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.
Behind the scenes on my aquatic product review posts
Monday night I had my usual Monday easy swim, and since it’s summer, I was able to do it outdoors in the town pool (during the winter, I’m stuck indoors). I had planed afterwards to spend a bit of time … Read More Here
Separating product timeline fact from fantasy: The After Party Edition
You may remember last year after Interbike I rounded up all the stories I did while down at Interbike in Las Vegas and put together a chart of each companies expected product availability information, along with my best guesses for … Read More Here
A weekend back home training in the heat and rain
This is the first weekend I’ve spent at home since June 25th, and I took full advantage of all the things that I normally do around the area on a weekend. That started Friday night with a swim at the … Read More Here
Week in Review–August 7th, 2011
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
Timex Global Trainer gets Mythbusters, footpod & lots of other data fields
Thursday evening while half-awake after a long day of travelling and workouts, I was catching up on a June episode of Mythbusters that I hadn’t seen yet. And what do I spy? The Timex Global Trainer. Well, actually, the Timex … Read More Here
A Brief Shark Week (Link Bait) Post of My Shark Adventures
It’s Shark Week time for those of us watching Discovery Channel. Unfortunately for me, my hotel room doesn’t have the Discovery Channel (and I haven’t been in it much anyway) – but once I return home you can bet the … Read More Here
New Garmin Connect Updates (including courses and workouts!)
I mentioned last week in my Garmin update post around Vector and new watches that I had one more item of note from Garmin, but needed to wait to more to discuss it. So this is really more of a … Read More Here
DC Rainmaker on the cover of Bicycling Magazine
Well, mostly. In a textual sorta way. And that’s what counts anyway, none of you really want to look at my picture…plus, we can save that instead for Men’s Health magazine. So, what’s the deal you ask? Well, let’s start … Read More Here
Fun with a Garmin GPS while running on cruise ships at sea
Ever since booking our honeymoon months ago I was curious exactly what the GPS map would look like while running outside on the circular running track while the ship was underway at sea. Would you be able to see the … Read More Here
The Seattle Century 2011 Ride Report
Since my triathlon season has largely transitioned to running for the rest of the year, I was able to mix things up a bit and enjoy doing a fun century ride with my Dad while I was out in Seattle … Read More Here
Week in Review–July 31st, 2011
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
Loops around the track and airport in Seattle
This week my workouts have largely been centered around my hometown in Mukilteo, WA. I’ve been out here for work all week, but I stay with my parents and do all my workouts in the area near my house. For … Read More Here
Updates on Garmin Vector and new Garmin GPS watch
Note: Please see in depth post on Vector “Everything you ever wanted to know about the Garmin Vector pedal based power meter” posted here (it’s a whole lot more detailed and in depth, and includes comprehensive Q&A with the Garmin … Read More Here
My Top 8 Race Day (and Pre-Race) Fails
I’m a firm believer that what doesn’t kill you makes your stronger. Al Franken summed that up pretty well with his quote: “Mistakes are a part of being human. Appreciate your mistakes for what they are: precious life lessons that … Read More Here
Quick request post/note for your suggestions on guest posts
Just a quick post before the main post of the day in a bit… If you remember way back to the big survey I did in February one of the items that you expressed interest in was guest posts from … Read More Here
A weekend of Cycling, Snow Skiing, Crankworx and Ziplining
Given I’m out on the west coast this week for work, I decided to sneak in a bit of activity north of the border up in Whistler, Canada – about 4 hours from my parents place outside of Seattle. We … Read More Here
Week in Review–July 23rd, 2011
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
Tip of the day: Exercise gyms inside airports
As you well know, I travel a lot. And while it’s relatively straight forward to train and travel with short flights up and down the coast in the US, it becomes much more difficult to travel and train when your … Read More Here
Trip Reports Static Page
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 do a lot of work travelling, so some of those trips aren’t … Read More Here
Observations on training over the last month
I was going to talk about my excitement filled 8-mile treadmill run this evening and all the logic behind doing it indoors versus outdoors, but I wanted to first go through some random observational bullet points around training and fitness … Read More Here
Last Week in Review–July 17th, 2011
(Note: A bit delayed since I was on my honeymoon the last few weeks, but I figured some of you might like some mid-week link reading of stuff I wrote or found interesting last week) I’ve long since wondered what … Read More Here
The Honeymoon: Part II
We left off yesterday with us leaving the Amalfi coast town of Positano. From there, we headed northbound on an assortment of trains via Rome, eventually ending up in a big long town that started with a ‘C’. I could … Read More Here
The Honeymoon: Part I
There were very few people who knew of our honeymoon plans. In fact, there was really only one who knew the entire plan…me. There were a few reasons for this – but mostly the simplest was that The Girl and … Read More Here
Tip of the day: How I manage 15+ Heart Rate Straps
Until rather recently I stored all my various sports gizmos and gadgets in a simple Rubbermaid container. Well, mostly. They kinda spilled out all over the place, so it was more like the Rubbermaid container plus a 6 foot radius. … Read More Here
Spending time with the ANT+ enabled spin bike
You may remember last fall at Interbike I spent a bit of time getting a tour of all of the ANT+ enabled gym equipment. These are commercial grade pieces of exercise equipment (Gym equipment) that can connect with certain ANT+ … Read More Here
