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
- @emlynsimpson See, I'd lay blame at the act of doing backstroke. ;) #, 2 hours ago
- @seeverist Nothing this time, just a quick out and back. #, 5 hours ago
- @keithcartmell People build strange pool sizes in Paris. I found it best not to try and ask 'why'. #, 5 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. :) #, 6 hours ago
- @cdwilliams1 Check out Garmin Fenix, or Suunto Ambit's, aimed at hikers. #, 7 hours ago
- @cthompson01 Yeah, I've gotta track down some minor change there. #, 7 hours ago
- @luisap Ensure you're ANT Agent is running, and that it's transferred. Sometimes I'll quickly create a 2s recording on FR910TX to kick it. #, 7 hours ago
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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: Garmin
Garmin adds new Fenix Skiing mode (in beta)
Following in the footsteps of continuing to add features to the Fenix watch (and likewise, what Suunto has done with the Ambit), Garmin quietly posted to their forums a beta version of the Fenix firmware which adds skiing to the … Read More Here
Garmin gives updated Vector power meter schedule (February 2013)
Today, on Garmin’s quarterly earnings call (for Q4FY12), they provided an update on the state of $1,500US Garmin Vector power meter, along with a few minor updates on other health and fitness initiatives. For those just joining this long-running (and … Read More Here
Garmin gives updated Vector pedal schedule & info
It seems that these days the only way to get solid and updated public information on the Garmin Vector pedal based power meter is to simply listen to the quarterly investor conference call, which was held on Wednesday. The Garmin … Read More Here
The update without an update: Garmin Vector Power Meter
Over the past few days and weeks, many of you asked for an update regarding Garmin Vector. I didn’t want you to think I was ignoring it, so I decided to put together this quick post. In short – there … 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
Garmin releases Edge 500 update, adds TSS/NP/IF & more
It’s been nearly 10 months since the announcement that TSS/NP/IF metrics would come to the Edge 500, and as of 11AM central time – it’s finally available. For those that want to get right to the action, you can swing … Read More Here
A look at tonight’s hard brick workout with the Garmin Fit app and new Live Tracking service
Earlier this week, Garmin introduced a new bit of functionality to their existing Garmin Fit iPhone/Android app. This is the app that uses their Garmin Fit iPhone adapter to access ANT+ data. It came out last fall, and for the … Read More Here
Garmin Vector Power Meter pedals delayed to unknown date
Just a quick bit of news from Garmin to start off your day: “After testing our latest advanced prototypes of the Vector system, we are still not satisfied with the results. As you can imagine, Vector is a complex, precision … Read More Here
Garmin, Suunto and Polar want your feedback (directly)
This might be the quickest post I’ve ever written – but it’s one that I feel probably deserves some brief mention – if only to divert mail flow from my own inbox, directly to theirs (at the office this is … Read More Here

















