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
- @kbentonphoto No pillows. I just take my luck with them having them. #, 4 hours ago
- @jayprasuhn Thanks Jay! #, 4 hours ago
- @ismolieke Indeed it would! #, 9 hours ago
- Another night, another flight. Next stop, 3,628 miles. At least the plane has A/C, unlike our hot house. :) http://t.co/Q1TMRB9ujz #, 18 hours ago
- New In-Depth Review...Update: Here's a second indepth look at the @StagesCycling Power Meter: http://t.co/gmfD9T7ILt #, 18 hours ago
- @rspauwen None that I'm aware of. :( #, 2013/06/18
- FYI: @Garmin releases Edge 810 firmware update. Minor tweaks/fixes: http://t.co/7JN03g2FDQ #, 2013/06/18
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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: July 2011
Week in Review–July 31st, 2011
The Week in Review is a collection of both all the goodness I’ve written during the past week around the internet, as well as a small pile of links I found interesting – generally endurance sports related. I’ve often wondered … Read More Here
Loops around the track and airport in Seattle
This week my workouts have largely been centered around my hometown in Mukilteo, WA. I’ve been out here for work all week, but I stay with my parents and do all my workouts in the area near my house. For … Read More Here
Updates on Garmin Vector and new Garmin GPS watch
Note: Please see in depth post on Vector “Everything you ever wanted to know about the Garmin Vector pedal based power meter” posted here (it’s a whole lot more detailed and in depth, and includes comprehensive Q&A with the Garmin … Read More Here
My Top 8 Race Day (and Pre-Race) Fails
I’m a firm believer that what doesn’t kill you makes your stronger. Al Franken summed that up pretty well with his quote: “Mistakes are a part of being human. Appreciate your mistakes for what they are: precious life lessons that … Read More Here
Quick request post/note for your suggestions on guest posts
Just a quick post before the main post of the day in a bit… If you remember way back to the big survey I did in February one of the items that you expressed interest in was guest posts from … Read More Here
A weekend of Cycling, Snow Skiing, Crankworx and Ziplining
Given I’m out on the west coast this week for work, I decided to sneak in a bit of activity north of the border up in Whistler, Canada – about 4 hours from my parents place outside of Seattle. We … Read More Here
Week in Review–July 23rd, 2011
The Week in Review is a collection of both all the goodness I’ve written during the past week around the internet, as well as a small pile of links I found interesting – generally endurance sports related. I’ve often wondered … Read More Here
Tip of the day: Exercise gyms inside airports
As you well know, I travel a lot. And while it’s relatively straight forward to train and travel with short flights up and down the coast in the US, it becomes much more difficult to travel and train when your … Read More Here
Trip Reports Static Page
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 do a lot of work travelling, so some of those trips aren’t … Read More Here
Observations on training over the last month
I was going to talk about my excitement filled 8-mile treadmill run this evening and all the logic behind doing it indoors versus outdoors, but I wanted to first go through some random observational bullet points around training and fitness … Read More Here
Last Week in Review–July 17th, 2011
(Note: A bit delayed since I was on my honeymoon the last few weeks, but I figured some of you might like some mid-week link reading of stuff I wrote or found interesting last week) I’ve long since wondered what … Read More Here
The Honeymoon: Part II
We left off yesterday with us leaving the Amalfi coast town of Positano. From there, we headed northbound on an assortment of trains via Rome, eventually ending up in a big long town that started with a ‘C’. I could … Read More Here
The Honeymoon: Part I
There were very few people who knew of our honeymoon plans. In fact, there was really only one who knew the entire plan…me. There were a few reasons for this – but mostly the simplest was that The Girl and … Read More Here
Tip of the day: How I manage 15+ Heart Rate Straps
Until rather recently I stored all my various sports gizmos and gadgets in a simple Rubbermaid container. Well, mostly. They kinda spilled out all over the place, so it was more like the Rubbermaid container plus a 6 foot radius. … Read More Here
Spending time with the ANT+ enabled spin bike
You may remember last fall at Interbike I spent a bit of time getting a tour of all of the ANT+ enabled gym equipment. These are commercial grade pieces of exercise equipment (Gym equipment) that can connect with certain ANT+ … Read More Here
FINIS AquaPulse In Depth Review
Today FINIS announced their latest product, the AquaPulse underwater audible heart rate monitor. Unlike most sport heart rate monitors however, this one doesn’t measure your heart rate using a standard chest strap, but instead does so at your ear…conveniently placed … Read More Here
Time Capsule Trip Report: Flying the Concorde
In lieu of a current trip report (since I’m in the middle of my honeymoon), I thought it would be fun to go back a few years ago to a trip report I wrote for friends and family about a … Read More Here
Week in Review–July 10th, 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
The Elusive Non-Gadget Weekly Mailbag–July Edition
It’s that time again…time for the rare non-gadget mailbag to make its appearance! Since I started doing the Slowtwitch Weekly Mailbag’s last year, I realized I’d been slowly building up a pile of non-gadget related questions. See, before the Slowtwitch … Read More Here
Gadget or Gimmick: CamelBak Flow Meter
Back a while ago I ordered the CamelBak Flow Meter (with my own money). This nifty little $30 gadget is designed to sit inline on your existing CamelBak drinking straw/tube and measure how much you consume. It’ll also tell you … Read More Here
Wahoo Fitness Bike and Run Package Giveaway Results
Thanks all for entering the Wahoo Fitness ANT+ Bike Case and Run Package giveaways. More importantly, thanks for sharing your hilarious wedding stories – just shy of 500 of them! All of them hilarious! Going into the crazy hectic of … Read More Here
The ANT+ Bike Speed/Cadence Sensor: Everything you ever wanted to know
After the popular ‘everything you ever wanted to know’ post I did back this winter on the footpod, I decided it was time to continue the series with the Speed/Cadence sensor. Thankfully, the speed/cadence sensor is actually a bit less … Read More Here
Tip of the day: Moving companies to avoid for bike shipment
Most of my posts tend to show off products that I enjoy using, simply because I find that if I’m going to invest hours of my life writing 15,000 word reviews, I might as well do it for something that … Read More Here
Today
Today. To be exact, a bit later today. Sorry for the lack of posting the last few days. While I have a good slate of posts scheduled for the next two weeks, I didn’t quite think through posts for the … Read More Here


















