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
- RT @OnevFoto: today's #potd http://t.co/uDgQnIPvV2 by @tfrank_de via @cyclingtips #, 12 hours ago
- @luisap Yeah, GC has a long and storied history with IE. Some of the right teams are actually talking as of few weeks ago. #, 12 hours ago
- RT @TriMagJene: It costs $3 to fill up a buoy https://t.co/O6ZqI2RjhD #, 14 hours ago
- @chriseidhof Not this summer, perhaps in the fall. #, 15 hours ago
- @Lokoto Read my post from last Friday for details. #, 15 hours ago
- @vettenrannalla I see nothing good coming out of that fish! #, 2013/05/23
- 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 #, 2013/05/23
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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.
Central and South America, and the Caribbean
A weekend in the sun
We’re gonna keep this weekend update post pretty short – since you’ve got a boatload of detailed posts coming up this week covering all sorts of goodness. As I mentioned on Friday, The Girl and I had a long scheduled … Read More Here
Two days in Tegucigalpa, Honduras
The one and only thing you need to know about flying into Tegucigalpa is that it’s gonna be an interesting landing. So interesting in fact, that pilots have to be specifically trained on the approach. As you descend below the … Read More Here
A brief visit to Haiti
In a continuing trend for very short work trips, I just finished up spending the last 24 hours in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. While I’m now on my way to Central America (via a convoluted routing involving Miami and Houston), I did … Read More Here
A very short trip to Jamaica
This will be a very short post, for a very short trip. After leaving Canada and the ANT+ Symposium on Wednesday (well, technically Thursday I suppose) I caught a few flights that eventually had me descending into the very water … Read More Here
Swimming into a policed compound…in a foreign country
I arrived under cover of darkness into Santo Domingo on Tuesday night, after my 48 hours in Guatemala City. When I left nearly two weeks ago, the Dominican Republic wasn’t actually on my travel itinerary, but a last minute change … Read More Here
48 Hours in Guatemala City
After leaving Mexico city on Sunday, I caught a flight some 670 miles south to Guatemala City, Guatemala. Now, it’s fully understandable that you may not know much about Guatemala City, or for that matter – exactly where it is … Read More Here
Training at 7,500 feet
As I talked about yesterday, I’ve spent the previous week in Mexico City, Mexico – which has an elevation of 7,500 feet above sea level. That’s roughly 2,000 feet higher than Boulder, Colorado…or, for those Floridians, that’s about 7,498 feet … Read More Here
A week in Mexico City
I’ve been spending the last seven days a bit south of the border, some 2,000 miles from Washington DC in Mexico City, Mexico. I’m down here for work, and while it’s kept me quite busy during the week – I … Read More Here
Isla Guadalupe Great White Shark Diving – Day 5
I woke up surprisingly late – around 9AM. Though, since we were just making the trek back to land, I wasn’t exactly missing much. Thankfully, the weather continued to hold up and made for an incredibly calm ride back – … Read More Here
Isla Guadalupe Great White Shark Diving – Day 4
Over the course of the night the boat moved a round a bit in an attempt to avoid some of the winds and swells that can make life on the boat uncomfortable. But, by time the sun rose we were … Read More Here
Isla Guadalupe Great White Shark Diving – Day 3
For some, the day started earlier than others. In an effort to get to a better shark diving spot after yesterday’s empty handed attempt, the boat pulled up anchor and started motoring north at 4:30AM. The film crew followed suit … Read More Here
Isla Guadalupe Great White Shark Diving – Day 2
Our day began with sunrise at sea, just after 6AM. We had been motoring east now for some 17 hours, making way towards Isla Guadalupe at a steady clip of about 10mph. However, while we slept, the ocean did not. … Read More Here
Isla Guadalupe Great White Shark Diving – Day 1
Our itinerary put together by Shark Diver called for us to leave San Diego around 6:30AM via charter bus. We’d then drive South about half an hour, where we’d cross the US-Mexico border before continuing onto Ensenada, Mexico – the … Read More Here
Gone…Great White Shark Diving
And now…for something completely different… With what turned out to be a very long triathlon season now in the books, I need some rest and relaxation before starting up for a very exciting next year. I went for a nice … Read More Here


















