Heads up!!! Here’s your massive holiday sports tech deals list! This includes the Garmin Epix for just $419, the Apple Watch Ultra 2 for just $699, the GoPro Hero 12 Black for $249, (or the brand new Hero 13 or $299!) and plenty more! Go check out the full list of 100+ deals here!
I’m DC RAINMAKER…
Here’s how to save!
Wanna save some cash and support the site? These companies help support the site! With Backcountry.com or Competitive Cyclist with either the coupon code DCRAINMAKER for first time users saving 15% on applicable products.
You can also pick-up tons of gear at REI via these links, which is a long-time supporter as well:
Alternatively, for everything else on the planet, simply buy your goods from Amazon via the link below and I get a tiny bit back as an Amazon Associate. No cost to you, easy as pie!
You can use the above link for any Amazon country and it (should) automatically redirect to your local Amazon site.
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Check out my weekly podcast - with DesFit, which is packed with both gadget and non-gadget goodness!
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5 Easy Steps To The Site
1
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.
2
Read My Sports Gadget Recommendations.
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!
3
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.
4
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!
5
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.
Arf .. already going to Paris in November … I’m still hesitating for December :D
Was holding out hope this would be pushed to Feb when i’ll be in town, what with the new addition… Oh well.
Nooo! I have to be in Paris for work….the weekend BEFORE this happens! ??
Nice opportunity to see you guys!
Oh, no, we will be in Paris from Christmas to New Years Eve…
Will the Cup Cake Bakery be open? If so, can you pls share the address?
Cheers, have fun
Dang! I wish I still lived in the UK. Would definitely have made the trek.
One year I’ll get to go!
Would love to come over for the visit, but it is the same weekend as Dutch St Nicolaas. Still looking forward to the DCR summer meeting (though I understand this year was hard).
Yeah, this year was tricky with not knowing when the little one would arrive. But I think next year it’s a solid possibility!
Hi Ray, where is the mobile version of your blog? Now I can see only desktop version in my IPhone…
Yup!
On the iPhone it will default to the mobile version, but if somehow you’ve ended on the desktop version, you should be able to scroll down to the very bottom and choose mobile. Cheers.
It disappared!
Seems to be defaulting to the desktop version on my Android phone. It used to default to the mobile version.
Same issue for me for the past few days. On iPhone. I don’t seem to see any option at the bottom for mobile.
Thanks folks!
Just bonked some dev folks atop the head.
Now It works!
Great! They found a bug from a change that was made on Thurs/Friday that wasn’t caught. Appreciate the heads up!
If I can convince my girl (and if she can arrange it with her employer), I’ll be there! She’s the latest addition to my triathlon gear so to speak :) Beginner triathlete, overall sports enthousiast, wears the Garmin Fenix 3 HR all the time and is a (health)foodie, online all the time. So the event seems perfect for her.
She’s travelling in Africa atm, but I’ll let you know by the end of next week.
Awesome – hope you two can make it!
Hi Ray, I wanted to fill in the survey twice. But it is not showing up again, just a message saying Thank you for taking the survey.
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Hmm, odd. I’m betting it’s remembering you by your cookies. :-/ Maybe just try InPrivate browsing for the second person?
Or, just tell B to do it herself. ;)
Hi Ray,
Thinking of coming to Paris for this weekend with my family of 5 (4 adults, 1 child) – my eldest daughter and I will most like do one of the runs, but we would want good shopping, xmas markets etc and a nice flavour of Paris, and great food near our hotel! Is near Notre Dame a good general location, or would you suggest somewhere further up the river like St Germain?
Cheers
Ian
Awesome!
Notre Dame is a great location (I’m biased), though, if you want a true family pleaser for shopping, I’d probably go more off of Rivoli, just north of the Louvre area. That’s super-central to everything from a walking standpoint.
St. Germain isn’t much different than the Notre dame, as both are fairly close together. St. Germain does have lots of good shopping, though it tends to be further up St. Germain, basically from Odean and West on the avenue.
Excellent! Many thanks Ray
All booked – nice appt just off Rivioli :) Thanks for the suggestion Ray. See you Saturday evening (we will be going out for a meal for my wife’s birthday and stopping by ahead of that so won’t need *too* much cheese and cupcake!
Now just need to persuade them all to do the Santa run on Sunday :)
Cheers
Ian
Awesome!
Would love to come but on my daughters birthday weekend. Have a good event.
Let me win the LOTTO first, then I’ll pop over for the weekend…
Nice! Looking forward to coming back again.
As much as I’d like to join you for the run and festivities, and visit our friends, Eurostar doesn’t support my endeavour (ticket price for suitable time is too damn high!). Must read results in vain and do my Christmas run in Estonia on Christmas day… and book early next year.
Dear Bobby & Ray –
I am really looking forward to my trip to Paris for the run & open house (this time travelling from Berlin).
Last year’s was such a nice occasion that I’d recommend it to anyone who might be “on the fence” and able to go: the run was fun; the soiree sociable. Long may the tradition continue :)
Also, I would very tentatively identify myself as that random raffle winner… “yeah, yeah, yeah”… but that is _entirely_ another story ;)
All the best,
Ben
Awesome – looking forward to having you here!
As for an e-mail, I’ll be sending out an initial logistics e-mail over the next few days. Looking forward to it!
Hi Ray,
is it correct that I haven’t received any information regarding the open house event yet? Hotel & train tickets are booked :-)
cheers,
Ilja
Hi Ilja!
Sorry for the delay – the e-mail just went out a few seconds ago. If you or others don’t receive it, let me know and I can respond to ensure you get the details.
Looking forward to it!
Cheers!
-Ray
Hi Ray,
I’ve just received the email.
Thanks and see you next Saturday!
Ilja
Hi Ray,
Just signed up for the Santa run but was confused by the “photocopy of a valid license or a medical certificate of no contra-indication to the practice of running in competition dated less than one a year (Google Translation)” – any idea what they want? It says we can’t run without it – even though they have taken the money :)
Cheers
Ian
Indeed, welcome to French athletics! :)
So, you can either have a sports federation license (i.e. triathlon federation), which allows you to skip the singular paper for each event. That’s simply because your federation card requires it’s own medical, so that’s taken care of then.
Alternatively, you can download the form, print it off, and take it to someone that’s medical in nature. It just needs a signature, but also needs some sort of stamp (i.e. rubber stamp), or embossing, or something. And by medical ‘person’, I mean anyone that basically has a Dr. in front of it and has a rubber stamp to plop on your form.
You can download the form here: link to corrida-noel-issy.com
They are unfortunately pretty strict on the whole form thing. I mean, it doesn’t much matter what the heck the form says as long as it has your name and a rubber stamp mark/logo from someone else that appears to be a doctor when the volunteer spends .8 seconds looking at it. It’s essentially just a CYA thing.
Hope that helps!
Perfect – thanks Ray :)
Ray, what are the preliminary numbers for attendants to the morning run, I would like to do it (with the girl probably, to enjoy the views) but not a big fan of crowds.
There looks to be 22 people signed up for the run with me, and about 6 signed up for The Girl. There’s also 22 people still deciding whether they want to wake-up. And then another pile of folks that have decided they have no desire to be up that early. :)
Hi Ray, I registered yesterday do you plan to send another email for the late birds like me or was it like too late. I’m flying today in Paris and stil organizing but would like to do the run with the girl and see The cave.
No worries! I just sent out the details to you.
If anyone else registers, just drop a note here as well so I see it and can quickly shoot you the details (since the Survey thing only seems to notify me once a day).
Cheers!
-Ray
Thanks for the great party, Ray and Bobbie! I enjoyed meeting both of you and your adorable baby girl. And the cave is amazing – I have never seen so many devices in one place. Happy holidays – Nicole from DC Tri Club