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.
The Edge 1030 would be a nice replacement for my still functioning Edge 1000.
Riding Flanders on Tacx desktop app when it is cruddy outside. Outside on road and trail when possible. The rest of the time working from home.
Midweek aerobic development run
Doing Nike Training in my living room. Need more gadgets for home training :)
Treadmill run between conference calls. Working & training from home to do my part and plank the curve!!
A nice bike ride outside in the rain :-)
Zwift in the basement this AM!
I ran while my daughter biked and her friend scootered. It was our schools closed, socially distant, PE time for the day.
A walk in the park but it wasn’t easy avoiding all the dog walkers.
3 mile tempo over the hilly section. im ready for some normality to group runs again!
Zwift ride then outside run on street.
Ice running on Sønderstrømfjord, Greenland. Beside crew mates i felt socially pretty far away!
Short run around the neighborhood
Forest and trail closures have kept me on the roads, but I at least I can still get out for runs.
Virtual race on Strava
Children! I think they should give out medals to people for that.
Walking downstairs to my home office
Does mixing concrete count as a workout? :)
At home, on old faithful LeMond Revolution with TrainerRoad.
Managed to get in a run-lots of time on the trainer and treadmill
Hmm. Technically, it was a fartlek! A 1 hour walk which included running on small hills. I added these in order to conserve some running form!
Went for a 5 mile run outside on local country roads. Not too many other people out to have to avoid on these roads.
Run around the block, late at night, avoiding a few dog walkers.
Great solo ride on a beautiful New England Spring Day!
Set a 40k cycling personal record.
Quickie around the Block!
“Clark” on TrainerRoad! Gotta love those hard start intervals!
Running outside and crossing the street every time someone was coming my way! Quite a zig-zag 5k
Road bike alone today. Way more than 6’ spacing
73-mile gravel ride through the Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge in South Florida.- Apparently, COVID-19 is more dangerous than snakes ? and alligators so…
I got a run in this morning. Early enough to not see anyone else out.
Trail run in Morristown NJ PS Signed up for Clever Trainer VIP, and upgrading my Kickr + Climb Thanks Ray!
Day 5 of sweet spot base on TrainerRoad
Gravel: more Western Meadowlarks than people.
A 30 minute strength and mobility routine
Socially distant workouts are easy on the trainer and aren’t as lonely with Zwift!
A hike in the forest with my dog!
Trying to find a ☠️⚡? toilet paper roll.
Tandem ride with my 11 year old son on secluded back roads
Hi!
My last workout was a nice ride on mostly empty streets (a few police cars out patrolling), 8×4 min.
5k road run
9mi easy ride
Outdoor coffee ride with cashless respectful distancing observed throughout
Just finished up the last stage of the tour of watopia on Zwift!
Virtual ride through the Tuscan hills (via rgt cycling)
Trainerroad – trying to keep the kids entertained at the same time is not easy.
Run number 1182 in a row with my two dogs!
TrainerRoad this morning.
In my basement on the trainer, far far away from the dangerous hordes!
four horsemen on zwift. ouch!
Last workout? An easy recovery ride, almost an hour, beating the cold spring Michigan rain.
I’ve been doing Zwift and TrainerRoad workouts at home, nothing outside in months. I did both today.
Trainer Road session
Took a nice morning run while the world was still asleep.
Quick workout with some small weights and elastics. No bike trainer in this city for me =(
Family walk around the local lake
trainer ride in the garage
A run at 4am!
I did Antelope for 90-minutes on TrainerRoad. The pup was not pleased
Zwift ride
Extending my indoor season on the trainer just a little longer!
Trainer ride while checking out new show
The Chores on Sufferfest – heavy price to pay but no chores for me on lock down.
Because of work and weather I’ve been stuck doing indoor workouts for almost the past four months. So indoor workout it is.
Zwift and Trainer Road are much more fun with cats.
23km Tempo Run
running in the rain!
Went for an easy 5 mile run
With my 2 young kids, 3 x 400m bike loops followed by 1 x 400m run on my street.
X
Three friends and I (each at separate households) got onto Zwift and raced Tour de Zwift Stage 4. We also had out Iphone out and were facetime’ing and texting during the race… Super fun and super hard… It was a blast!!!
My last good workout was MidSouth Gravel, and I practiced social distance by being slow and getting lost (followed wrong course markings to an earlier part of the course) after my Wahoo died.
Pre-planned heart rate zone training leading to PB for 5k and ended up being a 10k run… All while respecting social distancing while staying in the neighbourhood in Hyde Park, Chicago.
23-mile solo road ride, avoiding busiest streets and bike paths
Went for a 5 mile run on the treadmill. Trying my best to stay sane during all of this. I work in the ICU and it has been crazy.
I made it to the hill and my body said, “not right now. Go home.” So I did.
Not actually a complete workout. But it was close enough.
short solo ride
Just had a nice easy run this pm. Now the country I live in goes into a 6 days 24hrs curfew… So I’m glad to have a final run just before!!
Did hill repeats at a local park. Didn’t anticipate that many other people would be there to enjoy our sunny, 60degree+ day. Most were on the trails and with a 25mph speed limit it still worked out.
Going in solitary circles around discovery bay
My last workout was a 33.4 km bike ride in zone 2.
I did a run using the Peloton app and my treadmill.
Birch on TR. I am in the recovery week.
The weather is finally turning so I grabbed my road bike and headed outside to hit a recently plotted 20 mile loop. So many birds are out. I made it to mile 17 before it started to rain. Now it’s cold and wet so I’ve shifted to indoor workouts again. We gave a stay at home order in place; however, they are currently letting people recreate outside as long as we don’t do it together.
Trainer ride in the basement, followed by physical therapy exercises to strengthen my knee from a ski accident.
20 minute rock ride with the Peloton App and a Spinning brand indoor bike. And thanks for the app overview… You confirmed my suspicion that I want the Peloton app *and* Zwift to cover my bases.
Yoga to stretch some unused muscles after being at home for a while
Last my training was about 17 miles on zwift, tried to do some intervals. Good luck me :D
Today I ran about 7 miles outside, just me and my audiobook.
My last successful social/physical distancing workout was a 20-minute fitness test on my indoor trainer.
The last workout was a mountain bike ride in the bike park in which I crashed hard coming off of a drop and broke my Wahoo Elemnt Bolt mount and maybe my hand.
Yesterday I did the Cervelo Jungle Rush Series Rd 1 on Zwift! It was also during my lunch hour while working from home.
Riding on the trainer everyday
MTB around Japanese Gulch – Mukilteo :)
About time to replace my 2014 kickr
This would go a long way towards that!
19km Trail Run. I run my outdoor workouts during the night or early in the morning and I try to avoid popular places. Time to explore new teritories!
7km late-afternoon run through the farmlands of the eastern Netherlands.
a nice and easy run through the park next door and noticing that there are a lot more people running and walking now then before the social distancing measures.
My last good workout was lifting weights in my garage, the perfect social distancing!
I did a 2.5hour ride on Zwift.
Never thought I’d survive that kinda workout.
Organized a Zwift Meetup with members of my club, naturally it turned into a race
Hang boards