 tear in my right hamstring springing to first.
Baseball sucks.
Did a tour to the Lake Constance with MTB (130km)
K2 via Abruzzi spur
My vaguely athleticish activity this weekend was to work on moving my stuff from my soon to be sold appartment to my GF’s place and give a few things I do not plan on keeping :-) Thanks Ray!
Hmm, 2km in the pool, 95km on the bike and 18km on foot….
Rode on zwift while my twin 3 year olds rode their balance bikes in the garage!