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
- @vettenrannalla I see nothing good coming out of that fish! #, 10 hours ago
- Now that I've run out of Swedish Fish, I make no guarantees on how remainder of trainer ride will go. http://t.co/wXXoumPygd #, 12 hours ago
- @emlynsimpson See, I'd lay blame at the act of doing backstroke. ;) #, 15 hours ago
- @seeverist Nothing this time, just a quick out and back. #, 18 hours ago
- @keithcartmell People build strange pool sizes in Paris. I found it best not to try and ask 'why'. #, 18 hours ago
- Observation from swim last night: After normally swimming in 33m pool, then 50m pool on Sunday, 25y feels like a plastic kiddie pool. :) #, 19 hours ago
- @cdwilliams1 Check out Garmin Fenix, or Suunto Ambit's, aimed at hikers. #, 20 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: Coaching
The Bricks: An inside look at my weekly brick workouts
This seasons mid-week brick workouts started quite a while ago, probably about two or so months now that I think about it. Technically speaking I actually have two brick workouts a week. The second one attached to my long ride, … Read More Here
How I train, upload and get analysis from my Coach
I’ll admit it upfront – I’m really lucky. Or rather, I’m really lucky to have a coach who’s so incredibly detail oriented that he’s thrilled to pour through whatever I upload – be it data files, text commentary, or photos … Read More Here
Simple reasons why I love my coach
Every four weeks I get a Microsoft Word document from Coach Alan that includes a variety of questions. The vast majority of these questions are aimed at finding out exactly what antics I have planned that are going to mess … Read More Here
Weekly Mailbag–July 3rd, 2010
Here’s this week’s edition of the weekly mailbag. This is a weekly series where I feature a handful of the e-mailed questions I received from the previous week or so. I try and pick a wide variety of questions. Some … Read More Here
Weekly Mailbag–May 8th, 2010
Here’s this week’s edition of the weekly mailbag. This is a weekly series where I feature a handful of the e-mailed questions I received from the previous week or so. I try and pick a wide variety of questions. Some … Read More Here
How aero can you go?
Coach Alan and I were chatting via e-mail about a variety of topics yesterday and he brought up the topic of my aero position, based on one of the pictures from my IMC race report – in particular – this … Read More Here
Thoughts on triathlon coaching
A get about an e-mail a day from someone asking for advice on topic XYZ or gizmo ZYX. I’m always happy to help anyone who e-mails me – so feel free to keep the questions coming! Every once in a … Read More Here
In Transition…T1…T1…T1…
After last evening’s 90 minute swim (back and forth a gazillion times), it was time to quickly pack up the automotive transition area and head over to the coach’s place to go through transition ‘refinement’ and practice. Translation: He must … Read More Here
Pain, Noodles, Less Pain, Bike Bunnies
I semi-intended on writing a blog post up Friday afternoon about one thing. And then I planned to do it Friday night. And then Saturday I had a different one planned, and then I realized I spent every waking second … Read More Here
Bike Fitting
About a month ago, I had a bike fitting done by Coach Ken Mierke, a local triathlete coach and active poster on Trifuel.com. I had originally asked for advice on Trifuel back a few months ago about getting a bike … Read More Here
Tri Coach – should I get one?
As a follow-on to yesterday’s post, I’m trying to figure out if I should get a coach, and if so – what type of coach I should get. I think I’m at the point now where a coach would be … Read More Here
Ironman Canada 2008 – Registration Complete
It’s now official. I just finished plunking down the $490US for Ironman Canada 2008. I think I did save $2 for the “Active Advantage”, which I’m pretty sure is officially a huge waste money (the Active Advantage thing). You know … Read More Here


















