Week in Review–October 16th, 2010

I’ve long since wondered what to do with all the random tidbits of things I collect each week – or the little thoughts that don’t quite make for a full post.  But I finally came up with a solution: The Week in Review Post.  This takes the place of my Weekly Mailbag – which is now over on Slowtwich.  These are just quick snippets of things that I’ve found interesting.  Nice and easy Saturday reading.  Plus, a recap of my Weekly Mailbag post a well.

So with that, let’s get into the action!

Weekly Mailbag Over at Slowtwitch.com:
If you’re looking for your usual Saturday fix of the Weekly Mailbag, it’s chillin’ over at Slowtwitch (and published a few days earlier).  You can read the full meal deal here, and here’s the topics covered:

1) FR60 multisport mode
2) Non-rubber band mount option for Edge 500
3) Android ANT+ support
You can read all my past weekly mailbags at Slowtwitch here.  Or the pre-Slowtwitch days here.

Posts this past week:
In case you missed anything from the past 7 days, here ya have it.  I’ve once again spent the past week out on the road – but left plenty of good posts behind in my wake:

Sunday: Week in Review – October 10th, 2010
Tuesday: A ‘Magical’ Weekend
Wednesday: Climbing, Cresting, Cruising
Thursday: Separating product timeline fact from fantasy: Interbike Edition
Friday: Timex Global Trainer Giveaway Results

Stuff that I found interesting around the interwebs:
I browse tons, and I mean TONS of stuff each week.  But I found the following stories, discussions or links particularly interesting – or exceedingly good at burning lots of time.  Enjoy!

1) Slowtwitch article on big race companies (Lifetime fitness) – I thought this was a pretty interesting analysis of how races gobble each other up and how they grow.  I think there’s still incredible growth potential out there, and this article does a good job at outlining the big players out there and what they have to do to stay in the game.

2) Cervelo pulling out of online dealers – in short, if you want to buy a Cervelo, you’re now going to have to go through a brick and mortar store.  Of course, this was under the guise of ‘best way to ensure a high quality customer experience’, but the real reason is that dealers complained to Cervelo about online shops undercutting prices…umm…welcome to the Internet.

3) WCS races skipping North America – ITU has released their 2011 World Championship Series schedule, which unfortunately doesn’t include any North American races.  It continues to be heavily European focused, which while great for Europeans…doesn’t do much to help the sport for those on this side of the pond.

4) Garmin’s new Chirp ANT+ device – This little foot-pod looking item is used in geocaching…but I think it could have a lot more uses in sports.  I picked one up today at REI (they’re only $19) – and have a post planned for early next week with all sorts of fun and goodness.

Random Item #1: Suunto GPS Running Units

I don’t have a Suunto GPS running unit for the sole reason that I think having a separate GPS pod from the main device is silly.  The GPS chipsets used in today’s units are incredibly tiny – and there’s no real reason to have an ancillary device outside the watch (I’ve been meaning to take one apart and do a tour of one some day…).

But, that’s not the point here. 

Since I don’t have one of these units, I was unaware of the even sillier restriction that you can’t actually view/download your route/track afterwards.  However, some clever folks have found a way around that, which you can read about here.

So, if you have a knack for DIY projects…then give it a whirl!  Oh, and if you’re interested in following along – check out this FaceBook group.

Random Item #2: Guest Posts

I’ve had a bit of feedback that you’ve enjoyed the handful of Guest Posts that I did in the past with folks on specific topics that they are familiar with.  I’ve also had some requests to submit guest posts to the blog.

I’m very interested in having guest posters who are extremely knowledgeable in their topic area and can write in depth on a given topic in a way that relates well to both people unfamiliar with the topic, but also regulars to the topic.  You don’t have to have a blog or a site, just a well informed opinion on a given topic that’s not published elsewhere.

My general criteria is roughly the following:

1) Is this post applicable to my little slice of the world (dcrainmaker.com), focusing on endurance sports and/or sport technology?
2) Is the post inline with the level of depth and information that I routinely share?
3) Did the guest poster send the prerequisite cookies and cupcakes?
4) Are there photos/pictures/diagrams/etc to help illustrate the point?
5) Does the guest poster have credible knowledge on the topic?
6) Does the post contain some humor (or potentially…all humor)?
7) Does/will the post consider all viewpoints and explain them (if applicable)?
8) Is the post well written?

Also, I’m not opposed to members of industry guest posting on a topic assuming it’s not specifically promoting their product.  For example, if someone wanted to do a “Behind the scenes on building device XYZ, from manufacturing to a store near you”, I’d be open to that.  But I wouldn’t be open to “10 Reasons why you should train with device XYZ”.  If you’re an industry member, see the middle of this post for more information on how I work with ya.

Finally, if you’re interested, feel free to shoot me an e-mail either before you start writing (so you don’t spend time writing on a topic that I may already have a draft/outline completed on).

Enjoy your weekend and thanks for reading!

FOUND THIS POST USEFUL? SUPPORT THE SITE!

Hopefully, you found this post useful. The website is really a labor of love, so please consider becoming a DC RAINMAKER Supporter. This gets you an ad-free experience, and access to our (mostly) bi-monthly behind-the-scenes video series of “Shed Talkin’”.

Support DCRainMaker - Shop on Amazon

Otherwise, perhaps consider using the below link if shopping on Amazon. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. It doesn’t cost you anything extra, but your purchases help support this website a lot. It could simply be buying toilet paper, or this pizza oven we use and love.