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
- @dirtyoldsneaker Doh! Figures I change my tweet half-way... a whole long time! #, 57 mins ago
- Astounding...an entire swim workout with my very own lane. Ahh yes, it's been a whole since those days. #, 2 hours ago
- RT @TriathleteTech: It's official, Ironman is coming to Boulder, CO August 3, 2014. City council and city manager gave the approval last ni… #, 5 hours ago
- @ojslater Not sure about next year, but may slip up in a few weeks for a race, still TBD on it (an Oly). #, 5 hours ago
- @yewjin_ @wjohngalloway @Caoimhin78 Unfortunately I haven't isolated the data side of it. Sorry! #, 8 hours ago
- @n1ckvandijk Yup, start here: http://t.co/GcyCpOwCQ0 - And then go from there. :) #, 8 hours ago
- @dagarla Powered by Cupcakes. #, 9 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: Trek
The $800 Bike Part IV: The final result!
This may well be the longest running series (in time anyway) I’ve ever posted here on the site. Not for lack of trying to make it faster, but simply due to a confluence of craziness that made this take far … Read More Here
The $800 Bike Part III: Looking for your assistance trying to bike the bike…somewhere, anywhere.
We left off about a month or two ago with me having narrowed down your list of 120+ sub-$800 bike suggestions to my top five bikes. You may remember that the goal of the ‘game’ was to spend a $800 … Read More Here


















