Heads up! The big Garmin annual spring sale has started, with $200 off the Fenix 8 (first sale to date!), $100 off the Edge 1050, Forerunner 965 at $499, the Forerunner 265, the new Instinct 3, and countless other Garmin products including inReach Mini 2. Plus the Apple Watch Ultra 2 Black Titanium is on sale, and some Suunto & Wahoo product deals too. Full list & thoughts 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 2024 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.
It’s supposed to rain all weekend, so it will be an indoor Trainer Road session on my KICKR.
FTP test…on saturday.
Distance ride on Sunday
Trainer ride if it rains, if not I’ll surely hit the road
Family ride with friends
Just back from a week of ski. So Sunday will be either home trainer or an easy 2h spin in the countryside!
Loooong ski days. And long food+wine combo dinner. Bike is scheduled for monday.
Thanks for the great content, as always.
Have a nice day Ray!
picked up a used Giant TCR3 a couple weeks back and after fixing it up plan to go on a ride this weekend to test it out.
40tt – the weekend will be beautiful weather ☺️
Doing two interval sessions on TrainerRoad
I’m going to Disneyland! I will do laps externally around the park running if that helps :)
Bad weather locally = trainer sessions Saturday and Sunday.
I have a 2.5 hour, easy-steady-comfy ride this weekend. Just saddle time.
Plan on crushing Strade Bianche from the couch!
30 to forty miles on Saturday.
Plan a 4 hour ride through the Santa Monica mountains
Will try and get 1 ride in before the rains (NorCal) – 20 miler hopefully in early AM Saturday with some elevation up Highway 9!
Planning on starting the season with a short ride
maybe 10km to the lake. Familly time.
Long ride on Saturday morning – about 50 miles, followed by a short run of about 3 miles. Thanks for the giveaway Ray!!!
Visiting friends out of town this weekend, so maybe a quick CitiBike spin at most. Hopefully I can dust off the real bike soon though…
Easy ride on sunday¡
More MTB training coming up.
50k hilly Mtb ride and some intervals.
Embrace the pain…
Gonna try and get a 200 km ride in. Fat bike on a mix of gravel roads and trails.
Wake up at 4:30 am to get in a 2-hour aerobic indoor training workout before preparing breakfast for the kids.
First TT race this Sat, just washed the bike this morning, ready to go!
Fun filled fat-bike ride in the morning (-15ish Celsius).
I will be riding a 4xmin all out on saturday and a long and slow ride on sunday.
The plan is get 4 hours in on the trainer. The reality is it will be more like 2 hours.
Planning on doing a couple of Zwift workouts this weekend, unless the forecast changes then I will spend it outdoors.
Run Saturday, Turbo Sunday
Wahoo!!!!!
Tjo, after a ski week in the Alps, Im up for a long session on the trainer on Sunday. And as soon the roads are dry – it’s time to get out there for some real biking.
After my hilly ride on Friday I will go for a longer ride. It is still cold here in central Europe, so something like 60 km.
Zwifting some GCN workouts.
I will be trying to beat my time on the Volcano in Zwift.
Well, some kilometers with my tacx flux (as long as it works, it started doing so squeaking noises when punishing me with high wattages) and maybe even a structured workout…
Well, can’t I have a complete new bike around the powermeter, since you’re already giving the crankset AND the groupset? ;)
Trainer Road session for me on Saturday. Thanks!
Brick session, ride then run just for fun!
Saturday bike ride in Issaquah Alps. Sunday long dog walk.
Thanks for another cool giveaway!
Running today with the dog. Sticking to a base plan on the trainer tomorrow. Nothing exciting. First outdoor race was last weekend which is pretty crazy for the IL/WI area.
Cookie Dough Cranks sound pretty awesome, long run Saturday followed by fast run on Sunday
4.5 on Saturday, 2 on Sunday.
I never win anything….c’mon random algorithm!
Two days of TrainerRoad, laying down some Sweetspot base.
My plan for me would be long bike on Sunday and a brick run but my wife’s plan for me seems to involve shopping.
125-130 km ride Sunday
Will be going out for a ride on the brand new REI Trail at my local nature preserve, and possibly also a road ride on Sunday if it’s warm enough to try out some fit adjustments on my road bike!
-Ed
Just like every winter weekend, kill my legs with Trainerroad VO2 max efforts
90min ride “Warlow” on Trainerroad scheduled fro Saturday morning.
I won’t be able to get on the bike this weekend, but hopefully I can make it next week!
1.5 hours on trainer road on saturday and either a 2h mountain bike ride or a 60k km road ride on sunday depending on the weather.
Plus a walk with the girlfriend and the dog. :)
day 1 and 2 of park tools advanced taring. so Bike will be in pieces.
Gearing up for a 4 hour endurance on the Neo w/ Zwift! Plan on climbing the volcano a couple dozen times!
Nice long ride into the Surrey Hills if it is dry, but a run along the river if it is raining.
Hi, i’ve been out for a final alpin skiing trip to thuringen last weekend which was great. Unfortunately I fetched a cold so cycling is no option for the comming week. But I will sart soon to prep for my first 70.3 tri .
Riding the trainer this weekend!
25 mile hard tempo ride on Friday.
Any riding on Saturday or Sunday will be short and super easy with the wife and/or kids.
Hope to get out for a road ride Sunday evening after helping someone move
Trying to make the front echelon in this season’s 2nd race on Sunday.
Indoor spinning. Not quite ready to ride in the cold this weekend.
Long base ride on the trainer Saturday. Followed by running hill repeats outside (-15 C)
Long run Sunday. Still cold.
Hoping to get on the bike this weekend now that my quads seem to have recovered from last weekend’s 50K trail run.
A Zwift workout based on a 90k half-Ironman for this summer.
Gonna do a 100K if the weather is fine
Planning to do my first ride outside in 2017!
Hope to get a 50km ride on saturday!
Saddle up on my Hammer trainer and do some loops on Zwift…or an FTP test if I get inspired!
Probably gonna squeeze in 500 to 600 miles
Get on the trainer at least once
If I do anything this weekend, it’ll be on the trainer… still pretty cold and snowy here!
One week to go before first road race of the season, so Saturday I’ve got an over-under turbo session and Sunday will be a longish group ride, probably 3+ hours
Super busy week, where I had no chance to cycle, so I will try to spend as much time on my bike as possible.
Getting out to do a bike trail ride since lots of sand is still on the roads in my area.
Since the crazy weather washed away my driveway, my weekend workout will probably be with a shovel and tractor.
My cycling activity is running 1 mi.
Excellent weather forecast for tomorrow in Upper Austria, so definitely some 80-100k around my hometown!
I’ll spend my weekend working on base miles outside weather permitting and if not then on the trainer doing some ME intervals.
Hoping to get a couple hours on the trainer tomorrow night before my anniversary dinner.
I would like ride kilo each day on weekend..
A few hours on the trainer with trainerroad, because it’s cold out and I’ve got some movies to catch up on!
No cycling unfortunately, but chopping wood and a long run instead.
What are my plans for the weekend?! Go cycling of course! What else can you do?
I will participate in na event called Arrábida Granfondo in Portugal.
This competition will include a major Hill and about 113 kms.
enjoy your bike this weekend.
Skiing this weekend, but rode today!
Just recovered from a flu. I was thinking to log a short recovery ride.
going to visit my friend on Saturday do a hard ride first the an easy recovery ride with him after
then lunch good times
Final week of Trainerroad’s Sustained Power Build (High Volume) program! Two easy rides, one Saturday and one Sunday, then on the the Climbing Road Race program. Gearing up for Haute Route Rockies in June!
Flying to Atlanta to ride with my Dad!
Not super firm on the cycling plans yet, but two possibilities include a beginner’s mountain bike ride tomorrow (Saturday) and/or some road riding on my new bike (my husband got me a new set of wheels and he wants to see what I think of them). Kind of depends on the weather though (the hubby will definitely tell you I’m a fair weather rider and the forecast is looking mighty cold).
I’m planning to 2h MTB round trip around locall hills
Jump on the trainer for 30kms of pain
Saturday: a 80k, 3h bike ride with a friend.
Sunday: recovery from drinking the night before ;-) maybe a 10k run
Road bike group ride on Saturday, Tri Bike ride on Sunday.
Zwifting on the Kickr
I plan to get a 4ish hour ride in Saturday and another couple hours on Sunday
30-40 ride today after work. 70 mile ride in Orange Country on Saturday(California). Mid length ride with the girlfriend on Sunday. If it decides to rain on Sunday I’ll hop on Zwift
Will be lying at the Copacabana beach this weekend!
Will run errands all weekend on my bike… Faster and cheaper!! :)
Had to work but got a couple rides in too.
I’ll be doing a 60 miler club ride. First time out in 2 weeks after having metal work removed from my arm (broke it last year cycling). Will be taking it easy as the stitches are still in there.
No hot tub in my near future, instead it’s a 90 minute trainer session – set the ERG to Zone 4 wattage and start the suffering.