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Happy Monday!

Welcome back to another edition of the DCR Newsletter. Its great to be back in your inbox again this week. If you missed last week’s “Heyyyyy I’m back” email, you can check it out in the Newsletter Archives, along with the rest of my literary masterpieces.

Keeping with tradition, I’m going to do a quick round up of last weeks tech, and YouTube, and then after that keep scrollin’ for In-Depth Thoughts of The Girl.

First up, Ray loops us in on his “State of Sports Tech” Keynote Speech. This was Ray’s 10th go at the annual presentation. He has a long-standing tradition of presenting at the ANT+ Symposium, which has now been combinned into Garmin’s (virtual) Developer Conference. I sort of wondered to myself, what will he even have to talk about for 2020? Is Ray going to just stand there and explain “State of Sport Tech 2020 = Dumpster Fire”? But in the end, there was actually quite a bit to talk about - positive even. If you’re interested, grab a beverage of your choice and check out the video recap.

After Ray’s bit on sports tech, his next post goes ahead and gives us the round up on what was happening at said conference. The post title “Garmin’s (virtual) Developer Conference New Tidbits for Connect IQ 4.0 and Garmin Connect Platform” kind of tells it all. Sadly with the conference not being held in Canada anymore, I can’t make my annual joke here about Tidbits vs Timbits… Shame.

On a separate Garmin topic, the Garmin Instinct Esports Edition watch has debuted. Never did I realize that Esports or “gaming” would elicit such heartrates or body metrics that it would be interesting to to viewers to have that live streaming during your game. I will admit, I haven’t picked up a gaming remote since college Mario Cart days, so I’m definitely not an expert here. But I will say, if this really is a thing, I would be totally game to test it out and Mario Cart or the Original Super Mario Brothers set up at the next DCR Open house! Hmmm… maybe even Duck Hunt. I dunno, let’s wait and see.

Then Ray dropped the Wattbike ATOM 2020 In-Depth Review. I personally haven’t gotten into the stationary smart bikes, but I do “get it”. These things are so quiet, and the ability to change your fit in a few turns of a knob, makes it really interesting for a multi biking household. Or even for someone like myself who genuinely HATES taking on and off the rear bike wheel to attach to a trainer. Yeah, the next few years will be interesting to see where these bikes go, the price points, and as always, the more manufacturers in the game the better it is for consumers.

Last but not least, Ray’s Week in Review. The post that is usually written on a Sunday while some ratio of Peanuts are sleeping and I’m poking around the kitchen making Sunday supper. Check it out to see what Ray found interesting around the interwebs, and any other bits and bobs from the sports tech news.

Last, last but not least (remember I had this portion of the newsletter written yesterday before my nap), is the much delayed release of the Elite Tuo In-Depth Review. All I can say about this, is I have been waiting a freaking YEAR for Ray to unbox this toaster so I can have a proper bagel in the mornings. We bought a toaster over a year ago for the office, and it magically resembled the Tuo. You might imagine where it went from there. And if you don’t really follow me here, at least check out the intro to the video, it’ll help you connect the dots!

YouTube

Ray really made it a goal to get the YouTube channel a lot more regular. And I think he’s doing a good job at that. Be sure to give him thumbs up on whatever video you watch next, and if you want, subscribe to get notifications of videos once they are published!

·       Elite Tuo Smart Trainer Review

·       State of Sports Tech 2020 Keynote

Albeit, you don't want to know how long he spent on that toaster Tuo intro...

And...and a heads up!

Finally, note that Ray himself will be on a Livestream tomorrow with ChaseTheSummit, at 5PM US Eastern Time, 10PM Central European Time, over on the ChaseTheSummit YouTube channel. You can then hit the reminder bell there to be reminded. Sounds like the chat will be all things sports tech, behind the scenes, and whatever two dudes discuss late at night (our time). Beer probably not optional.

image Elite Tuo Smart Trainer In-Depth Review
image Week in Review: October 25th, 2020
image Here’s the DCR $500 Gadget Giveaway Winner!
image Wattbike ATOM 2020 Smart Bike In-Depth Review
image Garmin Instinct Esports Edition with Special Software: An Explainer of Sorts
 

In-Depth Thoughts from The Girl

Hey hey, thanks for making it down here. Let’s have a cheers to making it through another week. My Monday started off on a slow roll. I have to admit, I was about halfway through this newsletter Monday morning when I fell asleep at my desk. Quite literally it was forehead on desk with a little bit of drool, deep sleepin’ on the job kind of morning. Ray of course, took my photo first, and then kindly told me to go lay on the couch “for a bit”. I set an alarm for a twenty minute snooze, and FIVE HOURS later he woke me up!?!?!? I mean what kind of boss does that?? I think he has a thing for me. I’m going to have to talk to management.

                               

That (glorious) snooze really put me behind on the day though. So you know where this is going, it meant that the newsletter got bumped another day. That’s fine, Tuesdays are also a great day to get a newsletter! (Cough Wednesday).

So what else is all the news? You might know that I am back on the running train again. I have fully graduated all things postpartum physiotherapy related, and I am so so happy that I took the time to do things “right” this time postpartum. Third time is a charm eh?

                             

As for the running. It. Feels. Soooo. Good!!! I’ve managed to talk Ray into Wednesday nights to be a speed workout together. He drags me along many many “it hurts so good” type intervals. Last week we knocked down 6x half mile repeats (800m) at 7:20 min/miles, and that was actually really comfortable. As well, this was amidst a wild Dutch windstorm, so the headwinds on 4 out of the 6 intervals were almost humorous; we were just leaning into the wind hoping not to be swept away. So, tomorrow night I think we will double down on that effort and knock out 8x and maybe make them descending paces from 7:20s. Who knows what’ll happen. I’ll post it on Instagram Wednesday night or Thursday morning so you can keep me accountable… or just so you can judge me by my heartrates!

On a totally different note. We did manage to record another Quarantine Corner last Friday and fully plan to again this week. So, if you’re interested in seeing Ray and I shoot the breeze, sign up here to be a DCR supporter. Also, you’ll get the inside scoop on what the heck we are doing in a Gondola!

Last but not least, I have to take a moment and give a huge huge shout out my sister in law whose publishing house, House of Zolo, just launched “Journal of Speculative Literature, Volume 2”. If you’re into short stories and poems, be sure to check them out and support a small biz! Especially great if you have Kindle Unlimited, the book is free for kindle download! Erika we are super proud of you, congratulations!   

As always, thanks so much for following along!

~The Girl

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