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
- RT @Jeukendrup: Photo from Ironman Lanzarote last weekend! Such an amazing bike course!! http://t.co/aeycRgtVEB #, 2 hours ago
- RT @mrogati: An API for all your #QuantifiedSelf data by @human_api: http://t.co/gPQfRFV6Jk. Hackathon on 6/29; how about a sleep + weathe… #, 5 hours ago
- @cthompson01 I think the other 103 pounds of junk I took back may have limited my 'take back a wine bike' potential... #, 5 hours ago
- New Post! A look at aerotesting with ERO Sports and the Alphamantis System: http://t.co/h9FaULBUJ5 #, 6 hours ago
- @DrGalactus Sometimes you just gotta prioritize... #, 6 hours ago
- Seen at grocery store: A new option for frame mounting wine bottles (below seat). http://t.co/BMOU9Jb3NN #, 6 hours ago
- RT @OnevFoto: today's #potd http://t.co/uDgQnIPvV2 by @tfrank_de via @cyclingtips #, 23 hours ago
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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.
Tag Archives: ParisBlog
Paris Blog: A Road Trip to the French Coast
As I alluded to earlier in the week, The Girl and I headed out of town Sunday afternoon to enjoy a bit of a road trip. Things have been crazy busy the last few months with my work travel and … Read More Here
Paris Blog: Let the new bells ring!
Yesterday celebrated the installation of the new bells at Notre Dame. Though, the process has taken a wee bit longer than just one day. A little over a month ago they paraded the bells through the streets of Paris, en … Read More Here
Paris Blog: How we get shipments & mail from the US to France
(Quick FYI: By popular request, I’ve pulled the Paris Blog posts back into the main RSS feed – thanks for the feedback everyone!) When we moved over to France, one of my biggest concerns was actually how to deal with … Read More Here
A look at our neighborhood farmers market
The markets in Paris are amongst the most well known markets in the world. Every tour book and online site talks about having to go check out the various farmers markets, with many recommending specific markets to see. But the … Read More Here
Paris Blog: The process of voting from 3,847 miles away
With the US elections tomorrow, I thought some folks might find it interesting to understand how I voted from overseas. While the process is somewhat similar to absentee voting, there are a handful of differences. I had originally heard that … Read More Here
Paris Blog: Protesting in the ladies department
I was out running errands the other day and stopped in one of the big Paris department stores – BHV. Despite it only being a few blocks away, I hadn’t gone in yet. But I was in need of two … Read More Here
Paris Blog: Watching a fashion show from my window
I continue to be amazed by how real the fashion ‘scene’ is in Paris. Sure, you think of Paris and fashion as intertwined, but it’s not until you see fashion shoots on a regular basis that you realize it’s all … Read More Here
Paris Blog: The Dancing Goose Market
A couple weeks ago around 10AM on a Friday morning a brass band started playing somewhere across the street. Since moving to Paris, we’ve long gotten used to various impromptu musical performances. Full scale marching bands, solo guitarists, religious processions, … Read More Here
Paris Blog: Bertie’s CupCakery Opening in Paris!
Since this is a Paris life post I thought it was important to give everyone the fantastic news of how Paris life for us as we know it is about to change! This is because Bertie’s CupCakery is now officially … Read More Here
Paris Blog: Going to the farm and picking fresh produce!
One of the things we both really enjoy doing is going to u-pick farms and picking our own fruits and vegetables. In the past, we’ve primarily picked apples, blueberries, and strawberries. Given it’s fall (crazy, huh?), we figured it was … Read More Here
Paris Blog: The Beaches (Paris Plages)
Let’s make this clear up front – Paris is nowhere near a beach. The closest oceanesque body of water with sand is roughly 200 kilometers away – and the water there isn’t terribly warm either (the nice stuff is down … Read More Here
Paris Blog: Closing Time
When we first got to Paris back in June, many folks made reference to shops closing during August to allow for vacations. Having been to Europe dozens of times before, I was certainly aware of the practice – which enables … Read More Here
Paris Blog: A time-lapse video–Moving into the apartment in 40 seconds (and what happens when a box falls from five stories up)
Last week, we showed you our final apartment selection with the House Hunters style series. However, getting all of our stuff into our apartment was probably even more fun. This was for two reasons. First, we quite honestly weren’t sure … Read More Here
Paris Blog: House Hunters International–Part II
(We left off last week with us narrowing it down to three houses from over a dozen…check out that post first if you’re just joining us) Before we announce our selection, let’s recap the houses. After a lot of comparing … Read More Here
Paris Blog: House Hunters International–Part I
Amidst the craziness of gutting out and fixing up our house, Ray and I both transited across the Atlantic twice to play what we self titled “House Hunters International”. Granted we weren’t actually on the hit reality show, but we … Read More Here
Paris Blog: Putting the house on the market
There was a bit of delay since our last Paris post and this is primarily due to for how busy life has become. Moving houses can be a bit of a production, but downsizing from a full American townhouse house … Read More Here
Paris Blog: House Cleaning – 8 Years of Stuff!
(Side Note: Until the separate Paris Blog feed gets all setup in the next few weeks, both posts will be fed into this/current feed. Hang tight, you might just enjoy the content! And, in case you missed it – we’re … Read More Here


















