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Hey there Newsletter Readers! Welcome to an action packed newsletter week! Why so crazy? Well it’s Interbike week, which means Ray has been working, flying, riding, hiking, running, writing like a maniac to get you the latest and greatest! So we won’t waste any time on pleasantries, it’s time to round up all the deets!
Oh wait! If you’re a new around here and this is your first newsletter, thanks for joining us. You might have missed out on some fun stuff like, the endless tail of the pizza oven, our up and coming cycling kit release, and most recently “the interview”. So if any of that is interesting to you, you can catch up here with the Newsletter archives. Go forth! Okay, back on track. Here’s the round up of what Ray’s been getting into: First up since I saw you last was the Wahoo KICKR CORE In-Depth Review. This is trending to be a highly loved piece of equipment by all. Great quality smart trainer, a brand most people seem to be cheering for, annnnnd they just put it on the market with a sweet spot price point. Without question, this one will hit Ray’s Annual Smart Trainer Buyer’s Guide coming out soon. Next up was the newest line of multisport watches from Polar. The Polar Vantage Series: Everything you Wanted to Know post saw just shy of 400 comments, so as you can imagine this post got a lot of attention. As this was not an in-depth review, and the product still isn’t fully ready for shipping yet, Ray seemed hesitant to make a final call on the product. I think it will be interesting to see how the final features play out, and even down the road what other firmware updates can achieve. For me personally, I will say that the Vantage V was an aesthetically pleasing watch. You have to remember that I have to go out in public with Ray, and the man is often wearing many devices, of all shapes, sizes, and colors. So this one didn’t cause any arguments when getting ready for a day date. Yes, the man is constantly collecting data… even on a lunch date.
It was Wednesday of last week that Ray packed up and headed back stateside. With a slew of things on the list to achieve, even before the start of Interbike, it’s sometimes hard to keep track of the man. You can see for yourself in the latest 5 Random Things post. First, he landed in San Francisco to spend a day with the Specialized guys in their wind tunnel. When Ray asked a while ago if it was cool for him to add a few extra days onto the front of his trip, I found it pretty hard to say “no” with the wind tunnel involved. I think that thing is pretty cool, and I’m a sucker for science, so off you go to San Francisco. Followed up by some real jealously invoking photography of his hikes and mountain bike experiences near Lake Donner/ Reno / Lake Tahoe. I list all three because as stated earlier, I have no idea where the man is half the time. To which I do have to give a shout-out to Des from DesFit for heading up the mountain biking day with Ray (and shooting some drone videos on his channel). It does make me feel a whole lot better knowing there are at least two knuckle heads on the mountain together incase there is a problem. Go ahead and check out the post for yourself. Even if it’s just to look at the pictures! After you come back from that little daydream of a post, you’ll get ‘rocked’ by the new Kinetic R1- Direct Drive Trainer. No? Didn’t get my terrible pun? This new line of trainers by Kinetic has combined their old Rock and Roll trainers with the new industry standard of digital smart trainers. So, one could say “wow, that trainer really rocks!”, and we will all giggle a little. Still don’t get it? Sigh. Check it out for yourself.
And have no fear, I know everyone took a pause when I mentioned Ray went mountain biking with Des from DesFit. What about his bromance??? No, Ray and Shane from GPLama haven’t broken up, those two knuckleheads collaborated on the videography used in this post. Ray is like the community bicycle, don’t worry there is plenty of Ray to go around… well except for with me it seems, as the man has gone dark again since… ummmmm… like Monday? Moving on to all of the news for Pioneer, they seemed to have a great showing this year at Interbike. Ray wrote a sort of a one-two punch post for all of their new stuff. Pioneer announced a new color mapping GPS bike computer AND new power meters. As I feel this company is often over looked, I usually get jazzed to see what they are doing next. Good products at a good price point! See for yourself! Finally, we are at the end here. However, in this case last is certainly not least. A big update, Wahoo adds Pioneer’s Pedaling Metrics to their ELEMNT and BOLT cycling units. I am sure the partnership between Pioneer and Wahoo Fitness is appreciated by all!
Now, onto the videography section. I have recently read in some of the comment threads that some of you are staunch print fans. However, the way the world is going, video is taking up mass amounts of consumer real estate. Thus, I present to you the DC Rainmaker YouTube Channel. Here you are going to have the quick links to all of the videos Ray has posted and likely incorporated into his review posts. Sometimes a |
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In-Depth Thoughts from The Girl Alright! That was a long post of tech gadgetry and tech geekery! Thanks for hanging in there and making your way down here to my part of the world. Now first and foremost, DCR Newsletter people, you are my favorite! Some of you sent the nicest emails after watching the long anticipated “The Interview”. Others left notes in the video comment section! Thank you! I was pretty nervous, but I think in the end viewers did get to see a good example of “the real me”. Overly chatty, lots of unfiltered facial expressions, and for your benefit I edited out as many “ummmmms” as possible. One emailer asked “did I really want to marry a southern gentleman and just live the Jimmy Buffet lifestyle of the South??”. YESSSSSS. YES. YES. But as I said, then I met Ray and things went a different direction. While I am still cheering for (and guilting) Ray into considering retirement on a pontoon boat someday, I have a funny feeling I didn’t marry the retirement kinda guy…
So why am I telling you this relationship information? Well, because I’m a big ol’ sap and I have to disclose something else. Ray is currently on an airplane making his way back to Amsterdam, arriving tomorrow morning. And what he is probably unaware of, or has forgotten (?) is that tomorrow is the 10 year anniversary of our first date. I’ll have you know, he actually beamed me in the head with an apple on this date. Square in the forehead. Like a baseball pitcher. He was one smooth operator. Hard to believe I’ve been putting up with this guy for a decade! And in that amount of time we have gotten into some wild and hilarious adventures, some super cool travel experiences, and have eaten more amazing food than anyone should be so lucky to consume in their lifetime.
Like the times we went to: Bali, China, Vietnam, Thailand, South Africa, Botswana, Australia, New Zealand, The Maldives, Norway, Finland, Croatia, Turkey, Hungary, Italy, Spain, Indonesia, UAE, Oman, India, Singapore, France, Israel, Morocco, England, Switzerland, Portugal, Greece, Malta, Belgium, the Seychelles, Germany, Mexico, The Dominican, Bora-Bora… Just to name a few.
We are incredibly fortunate, and believe me when I say, we know it and are grateful for it. Along with that I’ve been lucky enough to have a front row seat, and sometimes even the drivers seat view, of this blog evolve! As the blog turns 11 years old this month, I’d say I’ve known him for 10.5 of that. So even though I am currently wildly annoyed at him for yet another radio silence filled work trip, I’m also wildly proud of him and the work that he does here at DC Rainmaker. I will NEVER understand how his brain functions, but it is just as inspiring as it is infuriating. Ray, thank you for having sent me that email invite 10 years ago. You know, instead of calling me like a regular person wanting to take a girl out on a date would have done. As I look back on it, it should have served as a fair warning to me as to how our relationship would evolve. And thank you for putting up with me. I know I can be just as big of a pain in the ass as you (Sometimes. Definitely not as often as you. But sometimes). Thanks for reading, and letting me spew my sappy relationship details on you. If you’ll excuse me now, I have to go buy some wine and groceries to create yet another apple inspired menu for tomorrow evening. See you next week, ~The Girl. |
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