I’m DC RAINMAKER…
I swim, bike and run. Then, I come here and write about my adventures. It’s as simple as that. Most of the time. If you’re new around these parts, here’s the long version of my story.
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You can use the above link for any Amazon country and it (should) automatically redirect to your local Amazon site.Want to compare the features of each product, down to the nitty-gritty? No problem, the product comparison data is constantly updated with new products and new features added to old products!
Wanna create comparison chart graphs just like I do for GPS, heart rate, power meters and more? No problem, here's the platform I use - you can too!
Think my written reviews are deep? You should check out my videos. I take things to a whole new level of interactive depth!
Smart Trainers Buyers Guide: Looking at a smart trainer this winter? I cover all the units to buy (and avoid) for indoor training. The good, the bad, and the ugly.
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Check out my weekly podcast - with DesFit, which is packed with both gadget and non-gadget goodness!
Get all your awesome DC Rainmaker gear here!
FAQ’s
I have built an extensive list of my most frequently asked questions. Below are the most popular.
- Do you have a privacy policy posted?
- Why haven’t you yet released a review for XYZ product you mentioned months ago?
- Will you test our product before release?
- Are you willing to review or test beta products?
- Which trainer should I buy?
- Which GPS watch should I buy?
- I’m headed to Paris – what do you recommend for training or sightseeing?
- I’m headed to Washington DC – what do you recommend for training?
- I’m from out of the country and will be visiting the US, what’s the best triathlon shop in city XYZ?
- What kind of camera do you use?
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5 Easy Steps To The Site
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.
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!
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.
My Photography Gear: The Cameras and Equipment 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! It’s a nice break from the day to day sports-tech talk, and I hope you get something out of it!
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 2023 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.
Tag Archives: France
Tidbits and Tech From a Week Skiing in the Alps
A week ago we escaped down to the convergence of France, Switzerland, and Italy. By and large, it was all about family time skiing. After all, I somehow managed (albeit not on purpose) to not publish a single post or … Read More Here
A Few Epic Days in the French Alps
I’m currently at 34,999ft cruising over the Atlantic, nearing the coast of Newfoundland. But prior to that I was home in Amsterdam for the weekend – however, much of last week I spent in Chamonix, doing a bunch of meandering … Read More Here
5 Random Things I Did This Weekend in Île de Ré
We’ve long had on the docket plans to head out to a smallish island off the French coast with friends. But finding time to do so over the busy summer schedule was tricky. So we squished it in this weekend, … Read More Here
5 Random Things I Did This Weekend in Corsica
After a busy preceding week at the Tour de France, as well as in the Champagne region with our friends – we took the 75 minute flight from Paris down to the French island of Corsica early Friday morning. The … Read More Here
A Day Riding Up, Down, and Around Alpe d’Huez
Last week while doing some initial testing for the new Polar M450 GPS cycling computer I headed down to meet the Polar crew at Alpe d’Huez. It’s a reasonably efficient 3ish hour train ride from Paris, plus another 75 minute … Read More Here
5 Random Things I Did This Weekend in Côte d’Azur
We just wrapped up an awesome few days with friends down on the other side of the country – here’s what we were up to! 1) Flew down to the French Riviera Getting a slight head start on the weekend, … Read More Here
5 Awesome Things I Did and Saw on Bastille Day 2014
Being in Paris now a few years, there appears to be no bigger single-day party than Bastille Day. Now technically it’s not called Bastille day. Rather, locally it’s known as Fête nationale (National Celebration) or Le quatorze juillet (14th of … Read More Here
Working our way down the west coast of France
As I noted earlier this week, we took the week off to explore the western coast of France. While you could spend weeks doing this with meticulous attention to every little town along the way, we decided to go for … Read More Here
5 Random Things I Did This Weekend
Here’s a look at a bit of a getaway weekend we just wrapped up, which, didn’t quite start off on the right foot. 1) Got stuck in an elevator I had just finished picking up our rental car for the … Read More Here
A road trip to Alpe d’Huez and the Tour de France
The Girl, myself, and a few friends are working our way across France down to Alpe d’Huez and the surrounding area for later this week. As such, things will be fairly quiet for the first part of this week while … Read More Here
Paris Blog: A Road Trip to the French Coast
As I alluded to earlier in the week, The Girl and I headed out of town Sunday afternoon to enjoy a bit of a road trip. Things have been crazy busy the last few months with my work travel and … Read More Here
An epic week skiing in the French Alps
This past week my brother and I have been down in Alpe d’Huez enjoying the fresh powder. Of course, most folks reading this will recognize Alpe d’Huez as the famous mountain stage in the Tour de France. That cultural history … Read More Here
The Santa Corrida de Noël 10K Race Report (2012)
This would be our very first race here in France. Now that things have sorta settled down between moving, opening a storefront, and just life in general, we figured a race might be in order. Of course, neither of us … Read More Here