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.
Rode my favorite road on the coast… and got worked by the headwind
I did an hour run on Saturday followed by a 2 hour ride in Sunday :-)
Ran 13 miles near my mom’s house Sunday morning before going through all of my stuff in her basement. Not sure which was harder.
180 km bike ride
10 km run
2000m open water swim
Rode 50 miles with 4000 ft of climbing
I ran across the Grand Canyon and back!
Half of the Tour of Watopia on Zwift…then was called to change diapers on our newborn!
This weekend was a rest weekend for me because I ran the Ragnar SoCal last weekend.
Mostly recovery weekend, but I did manage to go bowling with the kiddos and some casual cycling for a bit!
After 2 weeks of a cold recovery,it was back o. Trainer Road. Uggh
Ran 6.2 miles in honor of Boston Marathon. I thought about taking it outside in the rain and wind in support of those poor runners running in horrible condition today, but nah… Hit the treadmill instead.
Swam in the sea and got bitten by sea lice. Itching all over now. Great swim though.
First run and then some sluggish hill repeats after the post-HM-race void.
Getting sandblasted by crosswinds on a 150km ride alongside the beach.
Tested out the legs with a 7 mile chill run.
I went kayaking, but I’m sure I can find something that Clever Training Do sell!
Ran fast from a tent to under a roof by a building to the car at the Fat Boy 5K when a massive thunderstorm rolled in. The drive home might have counted as a swim work-out, 2.5” in under an hour!
golf with my wie
I recently found out I have gout so I have been recovering for over 3 weeks. It’s killing me not being able to even walk more than a few hindred feet at a time.
Golf with my husband
One of my last indoor roller rides if the winter.
did a field test this weekend!
I went out on Saturday and hiked stairs for about an hour. My legs are still feeling it.
3 hr ride with friends – good times!
Spent 2 days renovating our (way too large) flower beds. Many hours of weeding, laying landscape fabric, hundreds of pounds of mulch, potting soil, digging holes and amending for plantings, watering, oh, and mowing, edging and weedeating the rest of the yard. Wish I’d been biking, or Cross-Fitting, I’m more sore than after the most brutal workouts!
Skied with my granddaughter
Had an 95 minute indoor adventure on the trainer while it poured outside.
Just came back from riding in Mallorca so this weekend was a nice recovery weekend.
Did the Iejima half marathon. Tiny island, so we ran around it.
A Very exciting 2 hours f zone two on the trainer…
Wow squeezed between 2 pieces of SPAM? that’s the life! I got on the tacx ironman trainer and zwifted London Course Surrey Hills. Could definitely use a power meter for outdoor use!
40 km trail & road run. all-you-can-eat style dinner after that.
Returned from tending to an ailing family member, so I am too beat to do anything other than unpack and clean house.
Ice rain forced a ride on the trainer… again.
Long trail run Saturday and short sharp mountain bike Sunday morning
Saturday – mountain biking – cut the sidewall of my tubeless front tire and the tubeless goo wouldn’t take so I had to put in an inner tube. It gave me a flashback to last May. When this happened I later crashed and ended up with 16 fractures and a separated shoulder. Kinda put a damper on my riding last summer.
Sunday – road ride – 2 hours and 20 minutes – no drivers told me to ride on the f’ing sidewalk this time. Yay!
It was finally above freezing here so I road my cross bike exploring some new trails.
Rolling build intervals on rollers. Yes, fun training as well on rollers. Rollers review please?
Did 21km Balance run with the Arion smart insoles followed by 45km on the indoor bike watching the netflix revamp of Lost in Space
Windy run around a small Japanese island.
Went for a run on the beach!
FTP build workout on Zwift Saturday. Sunday longish 13 mile run followed by a swim and watching my son play lead guitar for some Rolling Stones covers.
I did two virtual rides on Zwift, using my Wahoo KICKR and ATV4K. One was an interval repeats workout, and the other was just a ride to build more seat time.
3000m swim on Saturday morning followed by 2hr bike ride on Zwift + 2000m swim on Sunday morning followed by 17km run.
Couple loops around London on Zwift!!
40 miles on the KICKR while the snow melts
Did my longest bike ride of the year on Friday! Training for crits and charity rides.
I escaped recovery from a leak turned flood in my house to get in a 50 mile ride with 5,000 feet of climbing on Sunday. Mental health restored.
Did a 64km road race that had 1025m of elevation.
Swimming with my 2 year old grand daughter
It’s cold outside, so I’ve been grinding on the treadmill these past few weekends!
I felt the need to improve my hill climb, so clamped on the bike to my Tacx Flux and using the Tacx app, climbed Mt Ventoux. Umm, Ventoux 1 Damo 0. But round two this weekend!
Sorry if this is a duplicate, I seem to be having probs.
100k ride with my best friends
Me and my team competed in SMW Collegiate Conference triathlon this weekend in Austin, TX!
A long run on Saturday. A trip to Mallorca training camp on Sunday + an easy ride.
Short hike up the mountain and almost went for a ride
Got killed by 60mph headwind. Made it 1km before wimped out and went home. The tailwind was totally worth it.
Got out at ran 6 trail miles in 28 degrees and 2 inches of snow. Getting ready for a relay run.
A 90 minute cycling season opener. Still quite a lot of ice left in the shadows, but with these +10 temperatures they shouldn’t last for long. #soon
ran a half, ofc ;-)
Hi Ray,
An active recovery training, ran trail at a easy pace 10 min/km for a couple kms.
Went for a hike!
Last Tri fro my season! Best result yet, sadly just of the podium.
Enjoyed the first spring Saturday with a gorgeous 85 mile ride, ending with a 7 mile descent as a reward. Was supposed to take a train back to NYC, but decided to ride home instead to bring the mileage to 138 miles. Not bad for a Saturday in April…
Active resting…
Quiet weekend on the “athletic adventure” front but plenty of running around after the kids!
Its always a good time to spend $500 that is not yours. :)
Swimming and zwifting.
Shoveled snow after the snowpocalypse in Minnesota. I am needing a great thaw to get my training going. Love your reviews and own a Polar 400 and later upgraded to a Polar 430.
Sunday 50km ride along the beautiful Tamgawa river!
Ran the Boston Marathon in 3:07… Slightly higher than expected but understandable given the conditions
Nah, not this time. Family weekend, so I mostly just ate a lot of cookies.
Baby swim class with my 9 month old.
A night time hike up a “local” mountain with some wine and cheese to watch the sunrise!
I managed to drive from South Dakota to copper Mt. Colorado to Colorado springs co and back up to scottsbluf NB where I finally nailed down a measly 6k run. Here’s to a better tomorrow!
Did some Zwifting!
Trail running with my daughter.
Taper run of 13.6 before Zion Ultra 50K next week
After recovery time from surgery I finally managed to get back on the bike and do a session. All be it on the trainer.
I went for a long walk with family
Ah — athletic endeavour? 35 miles of broken pelvis/dislocated hip rehab riding along the Bosque trail. Does that even count?
Walked up the flight of steps to my 3rd-floor apartment far too many times lifting moving boxes.
Did a hike to an abandoned monastery and then drank tea at a tea house that was over a hundred years old.
10 miles on Saturday. Nap on Sunday.
Mountain biked, climbed 2700 vertical feet
65 mile group ride. Tried to get an early start to beat the wind, but no such luck. At least we planned it well enough to have the wind mostly at our backs on the ride home.
Just a regular Saturday run…in a DC April heatwave.
Final holiday run in Thailand…….
Hit the trails on the mountain bike to log some miles before the monsoon showed up. Now back on the road bike until things dry out.
Did a 10k run this weekend.
Hiked the grand canyons.
Recovery mowing the grass for the first time this year – breaking up the run/bike routine ?
Rubbish weather in Melbourne (au); rode up Al du Zwift for the first time…
Tax marathon
Ran 10 k twice in 3 days’ time without anybody chasing me, I might be a runner after all…
Gorgeous run around Yorktown Battlefield. Planned for a 10K but it was so nice out I made it a 10M.
Did a 100 km charity walk with some friends! 25 hours and worth it.
Hit up Orange Theory Fitness!
Went SCUBA diving. Could use a new Garmin Descent MK1!
24km long run through the city with a bit of trail in between
I embraced the suck during my first long run in many months.