DCR Expansion On the Horizon

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Over the last few months, many of you have asked how I might expand the DCR blog.  For example, with it becoming a full-time thing, a number of you wondered whether I’d expand into new product categories like bike components, recovery systems, or perhaps even consider offering branded DCR apparel.  While all very viable options, I’ve decided to take a slightly different tack for expansion.

In my case, I’ve enlisted The Girl for assistance (or, perhaps she enlisted me for assistance). Either way – in doing so, we’re brining onboard some new testing talent – beginning in July.

This individual will be responsible for testing devices that require small hands, small wrists, or just general cuteness.  Additionally, this individual is estimated to be able to provide vast amounts of sleep tracker data for capture and test.  Or, we hope so anyway.

Now given July is high time around our neck of the woods for the Tour de France spectacle, it’s hoped that this individual will be able to jump right into their newborn job responsibilities without too much fuss.  Either way, I’m sure there will be plenty of adventure right here in our little apartment – and the French broadcasters do an excellent job covering the race anyway.

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With that – we’re super-excited to get another little one roaming around these parts (even if Lucy doesn’t know what’s coming for her yet)!

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491 Comments

  1. Simon F

    Huge congratulations to you and The Girl!

  2. Mathieu D.

    Woah… Congrats!!

  3. Stuart Dunne

    Congrats

    Simple advice if you think you are already busy. Keep a diary of what you do every evening for next few months. Then at the end of August look back at it and see how much free time you really had.

    Mine daughter is now 17 months old and the jetlag is just about wearing off, but wouldn’t do a thing differently.

    • Adam

      Huge congrats Ray!
      I am too small person not to mention now that I have overseen this with a comment under Your ‘goodbye Microsoft’ post 😛
      and Stuart is 100% correct! It’s actually funny how You realize back how much time We waste on just doing nothing before babies come.
      and one last, multiply all this by 5 with a second baby 😛 And what Stuart says, becomes real again: how much free time You had with just one baby hehehe

    • Maddy

      I wonder how 5 Random Things I Did This Weekend will look at the end of August 😉

    • Neil Jones

      More to the point, is anyone going to check back over Ray’s “5 Random Things I Did This Weekend” posts for last November?

  4. Judit A

    Congratulations!

  5. Ian

    Great news. At least you are well accustomed to lack of sleep!

  6. Greg Simmons

    I expect full power meter testing by the little one. Also…you should use the baby’s wrist for comparison purposes!

    And now you can review baby bike trailers!

  7. Yanick

    Félicitation a vous

  8. Marc

    Congrats to you both!

  9. kermit262

    You and The Girl are very fortunate Ray. Wish you all the best. And your little one is going to be a beast of an athlete one day, with great genes and all the latest tech. 🙂

  10. Tommies

    Bravo to the girl. She does the hardest job

  11. Dave

    Congrats Ray! Your sleep trackers will be working overtime, but it’s worth it.

  12. Andrew W

    Massive congratulations!

  13. Steven

    Congrats all 3 of you; and I guess you’ll be posting on “Sleep”-accuracy of different activity trackers by end of August … 🙂

  14. Michael

    Congrats! You are in for one heck of a lifestyle change but with amazing rewards! Won’t be that long until you are “running” 1km “turkey trot” races proudly holding your little ones’ hand. Just don’t use your sport watch as it really messes up your VO2Max calculations.

  15. Dieter

    Congrats to the whole family, life will never be the same after July 🙂 In a good way I mean.

  16. Jon Niehof

    I kinda figured from the opening picture. Congratulations!

  17. Victor

    Congratulations! Enjoy every moment.

    • Mikal

      Or feel free to not enjoy every moment. Lots of moments with little kids are right up there in the “can’t wait until I get the grandparent amnesia and forget how awful little kids are.” Congratulations and have fun!

  18. Charles Z.

    Congrats to both of you

  19. Chris Benten

    Congrats! Ensure the pint-sized product reviews are playtime. I do not know for sure but I presume France has child labor laws:-)

  20. BernardB50

    Congrats!

  21. Adam

    Congratulations!

  22. nick Duck

    Congratulations to you both.

  23. Ward

    Congrats!
    Who would be better fit to test this Smartbe Intelligent Stroller? 🙂
    link to indiegogo.com

  24. Congratulations to you both. I hope Lucy will not be too jealous!

  25. likepend1

    Congratulations!! All the best!!

  26. Carter

    Congrats to you both! You are going to love the jogging stroller as a resistance trainer. Do all your long runs during nap time with the stroller and you won’t believe how light and fast you feel on race day. It’s probably the best piece of training equipment I own, and the best part is that it automatically increases resistance over time.

    Congrats Again!

  27. Rob

    Wait – huh? Oh, I get it! Was half way through the comments before it clicked…

    Congratulations!

  28. Congrats to you and The Girl, Ray!!!

    Now you’ll know what it is like to not having time for reviews… 🙂

    But it will be great for you!

  29. Argiris Roussos

    Congrats!!!

  30. Henrik

    Big congrats to you and the Girl! Interesting times ahead! 🙂
    /Henrik

  31. Martin Hunt

    Awesome congrats to you both 🙂

  32. Alex

    Congratulations! And I think you can forget about testing anything that involves sleeping for the next few years..

  33. Matthew B.

    Congrats guys! Fantastic news!!

  34. Bryce

    Congratulations. This is great news. This will be the best adventure of your lives.

  35. David Hunnisett

    Hi just popping on to recommend that you get link to amazon.co.uk its the only pregnancy / parent book thatI found that was any good.
    Good luck

  36. Paul S

    Congratulations to you both. Ray, in July remember what I realized 14 years ago. One of you should always be well rested, and only one of you is properly equipped to do those middle of the night feedings. Try not to let her wake you up.

  37. Mark

    Congratulations……It’ll bring you both nothing but joy. It’s the best thing that will ever happen to you. Make sure to spoil the girl snd take lots of photos of the ever changing belly as it flies in.

  38. Mateiu

    Congrats Ray!

  39. The REAL Tim

    Congrats!!

  40. Sean S

    Congratulations! And great way to let us know. All the best to you, the Girl and your new family!

  41. wim

    congrats and good luck !!!!!
    enjoy. kids grow up very fast . . .

  42. Brian T

    Congratulations to you both! So very happy for ya’ll.

  43. Dan Lipsher

    Mazel, baby.

  44. Scott Kreitz

    Sincere congratulations to your and Mrs. DCRainmaker! Looking forward to seeing the site evolve with the addition of this droplet!

    • Ken

      First, congrats!
      Second, there’s an error in your post. You’re not bringing on a new tester, you’re bringing on a new BOSS!

      Scott nailed the name; if she’s still That Girl, then Droplet works well.

  45. Brett Cole

    congratulations

  46. Jeff Kohn

    Congrats Ray and Bobbie! So, what’s the next step on the cupcakery? Did you already do a post on this?

  47. MJL

    Best wishes to the DCR family!

  48. Tim Stevens

    Major congratulations to you and The Girl, Ray!

  49. Dom

    Congratulations to you both! A good time to have stepped back from all that flying you were doing with Microsoft.

  50. Ian

    Congratulations! There’s no end of baby tech these days…

  51. Jonas

    Congrats!

  52. Turn The Damn Cranks

    As my people say: Mazel Tov!

    (FWIW, based on 15 years of owning Bostons and almost 13 of having kids, Lucy may not know what’s coming, but she’s going to looooooooooooove it. You are about to become her third favorite person.)

  53. Michael H.

    Massive congrats, best wishes to you both, but more to “the girl” as she’ll be doing the heavy lifting for the short term!

  54. luyi_pr

    Congrats to you and the Girl. Best post ever… by far!

  55. Stephen G

    Congratulations!

  56. Jimmy Stevenson

    Congratulations!

  57. Todd Thorsgaard

    Congrats to you and The Girl and Lucy!!!

  58. Maddy

    Wow, congrats to you both! You are lucky to have 1. The Girl, 2. the best time management possible! 🙂 Waiting for reviews of baby strollers, extended studies of sleep trackers and guides how to get more hours in a day.

  59. sebas

    Whoop, Whoop!

  60. Yonah

    Congrats – maybe you can use it as an opportunity to measure sleep deprivation 🙂

  61. Robert T

    Congrats to you both! Hope everything comes out great!

  62. Richard C

    Congratulations! I look forward to lots or reviews on baby monitors, bottle warmers, jogging strollers (Bob Ironman).

    If you thought sports equipment blogging was time consuming, just wait! Also you have no idea how opinionated parents are. Welcome to a whole new ball game.

  63. ubrab

    Congrats to you both! Can’t wait to see him/her review tricycle power meters!

  64. Congratulations! May there be many cupcakes and much joy in your future!

  65. Iris van Breda

    wow, big news! congrats!!

  66. Harald

    congratulations!

  67. Patrick

    Congratulations!! I hope good health is in order for mom and baby!

  68. Stu

    Congratulations! Great news!

  69. Mario Lira Junior

    Congrats Ray and Girl. I may only assume the sleep tracking parts is to see if they correctly identify 0 hours of continuous sleep for a long while, though…

  70. Eric

    Congratulations!!!

  71. Pierre

    BIG Congrats!!

  72. Nemo

    Fantastic news! Congrats to you both.

  73. John McGrath

    Congratulations!

  74. Matthew Patterson

    Congrats !! Having a few children myself the best advice I can give is that this will be the most awesome experience for ya’ll and at the exact same time it will be a very challenging experience. Enjoy it all because it will be a blink of an eye and he/she will be all grown up.

  75. JoeriB

    Great news! Congrats to you both! And as often said in the comment fields, your life will never be the same again after July. After a few years you slightly have again more time to get some training in, and oh yeah, be prepared to gain some weight Ray, it seems to happen to all of us – dads! Getting it off afterwards is far more difficult then ever before.

  76. Juergen Veith

    Do not get me wrong, but I think best post ever 😉 And the kids scale, priceless!

  77. Bartek

    Congrats!! !! !!

  78. George H

    Congratulations to both of you! Awesome news Ray!

  79. Raf Castillo

    Mazel tov!

  80. Bruce Belrose

    Congrats to all!

  81. Colm Costelloe

    Congratulations Ray! Best wishes for you and your wife and upcoming family member / employee 🙂

  82. Bethany

    Congratulations!

  83. Bruce Burkhalter

    Great news!

    Baby wearables are the next big thing:

    link to sproutling.com

    Mattel acquires baby health wearable maker Sproutling
    link to mobihealthnews.com

  84. Darren Hinks

    Congratulations.

    Your lives are in for a remarkable transformation!

  85. Nathan G

    Many congratulations! It’s always nice to get a glimpse of your life beyond sports tech, and I’m sure this little one will be quite an adventure!

  86. Jonathan

    Massive Congratulations Ray!!

    My wife and I have our own “new employee” on the way in June, so I will keep an eye out for “training with the wee one” articles here 🙂

  87. Colin

    WOOT! That’s awesome news! Congrats!

    Should we expect reviews of various running strollers?

  88. Gonzalo

    Ray

    Congratulations! 16, 17 weeks?

  89. luis

    pure awesomeness!

  90. ALejandro Coy

    Amazing! Congratulations for both!

  91. Rob

    Congratulations to you both with this fantastic news – and delighted to managed to go skiing before the fun begins.

    As a fairly new dad, I can’t overstate the awesomeness of running with a baby stroller (in my case a Bob Ironman). Going to be great to hear your take on juggling parenthood with fitness in the months to come.

  92. Bart Bloomquist

    Congrats!

  93. Bsquared

    Congrats!

  94. Congrats. Things will be even more exciting from July.

  95. Jordan

    Congrats… and well crafted announcement!

  96. Steve C

    Congratulations! Time to invest in a Chariot or some similar baby trailer.

  97. Jay

    congrats mate.. we are also in june…. the gadget budget has increased!!

  98. SteveT

    So happy for you both.

    Parenting is the most important job in the world!

    ST

  99. Bert

    CONGRATS! I had to read between the lines at least three times just to make sure this was for real! DEFINITELY interested to see how you manage the blog, training, newborn responsibilities, etc.

  100. Michiel

    Ow great many congrats! Being dad of a beautiful son of 5 months old, I’m really looking forward into your lifehacking tips how to combine triathlon with being dad and having a fulltime job 🙂

  101. Hi Ray and The Girl, congratulations! what a great news…..

  102. Seth

    Mazel Tov!!

  103. Neil Glessner

    Congrats! We’re a few months ahead of you, expecting a girl in April!

  104. Brian

    Best news ever. Congrats, so excited for your family!

  105. Congrats you two! That is very exciting!
    So, I guess we will some jogging stroller reviews at some point then as well? 🙂

  106. Ola

    Congratulations!!

    Lots of sleep tracking…! Hah, tracking lots of interrupted sleep you mean. 🙂

  107. James

    Congratulations, all the best!

  108. Helena

    Congratulations to you both!!
    All the best!

  109. Mark

    Congrats on the baby! From a father of 4, you’re in for a fun ride.

  110. Steven

    Congrats!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    hope nothing but the best for you and the gril

  111. YecoYoung

    Very happy for both of you and your puppy! I recommend a Bob stroller! I have over 3500mi on two of them. Have fun!

  112. Ale

    Congratulations Ray, to the Girl and to you!!!!!!!!

  113. Mikey

    Congrats. Best thing I heard is – the days are long but the years are short.

    Any chance you stick an activity tracker from birth? :p

  114. Fab

    super great news! congrats to both of you

  115. Zlokroshka

    Congratulations! 🙂

  116. Asaf

    Mazal Tov. Looking forward to reviews about kids technology.

  117. Mike S.

    I see what you did there.

    Congrats to you both!

  118. Adam Smith

    Haha, congratulations to both.

    (I hope you won’t be referring to it as “the Child”…)

  119. IzzyODT

    Congratulations to both of you! and start going to bed at 7 P.M., you won’t be able to do that in the next few years, BUT you will love it!! Wlcome to the club

  120. Doug

    Woot! congratulations to The Girl and yourself Ray 😀

    So much fun and frustration in one small parcel, it’s a real paradox
    Really looking forward to the updates but as a dad I will also understand if you drop off the radar altogether 🙂

  121. Chris Cooper

    Congratulations and best wishes, with much hope that fatherhood brings you lots of joy and love.

  122. Kyle

    Congrats Ray, The Girl, and Big Sister Lucy!

  123. Garry Curley

    Congratulations all,

    Great to see the DCR family growing 🙂

  124. Patrick Myers

    Congratulations to you and The Girl, Ray! That’s fantastic!

  125. Rick

    Ray, I would say well done, but I will leave that for the Girl to decide. Anyway congrats!

  126. Peter Fine

    Congratulations and good luck!

  127. Tom Smulders

    Congrats!!!!

  128. Funmi

    Love this announcement and the news. Congrats to you both! Excitement awaits 🙂

  129. Michael

    Congratulations. 🙂 Very happy for you and The Girl.

  130. Shawn

    Is this baby going to have the most data ever collected on a single human being :)?

    Congrats.

  131. Hugo Paredes

    Congratulations and best of luck.

  132. Maarten

    Wow, BIG news!!
    Lots of congrats and I wish the Girl a (relatively) smooth experience giving birth.

    We do also expect a torough review of your home-made product as well ofc 😉

  133. Scott Y

    Congrats! Looking forward to the .fit file comparisons!

  134. Congratulations! To you and The Girl!

  135. Jeff

    Brilliant news! Some children’s bike seat testing on the horizon!

  136. Paul Adams

    Congratulations! Your lives will never be the same.

  137. Luiz otavio

    Congrats to you!
    the Individual will be very welcome!

  138. Gregory

    Congratulations! I’m so happy for you.

    I’ve heard that Garmin will release a brand new model in July too: the Fenix 3 B (B like Baby).

    This new device will include heart rate monitor, temparature sensor, real-time diapers’ content analyzer, cry decryption system (to determine whether the Fenix 3 B is crying for food, attention, sleep or diaper replacement). The Fenix 3B will be available in pink and blue and will be built with a bacteria / virus proof material. The Fenix 3B will include a fast-release mechanism in order to clip it to your pram.

  139. JB

    Congrats! Awesome news!

  140. Chipper Nicodemus

    Congrats Ray and “The Girl”

  141. Geoff hancox

    Excellent news! Congratulations. triathlon plus baby – just like me!
    Go for some long bike rides before the arrival – and a Holiday!

  142. Luke Hardman

    Congratulations to you both! These are exciting times!

  143. Stuart Brown

    Congratulations! As a proud father of a 17 month old, I can trot out all the cliches about it being an eye-opening, life-changing, life-affirming experience. But that is all true. Enjoy every moment!

  144. Dave Kirkpatrick

    Congratulations!

  145. Chris

    What you’re saying is you have this product review in the hopper?

    link to firstresponse.com

  146. Adam

    Congratulations! Just think of all the new data points you get to measure!

  147. Alice

    Wonderful news, congratulations and good luck!

  148. Luiz Figueiredo

    Fantastic news Ray!! Congrats for you and the girl, hope to see a new range of products tested in a few months!!

  149. Artur

    Congrats Ray!

  150. Both congratulations with this news of expectibg a junior tri-athlete 😉
    Now you can test stroller buggies for running too!

  151. Scott

    Mazel tov!

  152. Daniele

    Well, congratulations guys 🙂

  153. fraser

    Mazal tov!

  154. Florian

    Congratulations to you & The Girl!
    However from what I learned from my friends in similar circumstances is that you won’t need a sleep tracker ?
    All the best to you three!

  155. Daniel Viens

    Congrats! Super excited for the new contributor’s reviews as I am expecting my own his summer as well!

  156. Tony

    Congrats to you both and best wishes.

  157. Brett

    What fantastic news, Ray! Congratulations and many blessings to you and The Girl and your families.

  158. Sean M

    Congratulations!

  159. Many congratulations to you both 🙂

  160. Roy de W

    Congratulations to both of you!
    A Nice alarmclock on it’s way unfortunately it will wake you at the most crazy times 😉

  161. Mark

    Great news. Congratulations. Wishing the best for you and your families.

  162. Steve J

    Congrats!

  163. Laurent

    Awesome news and a huge congratulations! I wish you guys the best.

  164. Ken

    Congratulations!!

  165. Strontal

    Congrats to you and TG!
    Now that I’m the father of 2 I sometimes wonder.. “What exactly did I use to do with all this time before they were born?? Must have been annoying”

  166. Congrats on the mini-rainmaker in the making!

  167. Carlton

    Congrats to you both! I found that I was able to continue doing everything I did pre-baby…but just not able to devote the as much time.

    Triple citizenship for the new babe?

  168. Ian S

    Wow, congratulations to you both! Great news! Give up on sleep, fortunately you didn’t need too much of that 😉

  169. Gabe

    congrats ray – you may have the youngest person ever with an activity tracker

  170. Caferey

    Congrats! Fantastic news!

  171. KSBiohazard

    Congratulations to you and the The Girl.

  172. InnG

    Congrats!!
    Excellent news! My best wishes for you and The Girl,

  173. TL@

    Congratulations!

    Enjoy it, they grow up really fast.

  174. Gilles Levesque

    Congrats to you and the Girl! Enjoy the expansion with all that brings with it.

  175. Ian P

    Congratulations to you both, that is fantastic news …

  176. Allyn Crowe

    Congrats you 3!

  177. Konstantin Petoukhov

    Great news Ray! Best wishes for you and The Girl!

  178. Andrey Nakov

    Congratulations!

  179. William mcanirlin

    Congrats! So what will be the expansions first Garmin? I assume that you need GPS tracking when they start to crawl, with an app for tracking (like roadid).

    Is there a strava/training peaks set up already?

  180. Nigel Pond

    Congrats to you both on your “different tack” (pet peeve)

  181. Steve H

    Congrats Ray! I’m sure the little one will have all the best chances in life!

  182. Matt Owen

    Wonderful News! Congratulations you three!

  183. Michael Gross

    Congrats!!!

  184. Jason M

    Congrats!!

  185. Congrats to you both! Sleep now while you can 😉

  186. David

    Congrats. Being a father is the best job I’ve ever had. Awesome news.

  187. Hey, big news! Congratulations to you both!

  188. Congratulations!!! Waiting for hands-on or “first impressions” post XD.

  189. Joshua McLaughlin

    Congratulations the the two of you! Exciting times are ahead I’m sure.

    I really like the way you announced this.

  190. Peter Wellsman

    Congrats to you and the girl! All the best on the next 18-25 years of product testing ?

  191. Myria

    Congrats to y’all!

  192. Volker

    Well done! Congratulations!

  193. tfk

    Many Congrats.
    Bang goes your awesome FTP though…