-
I’m DC RAINMAKER…
SUPPORT THIS SITE
Wanna help support the site? You have two options. The first is to use Clever Training with the link and 10% off everything coupon below:
Alternatively, for everything else on the planet, simply buy your goods from Amazon via the link below and I get a tiny bit back. No cost to you, easy as pie!
UK based here! Canada! Germany! France! Spain! Italy!
Catch me on Facebook
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.
-
5 Easy Steps To The Site
1
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.
2
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!
3
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.
4
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.
5
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: June 2012
A week of relaxing (and product reviewing) in Florida
Ahead of our big move to Paris, we’ve spent weeks…if not really months preparing. Since we had to be out of our house back on June 4th, we’ve actually been hoteling it since – with locations dependent on my work … Read More Here
We’re moving to Paris…tomorrow!
Yup, that’s right, we’re packing up shop and moving over to the land of chocolate macaroons! Actually, rather, we’ve already packed up shop – over three weeks ago. The stuff is slowly plodding it’s way across the Atlantic (just off … Read More Here
Garmin Swim watch In-Depth Review
[Updated Feb 16th, 2013] Today, Garmin announced the Garmin Swim, which is a dedicated swim tracking watch that builds upon the accelerometer based technology that was introduced within the FR910XT to track swimming data in a pool environment. I’ve been … Read More Here
Week in Review–June 23rd, 2012
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
Big DC Rainmaker announcement coming Tuesday!
Things have been pretty busy here in these parts lately, really busy. But, on Tuesday, we’ll be announcing something pretty big. Really big. Like, life changing big! Why Tuesday? Well, I could tell you Monday, but then that would preempt … Read More Here
The Bia women’s GPS watch: My detailed thoughts
A couple weeks ago a new entrant to the GPS-enabled sports watch bounced onto the scene via Kickstarter, the Bia watch. This unit is forthcoming in being targeted and designed directly at women. So I’m first going to go through … Read More Here
Why I think WTC made the right choice about Lance, even if it was wrong
Late last week when the world once again came crashing down on Lance, there was probably only group aside from Livestrong that was just as fraught as Armstrong: The World Triathlon Corporation, owner of the Ironman brand. As you probably … Read More Here
A short update from the land of palm trees
After weeks (heck, over a month) of crazy work related hours and stuffs, I’ve finally got a week to relax. And relax I shall. Well, mostly relax. I took with me a huge pile of goods that all arrived in … Read More Here
Week in Review–June 17th, 2012
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
The Giveaway Extravaganza Winners!
A huge thanks to all that participated in Friday’s Giveaway Extravaganza, it was certainly pretty crazy around these parts! At some points the entries were coming in at one per second, that’s just nuts! Overall, you clocked in nearly 50,000 … Read More Here
Giveaway Extravaganza: Timex Global Trainer
The Timex Global Trainer will easily track you across any sport (or medieval battlefield). Which is exactly what Mythbusters did last summer. They combined the unit with knights in shinning armor last summer to measure distance and speed/pace. How much … Read More Here
Giveaway Extravaganza: Polar RCX5 with G5 GPS
Are you of the Polar persuasion? Then this watch is definitely your cup of tea (or cup of Gatorade). It’s their top of the line triathlon watch, complete with the the G5 GPS pod. And, unlike virtually every other watch … Read More Here
Giveaway Extravaganza: Wahoo BlueHR, Quad Lock Bike Case, iPhone Running Case/Band
Think of this as the ultimate iPhone running kit. You’ve got the fancy Bluetooth low-energy heart rate strap, then the sweet iPhone Quad Lock case (with all the stuff shown above), and then I’m throwing in a iPhone running case/band. … Read More Here
Giveaway Extravaganza: Garmin FR910XT
Here’s your chance to grab a brand new Garmin FR910XT. As you probably know, the FR910XT can be used across a number of sports. You could swim effortlessly in a giant vat of beer, compete in tandem mountain bike racing, … Read More Here
Giveaway Extravaganza: Timex Run Trainer
Sure, any device can track a run for a few hours. But can your device track a run that’s over a 100 hours long? Well, the Timex Run Trainer took the cake on the longest running recording battery of any … Read More Here
Giveaway Extravaganza Twofer: Polar RCX3’s
Yup, for this giveaway I’m giving away two separate units out to two winners. One white edition, one black edition. Twofer!!! The Polar RCX3 is Polar’s latest slimmed down triathlon and running watch that doesn’t attract much unneeded attention with … Read More Here
Giveaway Extravaganza: Motorola Motoactv
The Motoactv with its super-crisp display changed the endurance watch game last fall. Like mixing music and running? Or perhaps even golf and music (yup, it does golf, and cycling, and yoga and…). In fact, upon further reflection, about the … Read More Here
Giveaway Extravaganza: Garmin Edge 500
Here’s your chance to grab a brand new Garmin Edge 500. Being just the weight of a single egg, it won’t require you to cut back on cookies or cupcakes to keep your cycling weight weenie status when you add … Read More Here
The Escape from Alcatraz GoPro Bike Course video in less than 4 minutes
As I noted in my Escape from Alcatraz Race Report on Monday, I had the GoPro camera clipped on my aerobars for the bike portion of the event. Unfortunately, between the plane flight back and limited battery, I couldn’t quite … Read More Here
Tomorrow: The DC Rainmaker All-Day Giveaway Extravaganza
(Some of you may have seen me post this photo on Facebook back a few weeks ago…hence, the origins of this post) It’s been building up for a while now, and now it’s time. Perhaps, way overtime. Either way – … Read More Here
Timex Cycle Trainer 2.0 GPS In-Depth Review
The Timex Cycle Trainer is Timex’s first foray into an ANT+ enabled and fully downloadable dedicated GPS cycling computer. It also represents Timex’s third integrated and downloadable GPS product into the endurance sports market, following the Timex Run Trainer and … Read More Here
Garmin FR910XT update adds TSS/IF/NP, gazillion other items/fixes
A few hours ago Garmin released an update that enables the TrainingPeaks metrics of TSS/IF/NP, as well as adds a whole crapton of other items and fixes. And yes, crapton is a technical term. This brings the unit inline with … Read More Here
2012 Escape from Alcatraz Race Report
There are just a handful of triathlon events out there that seem to make nearly every triathlete’s bucket list. This past winter when I heard of the opportunity to qualify for the Escape from Alcatraz event via a local yet … Read More Here
Week in Review–June 10th, 2012
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
Off to Alcatraz…or rather, off to Escape from Alcatraz!
I’m just about ready to head out to San Francisco, I’ve got my bike all packed up in its case and have the rest of my gear (mostly) packed. As you may remember, here’s my long-form packing list for triathlons, … Read More Here
