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
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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 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.
Part II: Help me creatively spend $800 on a new bike!
Last week an astonishing number of you weighed in on how I could spend roughly $800 on a new bike. As you probably remember, the $800 figure is based on a fitness credit I have from the company I work … Read More Here
A&D Medical Lifesource UC-324 ANT+ enabled Weight Scale Review
I’ve reviewed a number of scales in the past, but only two of those are still used within the household on a daily basis. I say two, simply because one is in one bathroom, and the other in the other … Read More Here
A weekend of watch previews: Suunto Ambit and the Soleus 2.0 GPS
Rewind the clocks to 10:30PM Friday night, which is the time at which I finally managed to secure the not-yet-available Suunto Ambit box from DHL. Due to a strange series of errors, DHL had decided not to deliver the unit … Read More Here
Garmin FR910XT Giveaway Results!
Holy cowbells there’s a lot of you that wanted (or still want) a Garmin FR910XT! Over 3,000 entries! 3,085 to be exact. The totals were: 2,664 directly on the post 392 on Facebook 29 tied to Active Duty folks who … Read More Here
Week in Review–March 18th, 2012
The Week in Review is a collection of both all the goodness I’ve written during the past week around the internet, as well as a small pile of links I found interesting – generally endurance sports related. I’ve often wondered … Read More Here
Help me creatively spend $800 on a new bike!
We’re gonna play a bit of a ‘what-if’ game today, primarily, because I need some real-world assistance in deciding a conundrum. One of the job benefits for the company I work for is that we get a fitness credit each … Read More Here
Top 10 Reasons I love running in the Washington DC area
Given how nice the weather has been here in DC the last few days, I figured it might be fun to highlight some of my favorite aspects of the DC metro area from a running perspective. After all, that’s how … Read More Here
Spring has sprung Garmin FR910XT Giveaway
If there were any more sign that it’s springtime around these parts, I’m not sure what it would be. Starting yesterday we’ve got an out-of-nowhere string of 6 days of 70*F+ weather, including some days just a degree or two … Read More Here
DC Rainmaker on IMTalk this week
Just a quick heads up to let you know that I recorded a great session with the guys behind IMTalk a few hours ago, which is now available through either iTunes or simple MP3. It’s listed as Episode 302. For … Read More Here
Spending time with the Specialized Venge and running hard between DC monuments
You know when you nail a weekend’s worth of workouts and the numbers come out perfectly? Yup, that was this weekend. This past weekend had both a long (yet finishing hard) run and a hard bike on it. The run … Read More Here
Week in Review–March 11th, 2012
The Week in Review is a collection of both all the goodness I’ve written during the past week around the internet, as well as a small pile of links I found interesting – generally endurance sports related. I’ve often wondered … Read More Here
Classic Rainmaker posts: This week in years past
I’m often told that when new readers arrive here they end up going on a prolonged post to post journey, sometimes diverting untold hours of their day to simply reading a portion of the more then 1,000 posts that I’ve … Read More Here
Twofer: Significant Garmin Connect (Power) Updates & Significant FR910XT Review Updates
DC Rainmaker Review Updates: Got two items of note today for you. First, the most important one (ok, that’s probably debatable). Over the past week I’ve been slowly chipping away at adding in a bunch of updates to the FR910XT … Read More Here
The 2012 SRAM RED Quarq (and bike!) arrives into the DC Rainmaker test lab
Yup, while I’ve gotten all assortment of trainers (including some rather expensive ones) sent to me to try out, I’ve finally made it to the big leagues – a fully loaded bike has arrived in the house. One that I … Read More Here
The Sports and Fitness History exhibit at the Patent and Trademark Museum
Washington DC is full of fascinating monuments, memorials and museums. There are of course the many famous places that those outside of the region hear about on a potentially daily basis (i.e., the White House), some that you might hear … Read More Here
Running at night on the National Mall
I’ve recently remembered again how much more interesting long runs are when you can do them point to point. If you’re like me, and are essentially doing a weekly long run almost year-round, you’re probably a bit worn with your … Read More Here
Week in Review–March 3rd, 2012
The Week in Review is a collection of both all the goodness I’ve written during the past week around the internet, as well as a small pile of links I found interesting – generally endurance sports related. I’ve often wondered … Read More Here
The Girl: “I’ll actually wear this watch” (The New Polar RCX3)
Over the past few years The Girl has put up with all manner of sports gadgets floating through the house. Some of them, she pays attention to. Others, not so much. Those that she pays attention to usually get ‘alternative … Read More Here
Nifty Garmin Edge 500 Custom Mount
As I’ve alluded to before, I’ve long since been following a sweet Slowtwitch thread on creating custom mounts for the Edge 500. The goal of these mounts is primarily aimed at the Edge 500, and mostly focused on either reducing … Read More Here
Congrats to JP Theberg: USAT 2011 Paratriathlete of the year!
You may remember back a little over a year ago I asked you to help support the goal of a number of paratriathletes, with being able to compete in the 2016 Olympics, but channeling support for adding triathlon to the … Read More Here
Garmin’s Vector Power Meter…unwrapped by the FCC
Within the US every device that wirelessly transmits in any way, shape, or form must conform to regulations set by the FCC (Federal Communications Commission). This branch of the government requires that companies send in detailed test and reporting metrics … Read More Here
CycleOps PowerBeam Pro Trainer In-Depth Review
While the CycleOps PowerBeam Pro may be two years old, it’s one of the very few trainers on the market that allows specific wattage resistance control. Meaning, you can set it for a given wattage – i.e. 200w, and it’ll … Read More Here
Windy 43MPH Weekend Runs
This weekend saw a nice little kick up in both run and bike training. As you may have surmised, most of my focus this year has actually been on the run – tentatively aiming for a 10-miler race in late … Read More Here
Week in Review–February 25th, 2012
The Week in Review is a collection of both all the goodness I’ve written during the past week around the internet, as well as a small pile of links I found interesting – generally endurance sports related. I’ve often wondered … Read More Here
Sneak peek at FINIS Hydrotracker GPS, FR910XT Firmware Updates…and just a nice evening run.
Since it’s Friday, I’ll keep it quick and pictorial. First up is yesterday’s announcement from FINIS about their new Hydrotracker GPS unit. This unit is designed to attach to your swim goggles and hang out on the back of your … Read More Here
