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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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Here’s my most recent GPS watch guide here, and cycling GPS computers here. Plus there are smart trainers here, all in these guides cover almost every category of sports gadgets out there. Looking for the equipment I use day-to-day? I also just put together my complete ‘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!
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.
My Photography Gear: The Cameras/Drones/Action Cams I Use Daily
The most common question I receive outside of the “what’s the best GPS watch for me” variant, are photography-esq based. So in efforts to combat the amount of emails I need to sort through on a daily basis, I’ve complied this “My Photography Gear” post for your curious minds (including drones & action cams!)! It’s a nice break from the day-to-day sports-tech talk, and I hope you get something out of it!
The Swim/Bike/Run Gear I Use List
Many readers stumble into my website in search of information on the latest and greatest sports tech products. But at the end of the day, you might just be wondering “What does Ray use when not testing new products?”. So here is the most up to date list of products I like and fit the bill for me and my training needs best! DC Rainmaker 2023 swim, bike, run, and general gear list. But wait, are you a female and feel like these things might not apply to you? If that’s the case (but certainly not saying my choices aren’t good for women), and you just want to see a different gear junkies “picks”, check out The Girl’s Gear Guide too.
Great post!
Although you are specifically talking about the USA, I think most is true for a lot of countries. Certainly the two I now a bit about, The Netherlands & France, have similar issues. (Compounded for The Netherlands with the fact that a s a small country they have a much smaller user base, thus a much smaller budget, and in addition a smaller talent pool).
Of note is that the yearly fee in both those countries is 1.5 – 2 times what you’re paying in the USA.
Because the publicity, media interest (and sponsorships) we could be forgiven to think that the World Championship Series is the only international competition ITU organizes.
But ITU also organizes every year the Long Distance world championships, which in 2011 will take place in the USA, in Henderson, Nevada on May 5th. This is effectively the highest official international competition on this level (and is a non-drafting race). But because of the position the WTC event in Kona (and to a lesser extend the half-Ironman event in Clearwater) has taken over the years, this is now seen as the non-official but highest rated world championship in the long distance, and the best athletes in the world take part here and not in the ITU event.
Thus I feel that development of long distance triathlon gets much less attention by ITU and the various country organisations, as the return they can get from it is much less.
Just my two cents…..
I don’t worry too much about USAT. I joined primarily to avoid the 10.00 extra fee at all the races I do. Beyond that, meh…..
I cant stand the USAT and stopped my membership a couple of years ago. But then again, I’m just a MOP age grouper and will never compete for wins or titles.
To me it did not make sense for two reasons. 1 – As noted a small percent of a percent of the money actually goes to supporting elite athletes. 2 – There is NOTHING done about rules enforcement for middle or back of the packers.
A lot of elites want to make fun of us and say we arent “racers” we are just there “for fun”. Fine, I know that I long ago stopped reading websites like Slowtwitch because of this attitude. But guess what, I paid the same as you did for this membership. So the fact that USAT cant be bother to police drafting in the back of the pack – what does that say? Hey its OK for you guys to cheat, we dont give a crap about what happense to you.
I’ll continue to support local non-sanctioned races or duathlons and be perfectly happy with that. There are too many other non-USAT options for me to spend two seconds worrying about them anymore.
Great and well-thought out article. Triathlon is a growing sport and USAT should do some work in setting up a clear path for athletes to reach the elite (Olympics or professional). However, it makes sense to spend more money building triathlon as a sport and then having corporations ante up the stipends to get thse athletes onto the podium. The more average athletes, the more triathlon consumers. The more triathlon consumers, the more corporate interest.
I don’t like how USAT has changed their stickers to now include the phrase “Proud Member.” That is quite a presumption to make and one that has resulted in keeping the old sticker on my car (and why do they keep changing logos, doesn’t anyone know anything about brand identity over at USAT?).
Ray, after you post your comments on the biz plan, I expect there to arise a “Draft Ray Maker for Director” movement!
I’ve been waiting years for an analysis of USAT’s budget. Well done.
Maybe USAT’s Ground Transportation bill wouldn’t be $108k if it was not in BFE Colorado. USAT sends too many esteemed representatives to triathlons, conferences, and training events all over the globe. What are they doing besides driving around in golf carts and boozing? Must be nice to have an all expenses paid trip to Mexico City, Budapest, Vancouver, Singapore, etc.
USAT blows. The main complaints from AGers are: stop drafting/keep races safe; keep races affordable; and renew the coupon program (discount) with airline carriers for bike transport that existed in 2003.
And, yes support youth/elite development!
What has been done by USAT? Apparently buy a boatload of office supplies
I’m pretty indifferent to whatever USAT does. It’s a small amount of money I pay and I end up being ranked etc. But for most national governing bodies there aren’t a lot of athletes competing in that sport who don’t have Olympic dreams. I’m thinking of sports like gymnastics, figure skating, track and field. USAT has the added challenge of probably one of the largest non elite fields. They worked to increase their membership which ought to help raise money to help those with olympic dreams.
2022 Almost half way thru YEAR and USAT Ranking at USAT WEBSITE is still as bare as a Baby’s Backside
The Above question though old still applies What Does USAT do for us besides take our Money and try to look to Good to any Public Group they can find to strut in front of ???