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: SRAM
SRAM RED 2012 Quarq Power Meter Review
Earlier this year Quarq announced their new SRAM RED Quarq 2012 power meter, alongside the SRAM RED 2012 group set. This would mark the first full new product release for Quarq since being acquired by by SRAM. It would also … Read More Here
A weekend with dueling power meters, activity monitors and more!
After a rather busy travel week last week, I was looking forward to relaxing a bit this weekend. I landed safely back in DC around 1AM Saturday morning. I mention ‘safely’ since our plane had a minor gear issue which … Read More Here
Spending time with the Specialized Venge and running hard between DC monuments
You know when you nail a weekend’s worth of workouts and the numbers come out perfectly? Yup, that was this weekend. This past weekend had both a long (yet finishing hard) run and a hard bike on it. The run … Read More Here
Twofer: Significant Garmin Connect (Power) Updates & Significant FR910XT Review Updates
DC Rainmaker Review Updates: Got two items of note today for you. First, the most important one (ok, that’s probably debatable). Over the past week I’ve been slowly chipping away at adding in a bunch of updates to the FR910XT … Read More Here
The 2012 SRAM RED Quarq (and bike!) arrives into the DC Rainmaker test lab
Yup, while I’ve gotten all assortment of trainers (including some rather expensive ones) sent to me to try out, I’ve finally made it to the big leagues – a fully loaded bike has arrived in the house. One that I … Read More Here
Interbike 2011 Aero + Power Seminar Uploaded
This past Wednesday morning some of the industries brightest power and aerodynamic minds came together at Interbike to present a free seminar. The agenda included: Josh Poertner, Zipp Technical Director, and Jim Meyer, Quarq’s founder and Chief Engineer, delivering the … Read More Here


















