Heads up! The big Garmin spring sale has started, with $200 off the Fenix 8, $100 off the Edge 1050, Forerunner 965, Forerunner 265, and countless other Garmin products. 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.
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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!
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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.
I did 40 km bike ride. It was extremely windy ride
Weekend weather is a junk yard our way, so my adventuring has me secluded to the isles of Watopia with my fellow zwifter! A little of John’s Mix and a climb up the big KOM for me :)
Run with my son, then biked 42k and finished off with a few squats. That must be the reason why legs hurt so f**kin much :-)
Ran with daughter and dog, daughter had a bike but a dud knee, I’m going land based for a while after nearly breaking my neck in 1 ft Scottish surf.
Sadly still riding indoors due to a cold spring – 2.5 hours on the trainer. Rest day on Sunday.
Does lifting an ill 10kg 1-year-old awkwardly out of a cot all day long count? I hope so, because that’s all I could manage. Knees straight, back twisted, sharp jerking motions… fun fun.
I did a 26km mtb ride with my two brothers after 3 months not riding.
Best I managed as a 1 mile trip into the village, did manage to carry a cubic metre of fancy dress clothes on the rack though – not very aero
Swam 4k in open water in Philippines, boat was following until my friend dropped me and ended up being alone in the ocean! That was bloody scary ?! Then followed by 2hrs run under 36C, that was killer. This weekend was more of a mental training ?.
Long Bike and run this weekend.
You mean I was meant to be athletic this past weekend?
I ran along the Champ de Mars while I was visiting Paris at the tail end of a work trip.
Headed to Buenos Aires for work, but I might sneak in a few long runs!!
Charity spin for Parkinson’s at local YMCA :)
5 mile walk on Friday, 20 mile MTB ride on Saturday morning, another 5 mile walk in the afternoon
On Saturday i will playing tennis with my Friends.
On Sunday i will go to Roadbiking
Test drove our schools new HPV at the local go-cart track. Unfortunately there was no body on it, no chassis, and there was a rainstorm and I got soaked…..
I did a virtual ride up ax 3 domaines on big ring vr. It hurt, a lot.
Did 4 hours of TrainerRoad.
I did a nice long ride with my son.
Toured the National Mall (A lot of Walking)
I did a 38 mile bike ride around town.
A nice trail run near Hammamet Tunisia !
Just some sprints – and then running through the neighborhood to find my wandering dog.
First trail run of the year and it took a heavy toll on my poor body !!
15k with 1000m of total ascent did the job !!
Need this weather to warm up, indoor training is getting to me
Ran through the lovely April Midwest snow!
The first half of Saturday was spent at an Al-Anon lecture and group session to support my son. Then yard work, car work and house work. Sunday however, I skipped church and rode a couple laps on a hilly Zwift course to help build strength. I rode for just over an hour and a half and climbed over 2,600 feet.
On Saturday, I raced in a 38 mile gravel grinder in Swain, NY. It was cold, muddy, wet and foggy, but I placed 5th! Sunday was my birthday a d I rode in a charity gravel grinder with Jeremy Powers. All in all, great bike weekend!
Kind of dont care to win. But I do want to know if we can expect an update from Garmin on the 935 watch? The $50.00 off and it not being Christmas makes me wonder if a new model is coming. What can we expect from Big G? (I would say Big Blue, but everyone knows that is IBM).
Dennis
First half marathon after having to take time off from running due to a knee injury.
Raced a 10k!
Long bike, long run.
90 minutes of sweet spot on Zwift and 40ish minutes in the pool. Thank you Ray and CT!
5k pushing the 4yo in a stroller, managed to run into and back out of the rain. At some point a truck pulled over and asked if we were ok and needed help … I didn’t think I looked that bad :(
Running along the water in Alexandria…err, running is kind of a strong word for the crowd-packed activity, let’s call it more of a “first spring/summer sunny weather day obstacle course”
First outside ride bike after this canadian winter !
Went for a six mile run in the nice rainy spring (?) New England weather! And I definitely need to upgrade my 8 year old Forerunner 405…
First road race of the year! Didn’t crash.
Did a 50 miler bike ride sat and Zwift on rainy Sunday
Did no exercise other than yard work.
I did my first run for a long time, after more than a year out with a hop injury. Now I need a new watch!
Slowly getting my knee back to work by doing awful gym session. Only to shatter it again once the bike season will start again I suppose.
A hill workout with the bob stroller and the 18 month old peanut in the seat holding on for dear life.
I’ve actually did a short (5K) run on Sunday, because I knew that on Monday I’ll have a business trip to Germany and I didn’t know if I have proper chance to train, or just stay at hotel and drink beer.
55 miles on the new road bike; 10 miles of pushing a stroller across town
Some Hiking up hills
Did some weight lifting – got my f** a** out of bed.
OK, the weekend was going to be awful cycling-wise – up here in Quebec the first race of the season was cancelled because of the announced bad weather, with tons of freezing rain. But Friday was nice, so I anticipated on the weekend and went for a ride on Friday afternoon. Does that work?
Was sick unfortunately. Will be moving from Chicago to LA in a few months so fantasized about running on the Hermosa strand.
Snowboarded with 50+ mph winds!
My only athletic adventure this weekend was walking around the outlet mall!
Mountaining biking
Easy weekend, did a 5k
whole weekend of cycling! + adjusting seat & cleats for even more power
Went for a ride. Between a flat, road closures and a strange alteration to the usual bunch ride it was a bit if a fail… but at least I got out.
I sunburnt myself while jumping up and down frantically at my two children’s three football games. So, Plyometrics?
With two grandkids in the house, I believe I ran a few hundred miles…
Just had cataract surgery and lens implant so cant do much until Wednesday, but chawing at the bit!
I ran around Boston to support my girlfriend running the marathon and picking up stuff for her.
Tour of Watopia – Stage 5 – on the trainer I got based on your advice (StacZero) with the head unit I got based on your advice (Garmin Edge 520).
Back in the UK for a quick trip… 21Km run Saturday (with a rare Sun sighting) and 30Km on Sunday (back to grey weather) – enjoyed getting out into the country
As a way of celebrating Marathon Monday, I ran my own marathon before work. It was magnificent!
Hot yoga Saturday, and final Sunday training run (15km) before next weekend’s race – taper time now!
Indoor bike training
I did my long run on Saturday. On Sunday, I did some stretching and… Cleaned my bike to prepare for spring rides!
Good old recovery
Basic 20 mile slow training ride on Saturday. Wasn’t able to get on Sunday due to rain, rain and more rain.
We’ve started the outdoor riding season at Lifetime Metrowest
Running Camelback Mountain in Phoenix!
Almost the weekend…Boston Marathon 2018
1 hour bike trainer ride
Post hangover ride after a stag do, sweating that beer out!
Hiked my local park trails with family!
50 mile group ride Saturday morning.
Tempo 5 mile run Friday
Biked 39 mile riding the Montevideo route in Poolesville, MD.
actually did a post marathon recovery run. 13 miles on a soft forest trail.
Walking from the car, carrying a folding chair to the sideline of my kids sports…..it’s not hard work but good recovery from a hard week of training. Hope I win for sitting in a chair.
gone ZWIFTING!
Took a cold road ride and prayed for spring
nice long marathon training run!
Yeah for giveaways!
Rode 65 miles for lunch
Blue Bell Ice Cream Half Marathon in Brenham, TX. Lots of rolling hills and bluebonnets – not enough ice cream consumed!
Started training for the 160 mile Ride Across Indiana (RAIN) ride this July with a 42 mile rode on Sunday.
Swim, bike, run on repeat!
I had a nice hike of Christoffelberg on Curacao. Nice hot weather for a job up and down the mountain.
Jogged with 2yr old in umbrella stroller around local trail. Followed by sore back from said activity. All better now and back to Zwifting.
Went ZWIFTING and finished off the Alp Du Zwift challenge on Strava!!!!
I ran through TSA and waited on the tarmac.
I rode Tour of Watopia stage 5 on Saturday morning on my new Synapse (first indoor ride) then took the bike for an outside ride on Sunday afternoon (first outdoor ride).
10 mile run in the (33 degrees F) Chicago springtime.
Does cutting the grass count?
Chasing my kids around the local soccer fields while attempting to watch the actual games.
5 mile run exploring new neighborhood
I swam 26.2 miles in the boston marathon =p
This weekend I had an 8 mike training run in the sleet and freezing rain followed by a 90 minute trainer ride in the basement. Yay spring!
First open water swim of the season
So I did a 3500ft training ride up atlas peak, does that count?
Saturday bike then run off the bike and then open water swim with awesome group of athletes. Sunday run with intervals and then a nice spin-out-the-legs ride. Then I took a nap! My new favorite!