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
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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.
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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!
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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.
Ironman National Harbor 70.3: A lesson in how not to cancel a race
It’s understandable that sometimes in life, things don’t go as planned. And in the case of races, sometimes events get cancelled. But this past Friday evenings cancellation of one of the newest Ironman 70.3 branded races is only serving as … Read More Here
Riding along in a fog
Before we get to my foggy ride, we’ll start with my trail run. Coach and I made a last second change of venue to Prince William Forest National Park, instead of Fountainhead. The reason was that he came up with … Read More Here
Week in Review–May 5th, 2012
The Week in Review is a collection of both all the goodness I’ve written during the past week around the internet, as well as a small pile of links I found interesting – generally endurance sports related. I’ve often wondered … Read More Here
Timex Marathon Trainer GPS Giveaway Results
Last week I kicked off a giveaway for a new Timex Marathon GPS unit, which is one of the new sub-$100 GPS units on the market these days. I think this watch and others fulfill a good market segment that … Read More Here
Photo of the day: A swimming pool on the highway
Roughly every other day, I drive to the swimming pool. But, I’ve never quite driven with the swimming pool, nor had one driving along side of me. Yet this morning, that’s exactly what happened. On the way to work, in … Read More Here
The MySwimIt Safety Device: Good or bad for triathlon races?
This evening I got an interesting comment posted to an old post of mine from last summer. My original post was about the NYC Triathlon swim deaths that occurred during the 2011 Nautica NYC Triathlon. That post touched off a … Read More Here
A Weekend of Trail Running and Mountain Riding
While I spent quite a bit of time myself working out, I started the weekend watching others work out. Or, more accurately, watching them race. The Carpenters Shelter 10K race was held on the street in front of our place, … Read More Here
Week in Review: April 29th, 2012
The Week in Review is a collection of both all the goodness I’ve written during the past week around the internet, as well as a small pile of links I found interesting – generally endurance sports related. I’ve often wondered … Read More Here
The Bridge Running Path Magical Sound Wall
As a runner, you tend to seek out any running route that offers something unique or special. In my case, I often do long runs that intertwine Virginia, Maryland and DC. The ability to include all three states (and non-state … Read More Here
Timex Marathon GPS Giveaway!
With less than a week left in May, spring is flying by! I’ve been trying to plan out weekends for the next two months, coveting a way to spend each weekend day, usually in the great outdoors. And often based … Read More Here
My favorite workouts in each sport
Yesterday while reviewing my schedule for the week ahead, I realized I’ve been on a run of workouts I really enjoy (or plan to enjoy). Saturday I’ve got my first trail long-run, and Sunday I’m back in the mountains for … Read More Here
A weekend with dueling power meters, activity monitors and more!
After a rather busy travel week last week, I was looking forward to relaxing a bit this weekend. I landed safely back in DC around 1AM Saturday morning. I mention ‘safely’ since our plane had a minor gear issue which … Read More Here
Week in Review–April 21st, 2012
The Week in Review is a collection of both all the goodness I’ve written during the past week around the internet, as well as a small pile of links I found interesting – generally endurance sports related. I’ve often wondered … Read More Here
Photo of the week: A summary of my week
I started writing a post highlighting a couple photos from the craziness that’s been the last 7 days. But then I realized, the above drink napkin I filled in during one of my nine flights this week actually covered it … Read More Here
The Soleus 2.0 GPS Running Watch In Depth Review
It hasn’t been too long since the $99 Soleus 1.0 GPS watch came out, which has ushered in the start of the sub-$100 GPS watches (like the Timex Marathon GPS). But the Soleus 2.0 adds one specific feature: The ability … Read More Here
The Elusive Non-Gadget Weekly Mailbag–April Edition
(Quick Side Note: Regrettably, since I wasn’t in DC on Tuesday, I missed the Space Shuttle fly-by’s – which is a huge bummer since I’m a big space shuttle fan. However, The Girl was able to sneak out there and … Read More Here
Strangely epic race boxes on my front doorstep
We get a lot of boxes on my doorstep each week. Some related to product reviews, some related to The Bakery, and some related to completely random stuff. It’s probably a box every day. So it probably comes as no … Read More Here
A working weekend in Vegas
The vast majority of partiers going to Vegas fly in on either Thursday or Friday evening, and by time I boarded by connecting flight in LA over to Vegas late Friday night – it was a clear reminder of my … Read More Here
Interesting tidbits from a 50-mile bike commute
(Brief side note: For those that saw yesterday’s Vector delay post, note that I’ve updated it late Wednesday evening with additional information regarding the Edge 500 & FR910XT firmware updates, as well as some additional info about the delay itself.) … Read More Here
Garmin Vector Power Meter pedals delayed to unknown date
Just a quick bit of news from Garmin to start off your day: “After testing our latest advanced prototypes of the Vector system, we are still not satisfied with the results. As you can imagine, Vector is a complex, precision … Read More Here
Polar RCX3 In-Depth Review
The Polar RCX3 was announced a little over a month ago, though, the unit won’t be available until this summer. The RCX3 is designed to be the RCX5’s younger sibling. A bit cheaper, though with fewer features. It’s a clean … Read More Here
Spending time in Boston and Washington–without leaving Virginia
Within the US there exists boatloads of cities that have identical names to those of other far more prominent cities in far away lane. For example: Florence, SC (have spent a fair bit of time there in fact). Or Paris, … Read More Here
Week in Review–April 7th, 2012
The Week in Review is a collection of both all the goodness I’ve written during the past week around the internet, as well as a small pile of links I found interesting – generally endurance sports related. I’ve often wondered … Read More Here
Question of the day: Triathlon and Running Clubs
Tonight while cleaning the kitchen I stumbled upon a small DC Triathlon Club pin that I had picked up at the Multisport Expo a few weeks ago. It got me thinking – how many of you belong (either officially or … Read More Here
Garmin, Suunto and Polar want your feedback (directly)
This might be the quickest post I’ve ever written – but it’s one that I feel probably deserves some brief mention – if only to divert mail flow from my own inbox, directly to theirs (at the office this is … Read More Here
