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.
A snowy food filled weekend
Let’s just get right into the action, by starting where I left off on Friday evening as nightfall fell (hmm…does that mean it fell twice?) – it looked like this: While the snow was starting to fall, the Girl got … Read More Here
Preparing for the worst
I am prepared. I am prepared to sit back and do nothing this weekend. Why would I be doing nothing? Well, for those non-east-coastern folk – this be why: However, I am also prepared to cook a ton, and likely … Read More Here
The State of my State: 2009 Review Edition
Every year that I’ve been blogging I write a recap of the previous year, and then a post on what lies in the year ahead. Normally I do this late-January, but things got kinda busy, so I’m a little behind. … Read More Here
Garmin FR60 Review – In Depth
When Garmin first announced the Garmin FR60 last spring, it honestly didn’t even catch my attention. After all, why would I of all people – the person with a gazillion GPS based training watches – want a training watch without … Read More Here
Polar Bear Plunge…sort of.
Both Rob and I had our respective workouts to finish in the morning before heading up to the Polar Bear Plunge. I had an hour run and an hour swim, and he had a 16-18 mile run. So by time … Read More Here
Pants on the ground
Earlier this week I had an early morning swim technique session. By ‘early morning’, I mean 6:30AM – or as soon as the pool opened to non-high school swimmers. Which for me…is dang early. As I’ve mentioned in the past, … Read More Here
How to train indoors with your Garmin device
This time a year it can be hard to find motivation to go out in the cold (assuming you don’t live or train in Hawaii), so it’s understandable you may be stuck training indoors. While a lot of you out … Read More Here
Going for a very cold plunge
There used to be a annual polar bear swim right here in the beautiful and cough clean Potomac river, but from what I can tell, that seemed to have vanished. Instead, while doing some research last week I stumbled upon … Read More Here
Me and the clock…and cupcakes.
Let’s be honest, for any competitor, it’s all about the clock – even when racing against others, you’re still racing against the clock. But, over the past few months the clock has played a new role in my workouts – … Read More Here
My sports technology ‘predictions’ for 2010
It’s no secret that I enjoy gadgets, and in particular sports related gizmos. This interest probably comes from my day job in designing technology stuffs. I simply enjoy understanding how things work, and what might come next. Now, because of … Read More Here
Tuesday Tidbits
Lacking the time or thought capabilities to put together a solid and lengthy post, I present you many little tidbits… Garmin FR-60: I can’t remember if I mentioned this or not, but Garmin sent me out a FR-60 running/cycling watch … Read More Here
Why I will not ‘Share the damn road’
Last week I got an e-mail from a group asking to ‘share links’. This is when one blog/site wants you to link to them, in exchange for them linking to you. These are somewhat common requests, and normally, I ignore … Read More Here
Welcome back to reality
Upon landing at Dulles International Airport on Sunday afternoon my very first message that showed up on my phone was from my coach, it read: Gee…thanks. And reality soon set in. I knocked out a rather enjoyable trainer ride on … Read More Here
Days 14…and 14 – Three countries, one 30+ hour day
On Friday it was time to depart the Maldives and begin our journey home. So we packed up our little villa and then headed out to catch the seaplane. But before leaving, The Girl lined up her complete collection of … Read More Here
A day with the Maldives Whale Shark Research Programme
Back a few months ago while following the Underwater Thrills blog, I saw a story about a Whale Shark research program in the Maldives. After a bit of poking around, it turned out the program is partially supported by the … Read More Here
Days 11-13 – Maldivian water games, a night and day difference
Given the Maldives are a collection of tiny islands in a vast ocean, you spend the majority of your time in or around the water. The good news is…I like the water. The bad news is that there isn’t enough … Read More Here
Days 9-10 – Welcome to the Maldives
After a short hop through Singapore (again), and then a longer four hour hop, we arrived at a very small slim parcel of land in the Indian ocean where the Male Airport sits. Of course, since I’m pretty sure only … Read More Here
Days 7 & 8: A Bali Triathlon
Welcome back to the final installment of the Bali portion of the trip. Over the past 5 or so days in Bali we’ve been able to patch together a bit of a Balinese Triathlon of sorts, combining two traditional triathlon … Read More Here
Days 4-6 – A prelude to a Bali Triathlon
After arriving on the island of Bali from Singapore, we sought out our pre-booked rental car place at the airport. However, despite booking with a major international car rental company via a major travel service (Travelocity), no car rental humans … Read More Here
Day 3 – The Singapore Sleepover
After a 6 hour flight from Beijing, China our Boeing 777 landed in Singapore, Singapore (the city with the same name as the country, sorta like New York, New York). By time we cleared immigration, customs and everything else it … Read More Here
Day 2 – (A very cold) Beijing and some really big wall
For reasons only the time zone gods can explain, after just 5ish hours of sleep, we were both wide awake and ready to go. As soon as the hotel’s breakfast place opened up we headed on down to check it … Read More Here
Day 1 – The Tokyo shuffle and beyond
The first flight, on the first day. Our trip started in Seattle just after noon where we jumped on a very empty United 777 headed nonstop to Tokyo. After departure we climbed out over Puget Sound under clear and sunny … Read More Here
Christmas in Seattle
We made the 2,306 mile aeronautic trek into my hometown of Seattle late Tuesday night (well, actually, my hometown in Edmonds…but those are just details). After a short weight at the baggage claim for our bags, we were off to … Read More Here
Snow and Stuff (or stuffed with snow)
The last two days have been pretty busy. Really busy. It was all about trying to fit in every possible last detail before heading out on a awesome series of trips. All while at the same time trying to fit … Read More Here
Wild West Virginia
This weekend was quite a whirlwind – and I’m not even talking about the 17” of snow we got.Friday afternoon I ran away from the DC area in a westerly and then southerly direction towards Snowshoe, WV. The commercials around … Read More Here
