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Hey Newsletter Fam! Wow, we are just shy of 48 hours until the Maker Crew is wheels up! And I am so so excited for South Africa, and weirdly a little anxious. Certainly not about the flight, Ray and I have our strategy for kids on a plane down pretty good at this point. Honestly, even all the shit hits the fan on board, there is just the reality of “the flight will end, and hyper stressin’ about it isn’t helping anyone”. So why am I anxious? I dunno. Last year in Australia my “job” was basically keep 8 week old baby happy and fed, and taking the toddler to the park to work on her sliding capabilities. Versus this year, I have a real job? Maybe. Or maybe just the fact I’m pretty sure you know who is excited about doing a great white shark cage dive… Not super excited to see him as possible shark bait! Who knows. Maybe it’s just all the coffee I’ve been drinking lately. Anyways, what’s new in the DCR Cave? Well, Ray survived yet another round of CES. Though this year seemed a little less hectic than years past, it also served as a meet-up with companies that maybe were not on the show floor this year. Ray seemed to enjoy a few rides and runs with companies, while in Vegas. Thus, I imagine we will see the fruit from that labor over the next few weeks!
So, first up! Ray gives us the goods on the new Suunto – Training Peaks love triangle. Honestly, this post gets deep into the Tom-Geekery of API’s and SDK’s, and then somehow in the comment section Garmin got dragged into the fight of opening access to platforms, etc. Far from my level of care, but maybe it’s your kinda thing. If so, go have a read (oh, and stay tuned for Suunto's sound round of announcements on closing their Movescount platform, which Ray will post on any moment now). Next up is Ray’s round up of 2019 CES event. Last week I linked you to what was SUPPOSED to be a sneak peek of his YouTube Video before everyone got to see it. But, not naming names, someone closed his laptop while the video was rendering and (both) went to sleep… So, you likely got a message saying something to the effect of “Video is still loading”. Sorry. The video is now on the blog post or directly here on YouTube.
Like I said, last week Ray took advantage of being stateside again. Meeting up with companies outside of the CES realm, like Stages. Here we see the update on all three GPS cycling head units from Stages. Ray took the opportunity to head out for a desert ride with the company for a test drive. I will give a hats off to “Jim from Stages”. A lead developer from the company has made a good effort to chime in on the comment section for the post. 25+ responses at this point, so if you have a burning question about the product, you’re likely going to get a direct response from someone who’s a lead on the product.
Last but certainly not least was the cringeworthy CVRcade Trainer App post. Oh man. Well, Ray exercised his freedom of speech on this one for sure… and maybe some of his stand-up comedy skillz. All I know is I took one look at the graphics, the overabundance of menu options, and the teleporting screen and was over it. I think it’s safe to say, whoever is behind this app missed the mark with the intended audience. Honestly, and Ray might just roll over after reading this, but I really just miss the days of clipping into my bike, having my cycling head unit connected to all the sensors, laminated-paper workout from our coach push-pinned to the wall, and watching some good old fashion HBO. Which reminds me, I just discovered that HBO created a TV series from one of my favorite books, and maybe that will get me back on the trainer! Ah, the good old days… And that’s all from the blog posting world. Next up we have the fabulous world of Audio-Visual. YouTube BIG NEWS!!! The DC Rainmaker YouTube Channel is less than 200 subscribers shy of 100K! Which is a huge milestone for anyone in the YouTube world. So, if you have a YouTube account and just haven’t made the effort to click subscribe yet, do us all a big one and do it! Who knows, maybe Ray will make a big shindig about it and give away more stuff!?! For real, it goes a long way to help the blog/DCR world if you (want to) subscribe. Thanks for your support! · DJI OSMO Pocket Mic Adapter Test · Stages Dash L10, M50, L50 Test Ride · CVRcade Cycling First Impressions That’s the round up from this past week. Now if you have time, keep it moving to below the fold for the “In-Depth Thoughts from The Girl”. |
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In-Depth Thoughts from The Girl So, what’s all the news? Well, as you know we are deep into preparations for our annual migration south. I have been to South Africa once before as part of an extended trip I did with my dad back in 2014. We had a fantastic time on a safari in Sabi Sands Reserve, South Africa for about 5 days. Where we had a safari guide who was worth her weight in gold. Even took my dad and I fishing one afternoon on her lunch break! We caught our lunch that day, and my dad and I can forever say we’ve been fishing together in Africa at the same watering hole of this family of elephants! On our way back to camp that afternoon we were greeted with a hilarious show of animal kingdom dominance by this little lion cub.
We lucked into seeing all of the Big 5 that trip, and followed that up with an amazing time in Cape Town. I have some really fond moments of sitting at a V&A Waterfront restaurant and watching the evening clouds come pouring down over the face of the famed Table Mountain. That view paired with a chilled glass of Chenin and Cape Brandy Pudding… Some of my favorite memories.
And the penguins. I can’t forget to mention the penguins!
But, traveling as a 20- something, visiting wineries, going on safaris, and taking all of the time to frame up the perfect picture is FAR from the same as traveling with kids sub 2.5 years old. So I hope there isn’t too much internal pressure to make this time around just as “perfect”. I am sure I will quickly get acquainted with the best picnic park, local pool, and just what playground is outfitted with the most swings. At the end of the day, the whole fam-jam will be there together, Ray is in a great mindset to balance work and play, annnnnd the sun should be shining most of the time! That’s all for this week’s trip down memory lane! Next time you hear from me, we will be 2,300 miles south of the equator (a rough 3,770km for you metric people)! As always, thanks for reading! ~The Girl |
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