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.
Texas Training Extravaganza
I’ve been down here in Austin, TX since last Friday – but that doesn’t mean my training stops. Nope, it just changes scenery. On Saturday (the day before Longhorn 70.3 that I was cheering at), I went out and basically … Read More Here
Longhorn 70.3 Spectator Report
I’ve decided that I think the best way to do a 70.3 race is not to race it…but rather to cheer it. Much more relaxing. Yet, still a heck of a lot of walking. Lots and lots of walking to … Read More Here
Thursday Tidbits
In no particular order, here’s a couple of things related to me…and not related to me. 1) Swim interrupted…again: Wednesday night’s swim was dinked again when the lifeguards called a 5-minute ‘safety break’. Something about being short-staffed and needing a … Read More Here
Little presents
I generally appreciate little random presents. Most little presents are surprises, and most of the time, they are good. So this weekend I was excited to find a little present in my mailbox after finishing my rather long workout. After … Read More Here
Three sports…one training day
The day was labeled “Race Simulation” on my training calendar. And had it been a nice summer day with birds chirping, it might have been just dandy. But in reality, here’s what it looked like: Given the weather forecast was … Read More Here
Balls and Racks
Over the last month or so I’ve been toying with different methods to carry gel on my bike. While this may seem like a relatively straightforward concept – it turns out it’s really not. At least not once you consider … Read More Here
4 Hours
It’s funny, if you take a four hour workout and put it on a weekend, it really doesn’t seem so bad. Say from 9AM to 1PM – you’re done around lunch time, and you have the remainder of the day … Read More Here
The long..long road ahead
While the ride was technically scheduled at 118 miles – just two miles short of my all-time 120 mile high, the weather conditions forecasted made it clear it was going to be a long…long ride. Despite temperatures into the rather … Read More Here
Running from the police (Part II)
I was downtown (DC) today for a series of meetings and related stuffs, which is somewhat unusual in that I generally work from home. I had finished up my day and was heading out of a building and made it … Read More Here
Cycling and cupcakes
This weekend was a bit of a whirlwind, sorta like the time-lapse video I put together. Saturday morning was spent trying to catch up on sleep before heading down to Prince William Forest National Park to get in a solid … Read More Here
2009 Army 10 Miler Time-lapse
I went out earlier this morning to watch a bit of the Army 10 Miler race, which has over 21,000 folks running in it. I was also playing with a new digital camera, so I ended up creating this time-lapse … Read More Here
Ironman and Ironman 70.3 Age Group Drug Testing
A few weeks back, the World Triathlon Corporation (owners of Ironman and 70.3 races) announced that it would be increasing and expanding it’s programs around drug testing. However, it’s the follow little snippet that caught everyone’s attention: “Additionally, a Registered … Read More Here
Review of i-gotU GPS Travel Logger
When the folks that make the i-gotU GPS Travel Logger sent me an e-mail earlier this summer asking me to review their latest gadget…I happily said yes. As many of you know, I love taking photos, enjoy travelling, and also … Read More Here
2009 Chesapeake Man Aqua-Velo Race Report
The Chesapeake Man Ultra Triathlon is essentially a Ironman Distance Triathlon, but because World Triathlon Corporation (WTC) owns the naming rights to “Ironman”, these non-M-Dot races (referring to the logo of the M with a dot) are usually called something … Read More Here
Friday tidbits
Let’s see, what’s been going on in the Rainmaker world… Well, first, I fixed my RSS feed. There was an ‘issue’, resulting from the otherwise massive size of the 310XT review post (68 pages in Word, in case you’re wondering), … Read More Here
Swimming the line
Last week following the Nation’s Triathlon, I stumbled on some pictures on Flickr from the event. There was a huge assortment of pics taken on that day – ones of athletes during each of the sports, a few artistic ones, … Read More Here
Many, many, many miles of Cornfields
When I received my schedule earlier this week for the next few weeks, this little nugget was in the e-mail body: I thought to myself…hmm, what is this ‘Queenstown 120’ he speaks of. I have no such race by that … Read More Here
Garmin Forerunner 310XT In Depth Review
When the Garmin Forerunner 310XT was announced earlier this spring, it represented the next logical evolution from the Garmin 305. It promised many of the features triathletes were looking for, while also promising to still appeal to the single-sport … Read More Here
Nation’s Triathlon 2009 Race Report
As with most any race – the first order of business is packet pickup and usually some form of race briefing. Now, the Nation’s Triathlon also offers a swim practice on Saturday afternoon as well. So, we decided to knock … Read More Here
How aero can you go?
Coach Alan and I were chatting via e-mail about a variety of topics yesterday and he brought up the topic of my aero position, based on one of the pictures from my IMC race report – in particular – this … Read More Here
Combining recovery….with taper
From a scheduling standpoint last year was much easier. Ironman Canada 2008 was on August 24th, and the Nation’s Triathlon 2008 (Oly Distance) was three weeks later on September 14th. While three weeks recovery certainly wasn’t ideal, it seemed to … Read More Here
A weekend of food…
Since late spring when Ironman training pretty much took over any free time I had, my time to good decreased quite a bit. But in this recovery week since IMC, I’ve had a bit of time to get my cook … Read More Here
The week…in pictures
Now that I’m back in DC I figured I’d post a bunch of interesting pictures that didn’t make it into any particular previous post. Above: On the drive up to Penticton at a gas station near the border Below: Medals … Read More Here
Ironman Canada 2009 Race Report
The morning started much like any other race morning. I managed to get about 6-7 hours of sleep, which was a pretty good amount considering everything. So when the alarms went off I was pretty much ready to go. However, … Read More Here
Ironman Canada…return of the Rainmaker
Well, I did indeed finish Ironman Canada yesterday. It was a rough second half of the day. The first half went fairly well, but the run was pretty brutal in the 95*F heat. I PR’d in all three sports (and … Read More Here
