-
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.
Because it’s cold FR910XT Giveaway Winner!
Yes, it’s still cold. And, some 2,500 of you over the weekend shared your running/cycling/swimming/something activities in the cold. Quite a few entertaining reads in there – I definitely encourage you to scroll through some of them. Think of it … Read More Here
Stages Power Meter In-Depth Review
Since its announcement at Interbike this past year, no power meter has caused as much Internet discussion and debate than the Stages power meter. It was previously named “StageOne”, but has since simply been renamed to Stages Power. The unit … Read More Here
Week in Review–January 26th, 2013
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
Because it’s cold: Garmin FR910XT Giveaway
Tonight (well, last night by time you read this), I was running. It seems like I’m always running. It was cold. Now to think of it, it seems like I’m always running in the cold too. Though not as cold … Read More Here
Wahoo Fitness KICKR now (sorta) available for pre-order
Today, Wahoo Fitness announced pre-orders for the Wahoo KICKR trainer will begin on January 29th at 12PM Eastern. This is obviously a fair bit behind the planned schedule of pre-orders in November. The first shipment was confirmed loaded onto the … Read More Here
The Great DC Rainmaker 2013 Survey!
It’s been nearly two years to the day since I did the last ‘Great DC Rainmaker Survey’ – and thus I think it’s time again to see what you all are thinking. When I did this last time, I was … Read More Here
Power2Max Power Meter In-Depth Review
The Power2Max is one of the newest crank-based power meters on the market today. Its price point is a bit lower than most other crank-based power meters, though, in the same range as rear-hub based power meters. Since the updated … Read More Here
A Snowy Parisian Run (and Sledding Into The Water)
It snowed! Well, obviously – otherwise I would have titled it “A not-at-all-snowy Parisian Run” It started snowing Friday afternoon, and stuck pretty much immediately. By mid-day Saturday it took a bit of a break. So I decided to head … Read More Here
Week in Review–January 19th, 2013
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
Paris Blog: A look at the Autolib: It’s like ZipCar for Paris
As many of you know, we don’t own a car here in Paris. When we moved over here – we sold off our two cars (to friends and family), and figured we’d figure it out as we went along. Given … Read More Here
LeMond and the LeMond Revolution Trainer are back in business
Just a quick post, as I’m heads down in a bunch of other items at the moment (including procrastinating going out running 90 minutes in some rather chilly weather). To catch those of you back up – last fall LeMond … Read More Here
A history of products destroyed in product review testing
As you already know, a lot of products come through my testing ‘lab’. After my testing is complete and my review is written up these products head back to their respective companies. Leave no tracks behind and all. But sometimes, … Read More Here
Running on the Cobbles
Last night while on my long run, I had a fair bit of time to think about cobblestones. Mostly because I was trying to avoid slipping, tripping or otherwise falling on them. The snow in my eyes didn’t help. Where … Read More Here
Week in Review–January 13th, 2013
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
CES 2013: Health and Activity Monitors–Bringing it back to reality edition
How about them apples? Seriously, that was first thought about seeing the below situation from afar. The folks at the booth nearby had urged me to go over and try and ascertain what exactly was going on in there. Given … Read More Here
Hands on with the new Leikr GPS sports watch
It’s been a touch bit over a week since the Leikr watch launched on Kickstarter. The Leikr GPS sports watch has become instantly recognizable due to it’s larger full color screen – one that essentially looks like a Motoactv on … Read More Here
CES 2013: A look at what’s coming to me next week
While it’s always my goal to secures loot and gadgets to take home the week of the convention, sometimes that just doesn’t work out. The reasons usually vary, sometimes it’s because the company simply doesn’t have enough units on hand … Read More Here
CES 2013: The Loot I’m Bringing Back
I’ve got 12 minutes until my flights departs here from Vegas to Chicago (and thus onwards to Paris), so this is gonna be super quick. I’ve got lots more content than this, but I figured people might be interested in … Read More Here
Garmin Edge 810 In-Depth Review
The Garmin Edge 810 is a cycling GPS with built in mapping navigation that aims to build upon the previous edition of the unit, the Edge 800. I’ve been testing the unit for a while now, and have a pretty … Read More Here
Garmin Edge 510 In-Depth Review
The Garmin Edge 510 is the Garmin’s latest cycling GPS computer to holistically track and manage your cycling workouts and races. It aims to build upon the Edge 500 that was released about three years ago. I’ve been using the … Read More Here
Friday Photo of the Day: Me featured in a brochure swimming with a floaty duck
Earlier this week a reader sent me over a note letting me know that my favorite friend – Mr. Duck – was featured alongside me in the Polar Bear Plunge brochures that are now found in countless stores around the … Read More Here
Do you use an app with live tracking in it? Tell me about it!
I’m often asked to do phone app reviews, but as I explain in my FAQ page (which, btw, continues to grow), the rate of change of phone apps makes reviews all but meaningless within days or weeks. So instead, I … Read More Here
Headed to CES 2013 next week, what do you want to see/hear about?
Like last year, I’ll be making a quick trip to the Consumer Electronics Show – which is pretty much the super bowl of consumer electronics. The show is held annually in Las Vegas, usually on the first full non-holiday week … Read More Here
The Top 10 Sports & Fitness Items You Bought in 2012
As you know, one way you support the site is via Amazon. I thought it would be kinda fun to share with you a Top 10 list of all the stuff that you picked up during 2012. It’s an interesting … Read More Here
How to kick start your way to your first triathlon
Over the past few weeks, I’ve received a number of questions from those interested in completing their first triathlon this season. While much of what I write here tends to be geared towards the more advanced athlete, it’s time to … Read More Here
