I’m DC RAINMAKER…
I swim, bike and run. Then, I come here and write about my adventures. It’s as simple as that. Most of the time. If you’re new around these parts, here’s the long version of my story.

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UK based here! Canada! Germany! France! Spain! Italy!
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Ray Elsewhere
Did you know I write a weekly column over on Slowtwitch?
Check out my Product/Electronics posts in Ray’s Sports Electronics Mailbag - they are packed full of gadget goodness.
FAQ’s
I have built an extensive list of my most frequently asked questions. Below are the most popular.
- Will you test our product before release?
- Are you willing to review or test beta products?
- Which trainer should I buy?
- Which GPS watch should I buy?
- I’m headed to Paris – what do you recommend for training or sightseeing?
- I’m headed to Washington DC – what do you recommend for training?
- I’m from out of the country and will be visiting the US, what’s the best triathlon shop in city XYZ?
- What kind of camera do you use?
- What are your least favorite countries/places?
- What are you favorite countries/places?
Follow me on Twitter
- @Lokoto Read my post from last Friday for details. #, 48 mins ago
- @vettenrannalla I see nothing good coming out of that fish! #, 17 hours ago
- Now that I've run out of Swedish Fish, I make no guarantees on how remainder of trainer ride will go. http://t.co/wXXoumPygd #, 19 hours ago
- @emlynsimpson See, I'd lay blame at the act of doing backstroke. ;) #, 22 hours ago
- @seeverist Nothing this time, just a quick out and back. #, 2013/05/22
- @keithcartmell People build strange pool sizes in Paris. I found it best not to try and ask 'why'. #, 2013/05/22
- Observation from swim last night: After normally swimming in 33m pool, then 50m pool on Sunday, 25y feels like a plastic kiddie pool. :) #, 2013/05/22
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5 Easy Steps To The Site
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.
Read My GPS Recommendations.
Here’s my most recent gadget recommendations guide (2012) – covering almost every category of sports gadgets out there. Looking for the equipment I use day to day? I also just put together my complete 2012 ‘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!
Understand technology and sport in the How-To Guides.
I enjoy explaining new things to folks – especially showing people how to get the most from their gadgets. Here’s an ongoing list of “How to” guides.
Read my Top 25 most useful posts.
It turns our I’ve written a fair bit of stuff over the past few years – and after it disappears from my front page, a lot of it never really sees the light of day again without Google’ing skillz. Or a photographic memory…which I don’t have. I’ve taken a look back and found stuff that…continues to find a trickle of readers via web searches or forum links.
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.
Monthly Archives: February 2011
Swimming, crazy man, Tunebugs and Crabs
The weekend started Friday night with a nice continuous swim in a fairly empty Olympic sized swimming pool. That’s the nice thing about Friday’s…the pool is always empty. I continue to play with both the Swimsense and the Pool-Mate Pro … Read More Here
Week in Review–February 27th, 2011
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 … Read More Here
Friday Tidbits: Spring’s gonna be busy for new toys!
(Side Note: I have no idea what on earth this clipart image is depicting. I was searching for random images to use for this post using the Microsoft Word clipart selection and out of curiosity entered ‘triathlon’ – and got … Read More Here
CycleOps Joule and PowerTap Wheelset In Depth Review
Last year when Saris/CycleOps came out with their ANT+ enabled Joule, many wondered how it would stack up against the competition. Would a non-GPS enabled device still be able to compete in an increasingly GPS dominated world? And how would … Read More Here
A look at the Trek/Bontrager frame integrated DuoTrap ANT+ Speed/Cadence Sensor
A few weeks ago The Girl brought home her new bike, the Trek Speed Concept, which is one of the very few bikes out there that includes the option to add a frame-integrated ANT+ speed/cadence sensor. The sensor kit fits … Read More Here
A look at USAT’s newly promoted CyclePro bike insurance
Back a few weeks ago a USAT e-mail was sent out to the majority of members promoting a new bike insurance program from a company called CyclePro. The e-mail highlighting the program basically explained at a high level that it … Read More Here
A weekend in the sun
We’re gonna keep this weekend update post pretty short – since you’ve got a boatload of detailed posts coming up this week covering all sorts of goodness. As I mentioned on Friday, The Girl and I had a long scheduled … Read More Here
Week in Review–February 20th, 2011
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 … Read More Here
Friday Training and Travelling Tidbits
Wow – the end of my first week at home! Awesome! With a full week of training I’ve been able to get some really good solid workouts in. Take for example my Tuesday run. This workout starts off with an … Read More Here
My 2011 Season Race Schedule
Each year about this time I detail out my race plan for the year. Normally ‘about this time’ is closer to the beginning of January…but this year it ended up being just a wee bit later. Just had to have … Read More Here
Boston Marathon Entry Giveaway Results!
Thanks to everyone that qualified and entered in the Boston Marathon Entry Giveaway. It was pretty cool to read all of the stories in there! I know there’s a lot of deserving folks out there, including ones like this: Or … Read More Here
Enjoying a weekend back in the country
I finally got to enjoy a weekend of Washington DC focused training…and it was great! Beyond that there was of course much cooking around the house – though none of which I was doing, but rather, The Girl was busy … Read More Here
Week in Review–February 13th, 2011
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 … Read More Here
A circular tour of Africa
Most folks can find South Africa on a map. After all, if you can find Africa, you can find probably find the southern portion. Simple enough, right? Welcome to Ghana But what about finding Accra? Well, ya probably need a … Read More Here
Did you qualify for the Boston Marathon and miss out on registration? Here’s a free entry for ya…
I was approached yesterday by the folks from Salonpas to giveaway a Boston Marathon registration slot to anyone who wanted it (including yours truly). Yup – you heard that right: A pre-paid entry slot to the Boston Marathon. Given I’ve … Read More Here
My Sports Technology Predictions for 2011
I’m back at it again – giving my predictions for what’s coming down the pipeline for the 2011 year. Last year’s predictions post became one of my popular and regularly read posts…and, for good measure – the vast majority of … Read More Here
Biospeed Aerus Bike Case Review: How I travel with my bike
If you travel as much as I do for work (150,000+ miles last year), you’ve got no choice but to get creative with your training. There’s simply no way you can be competitive at all three sports without actually training … Read More Here
Cycling around South Africa
If you’ve never been to Africa, you probably have a specific representation of what the continent looks like. In your mind, it probably looks a lot like many of my past posts – usually out in the bush, in places … Read More Here
Week in Review–February 5th, 2011
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 … Read More Here
Checking out the EZ-Trainer iPad ANT+ App
With the introduction of the Wahoo Fitness ANT+ Dongle last year, there’s been a flood of iPhone apps that have supported adding ANT+ data (Heart Rate, Power, Speed, Cadence, Weight Scales, etc…). Everything from small apps you’ve never heard of, … Read More Here
A hands-on look at the Swimovate Pool-Mate Pro
Many of you have been asking for me to check out the Swimovate Pool-Mate Pro, which is a swimming watch that allows one to not only keep track of laps, but also download the data later. While there have been … Read More Here
The Next Garmin Forerunner Multisport Watch
Without doubt, one of the most frequent questions I get around these parts is: “When will the next version of ____ be released?” – which is typically “When will the next Garmin Forerunner be released?”. I should first say – … Read More Here



















