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! #, 8 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 #, 17 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.
Tag Archives: ANT+
2012 ANT+ Symposium Technology Roundup
You saw my presentation to the ANT+ Symposium yesterday, highlighting my keynote session that I gave last week. However, I wanted to loop back and highlight some of the things that were delivered to me, rather than me delivering to … Read More Here
My 2012 ANT+ Symposium Presentation
For the third straight year in a row, I’ve presented a keynote session yesterday at the ANT+ Symposium. In presenting here I’m able to address the vast majority of the sports technology industry, from the big player names you hear … Read More Here
4iiii’s debuts Viiiiva Bluetooth Smart and ANT+ Consolidator Heart Rate Strap
Today at Interbike, 4iiii’s quietly showed off a new heart rate strap that contains both a ANT+ chip and a Bluetooth Low Energy chip within it (Bluetooth Smart). At first glance, you may wonder why this is important – but … Read More Here
Coolness: Me and Simon Whitfield presenting at ANT+ Symposium
Well, not together at the same time. Because that’d be awkward – mainly for me. And probably a little for him. He would talk about Olympic Gold and Silver medals and Olympic opening ceremonies…and I would talk about plastic trophies … Read More Here
Eurobike Sports Technology Things That Didn’t Fit: Part I
There’s a gazillion things to see at Eurobike, and many of them simply don’t make the cut for a bigger full-sized post. Sometimes it’s because they are too early in the development cycle and lack full details, sometimes because I … Read More Here
A&D Medical Lifesource UC-324 ANT+ enabled Weight Scale Review
I’ve reviewed a number of scales in the past, but only two of those are still used within the household on a daily basis. I say two, simply because one is in one bathroom, and the other in the other … Read More Here
Bontrager ANT+ Bike Speed/Cadence Sensor that requires no zipties or tools!
(Update/Note: If you’re looking at this unit, it’s marketed under both Bontrager and Motorola brands. Same identical unit, just different shell.) It’s funny when you think about it, as much innovation that goes on in cycling computers – there’s been … Read More Here
A much better USB ANT+ stick for your Garmin Forerunner…by Suunto
If you’re like me and are constantly on a laptop – there are really two minor issues that I have with the Garmin USB stick that I use to download workouts from my Forerunner to my computer. First up is … Read More Here
CES 2012 Health and Fitness Gadget Roundup: Part II
We left off last week checking out a slew of cool things, so if you missed that pile of gadget awesomeness – definitely swing back and check it out. Without further ado – let’s get into it! First up is … Read More Here
Tip of the day: How not to lose your ANT+ stick
It used to be that I’d always be searching for that darn ANT+ stick to download workouts from my Garmin Forerunner. If I used a desktop computer, it would probably live a peaceful monogamous relationship with my desktop, un-phased by … Read More Here
Garmin iPhone ANT+ Adapter and Garmin Fit app Review
Garmin today announced a new iPhone ANT+ Adapter as well as a pair of fitness apps for both the iPhone and Android phone. The adapter provides ANT+ enablement of your iPhone, similar to how the Wahoo Fitness iPhone ANT+ adapter … Read More Here
A DC weekend of Cyclocross and assorted new products
We’re going to start with Cyclocross, merely because that’s the most recent thing on my mind. This morning I went up to DCCX – which is the DC Cyclocross event held within the district at the Armed Forces Retirement Home. … Read More Here
Motorola MOTOACTV: Thoughts and analysis
Last week I got a bit of a sneak peak at the new Motorola MOTOACTV sports/fitness watch/MP3 player that was just announced today. It’s a pretty interesting device that actually seems to bridge across a number of different areas in … Read More Here
A look at Simon Fraser University’s Running Speed/Pace Control System
Two weeks ago while I was up at the ANT+ Symposium outside of Calgary I had a chance to spend some time running around in circles with two guys (Dr. Max Donelan and Mark Snaterse) from Simon Fraser University who … Read More Here
My 2011 ANT+ Symposium Presentation
This Wednesday I presented to over 150 ANT+ Alliance members as part of the annual ANT+ Symposium. Like last year, my speech is primarily aimed at taking all of your feedback and delivering it back to them. The folks at … Read More Here
Cool things I’ve seen so far at the ANT+ Symposium
As you may remember from last week, I’m presenting Wednesday morning at the ANT+ Symposium, which is the annual meeting for all ANT+ companies. This includes any folks that use ANT+ in their technologies. The companies you’re probably most familiar … Read More Here
An inside look at TrainerRoad, a way to make your regular trainer like a mock-CompuTrainer
Last week I had the chance to sit down (well, actually, stand around) and talk with the guys behind the up and coming TrainerRoad application. Many of you are familiar with the CompuTrainer and the ability to gather real-time data … Read More Here
A look at the Fox Racing Shocks Smart Pump concept with a Garmin Edge 800
There was a lot of cool stuff shown at Interbike last week – but perhaps one of the coolest and least expected technology items demonstrated was a partnership between Fox (the bike company, not the TV corporation) and Garmin that … Read More Here
Speaking at ANT+ Symposium Next Week
For those that remember last year around this time I came almost straight from Interbike, did some more work travelling, and then turned back around again and then spoke at the ANT+ Symposium. Last year though I had slotted it … Read More Here
A look at rear-facing cameras for bike safety (and a pair of camera sunglasses)–Cerevellum, Owl 360 & Pivothead
Many have previously heard about a company called Cerevellum that’s been putting together a rear-facing camera system that ties into a bike computer. The goal of their system was to design a ‘black box’ type platform that records the video … Read More Here
In Depth Review of the 4iiii Sport-iiiis ANT+ Heads Up Display System
It’s been almost a year to the day since we first heard about a small company called 4iiii, which aims to bring a heads up display system to a pair of sunglasses near you. Over the past year they’ve been … Read More Here
Hands on review of the Sony Ericsson Xperia Active ANT+ enabled waterproof phone
When Sony Ericsson added ANT+ capabilities to some of their Android phones last year, it was a pretty cool milestone. But with ANT+ comes the outdoors – and with the outdoors comes things that are generally considered ‘unhappy’ to electronic … 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
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
The Garmin ANT+ Footpod Calibration Tool
A bit ago I stumbled upon a really cool tool that allows you to determine your Garmin ANT+ footpod calibration factor based on existing run data that you might have already run with your footpod. For example, if you’re like … Read More Here


















