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Hey Hey, and happy Friday! Well, I’m just going to go ahead and get this out of the way. Nope. No P3 yet. Here we were 3 weeks ago preparing for a possible pre-term baby situation… and now. Well. Silence. But that’s life with kiddos right? As a lot of you probably know, they will march to the beat of their own drum, and we just have to try to find the rhythm and go along with them.
Now, with that out of the way. The real news. What’s Ray been up to? Sadly this year Ray had to politely decline what would have been his 10th year invitation to the ANT+ Symposium in Alberta, Canada. Not only is the ANT+ Symposium always hosted in a beautiful area of Canada, a place that Ray always took advantage of great mountain runs/hikes, mountain biking, fat tire biking, and road cycling, but I always referred to it as the industry’s year end frat party! Not that there was necessarily a lot of partying happening, but it’s almost like a few days of gathering all the whos-who of the industry, they make a truce, and just talk super cool tech stuff. Where is the industry going? What’s the best direction for consumers? How do we make the sports tech industry more “aligned” so platforms and physical tech devices can actually talk with each other. It's really a great "innovative" event to get to attend. So, Ray is being a good sport back here in Amsterdam, but I know it’s on his mind- both the mountains and the people! So, here’s a big ol’ “hi” to everyone in Canmore this year at the Symposium. Sorry to have missed you this year!
As for blog posts, since we’ve last caught up in your inbox, Ray has pumped out a handful of doozies! First being a quick post/ video on the new Apple Watch 5 Series. So if you missed that, check out his First Impressions abbreviated post with YouTube video. Ray also mentioned during this post that I even purchased (a first timer) an Apple watch Series 5. I can get into that a little bit below, but if you just want the watch, IMHO, summed up in one word… “Meh” would do it. I’ll be hitting up the Apple store next week with everything repackaged for them and ready for a refund.
Next up we had the much beloved 5 Random Things post. As we had suspected we would have had an extra Maker in the fam by Saturday and Sunday, and no extended family in tow, I had cleverly booked a babysitter to help out with the older girls all weekend. So, not wanted to be a jerk and cancel work for my super awesome babysitter Ray and I took the opportunity to have some weekend alone time and make a few day-dates out of it. Of course there were other sport/techy things Ray got into too, but I won’t spoil the surprise for you.
Then, we got word that Wahoo was also expecting a new member added to their family. News broke on Tuesday that Wahoo acquired Speedplay,the pedal company. There wasn’t any direct confirmations, but the undertone might have hinted at future Speedplay power based pedals… And the commenters on this specific post seemed A-OK with that idea!
Continuing on the Wahoo news train. Ray has been poking around at the new InsideRide’s accessory to Wahoo’s trainers. Basically the company InsideRide has created a KICKR specific rocker plate- that’s not a rocker plate. The accessory does the same thing without the ginormous foot print of a rocker plate. Or something like that. It’s a quick post (in Ray terms) so check it out if it’s of interest to you!
Annnnd last but not least, Ray sent me on a 45 minute bike across town adventure recently. I went to pick up the latest Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2 from a local tech shop; something akin to Best Buy in the Americas. And with his extra no-baby grace period he managed to already log some running and other tests on the unit! You can check out the post for his initial hands on thoughts, and there’s a nice YouTube round up video in there too! Allllllll righty. On that note, we are up to speed on this past week’s wild and wonderful world of sports technology, and Maker family life situation! Let’s now move on to podcast’s and YouTube! The FIT File with DC Rainmaker and GPLAMA: The FIT File podcast with Ray and Shane continues. And now with all the new updates and new devices supporting music connectivity, you can even listen to these two get on about the latest tech gossip on your next ride or run! Pick your fancy of streaming platforms and have a listen for yourself via iTunes, Google Play, or Spotify. As always, don’t forget to hit those subscribe buttons for updates… and to make Ray and Shane feel warm and fuzzy inside. YouTube As promised last week, there was an army of videos in the queue just waiting to be published! So here they are in a quick bulleted list for you! But, you could have known about these video releases SOONER if only you had subscribed to Ray’s YouTube Channel. Plus, it goes a long way for the channel if you click like on videos as you watch them or subscribe as a follower. Just sayin’… in case you didn’t know. It’s like a virtual hug for Ray! So, be sure to subscribe for the most up to date video notifications! · Tacx NEO Bike Smart Review: Complete Testing and Ride Details · Apple Watch Series 5 - Sports and Fitness First Run and Tests · InsideRide’s Kickr E-Flex Motion System - How it works & Ride Feel · Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2 - Sports and Fitness First Run and Tests |
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In-Depth Thoughts from The Girl Well well well. You survived another work week, and have found a free moment to take a read at this weekly gossip rag? Good on ya! First up, I have to give a massive shout out to good friends of ours who clearly read the newsletter last week. They are also wrangling a young family of 3 under 4 years old, and could Next on the topic list, is “The Girl’s Impressions” on the Apple Watch Series 5. And now, if you have been reading here long enough, you KNOW I’m not the tech guru that Ray is. But is suspect neither are most of you reading? Maybe I am wrong, and apologize if so. But for me, I think of my watch as being either my watch (something nice looking, boarding on fancy/stylish), or as a piece of training equipment. If you had told me 10 years ago, that I would be wearing my Garmin GPS “device” as a day to day watch, I’d have laughed at you and asked if you had been drinking. Also, 10 years ago my Garmin watch was bright orange and silver, and felt like you had a deck of cards strapped to your arm. Sooooo… probably a valid mind frame for that moment in time. Anyways, the point is, I LOVE my Apple iPhone. I use it 10-1 over my laptop even for work purposes. So I was interested in the 5 Series watch because, hey, if I DO love my phone for such easy usage, maybe the watch will be a great addition to that! And, honestly after about 3 days of wearing it, I just really wanted to put my Fenix 5S back on. I wasn’t using the watch for anything more than I would have my Fenix - which at the moment is walking (sigh), getting message notifications, and telling the time. The Apple watch battery life situation is enough to drive me bananas. I don’t LOOOOOVE the way it looks. And realistically once I get my life back in order and can start training “seriously” again towards some lofty running goals, I would never swap out my Fenix 5S for the Apple watch… as a piece of training equipment. For so many reasons you just don’t have time for right now. One thing that has frustrated me is the inability to put steps on the main watch face. Silly as it sounds, I just like steps - especially as of late. Ray says you can add it with various 3rd party apps, but that it's delayed in how it shows up. C'mon, no steps?!? So. For me personally, it just comes down to trying to be a frugal spender - savvy mom. I already have a watch that I love, does all the things that I need/want. I have a great piece of Apple technology already (my phone), and by NOT buying/keeping this current Apple watch, I get to keep ~$400 in my pocket to go spend on… who knows. While not glamourous, at this rate that’s about a full years supply of monthly Amazon subscriptions of diapers and wipes. And that’s it. Like I said, my reasoning isn’t super tech focused. It’s just that the watch isn’t necessary for me. I don’t see it as an upgrade in any way from my current wrist deco. And now, somehow it feels like, I have a year of free diapers. Woot! As always, thanks for reading and supporting the DC Rainmaker family. Have a great weekend! ~The Girl |
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