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.
Tag Archives: Pro Cycling
Lachlan Morton’s Tour de France Alt Tour: How the Tracking Device & Site Works
(Lachlan Morton and his full self-supported setup, credit: Grubers) By now you’ve undoubtedly heard of Team EF Education First’s Lachlan Morton’s so-called ‘Alt Tour’. In short, he’s solo riding not just the entire Tour de France route, but also all … Read More Here
Bike Computers of the 2020 WorldTour Pro Peloton
Never have I ever seen so many Garmin Edge units in one place, than is on show at the Tour Down Under this year. That’s of course partly because Garmin in recent years has shifted away from being a major … Read More Here
Tour Down Under 2020: Sports Tech of the Pro Women
Each time I inventory the women’s pro ranks, things get better and better in terms of equipment. Back a few years ago, it felt like a push to even have the same bike frames on a team. Whereas this year … Read More Here
Tour Down Under 2020: Power Meters Of the WorldTour Men’s Teams
Looking for what the riders of the 2020 UCI WorldTour are using as their power meters? Here’s a complete inventory from the Tour Down Under 2020. Read More Here
Women’s WorldTour Pro Teams: The Trainers, Power Meters, and Other Tidbits
Here’s the sports tech used by the 2019 Women’s WorldTour Teams. From trainers to power meters, and plenty of other tidbits. Read More Here
Friday Tech Tidbits: Banning power meters at Tour de France, Polar Vantage now shipping, new COROS APEX GPS watch
Here’s your (occasional) round-up of Friday randomness within the sports tech world. These are items that I felt I wanted to provide a bit more commentary/detail on than just a quick one-liner note in my usual Week in Review post, … Read More Here
Behind the Scenes: Riding in the FDJ Team Car
I’m going to start the post by saying that if there’s any video of mine you watch this year, I’d definitely go with this one. It’s largely unedited chunks of what it’s actually like in a pro tour team car, … Read More Here
A Look At Velon’s Live Race Tracking System
Since a change in leadership at the UCI in 2013, we’ve seen an increase in the number of data tracking platforms that are following the pro peloton. For example, last year at the Tour Down Under I highlighted one solution … Read More Here
Tour Down Under Tidbits: BMC Chilling Vests, Race Convoy Walkthrough, Media Swag Bag
Each day I’m here down in Adelaide at the Tour Down Under I’m roughly spending half my day at or getting to/from the race site, and then half my day writing posts and editing videos. Mixed in there is also … Read More Here
Tour Down Under 2018: Sports Tech Gear Of the Pro Men
The Tour Down Under represents the first race of the UCI WorldTour season, and as such, establishes what we’ll see in terms of equipment as the baseline for most tech on the teams this year. The men kicked off their … Read More Here
Tour de France 2017- The Finish in Paris
Ahh yes, one of the best days of the year for a cyclist living in Paris. No, actually, definitely the best day of the year for a cyclist living in this city. And this year didn’t disappoint! This was, I … Read More Here
Tour de France Behind the Scenes: How Dimension Data Rider Live Tracking Works
If you’ve been watching the Tour de France over the past week and a half, you’ve likely seen either the little gizmos pointing off the back of rider’s seats, or the constant stream of data on your TV about where precisely … Read More Here
Tour de France 2017 Behind the Scenes: Stage 6
Looks like there’s going to be a bit more cycling on the blog this week. At least for today. Don’t despair runners – there’s non-cycling stuff soon arriving! And if you like cycling? Don’t despair there either, almost more of … Read More Here
Tour de France 2017 Behind the Scenes: Stage 2
We left off yesterday with the first of my two weekend days at the Tour de France. Don’t worry (or maybe you will), I’m not going to all the stages. I’m going to pop in and out where it seems … Read More Here
Tour de France 2017 Behind the Scenes: Stage 1
This weekend was a whirlwind of time spent at the opening two days of the Tour de France. I took over 1,000 photos on the first day alone. About 100 of those ended up in my Tour de France 2017 … Read More Here
Tour de France 2017–The Trainers, Power Meters and Gadgets of the Pro Peloton
How quickly the 2017 season is moving forward. Back at the Tour Down Under doesn’t seem all that long ago, neither does the Giro d’Italia – yet it’s been almost two months since I was there. Still, it’s always interesting … Read More Here
Giro d’Italia 2017–The Trainers, Power Meters and Gadgets of the Pro Peloton
Yesterday I spent the full day at the Giro d’Italia checking out all the sports tech goods the pro teams had on hand. In the case of this stage, it was an individual time trial – which means that each … Read More Here
Spectating the 2017 Tour Down Under
It comes to an end – The Tour Down Under (at least for me, the race finishes later this Sunday – today in Australia). I stayed for a week in Adelaide, overlapping all of the Women’s Tour Down Under, and … Read More Here
Tour Down Under 2017: Sports Tech Gear Of the Pro Men
After the women’s debut on Saturday, it was time for the men to make their entrance on Sunday at the People’s Choice criterium. This would be the first men’s race of the Tour Down Under, though it’s technically a separate … Read More Here
Tour Down Under 2017: Sports Tech Gear Of the Pro Women
There are many great aspects of the Santos Tour Down Under, from the fan-inclusive activities, to the stage structure. Non-locals may not realize for example that the teams all actually stay in one city (Adelaide) throughout the entire race, and … Read More Here
La Course, Le Tour, and the Paris Finale–2016 Edition
While almost every day is a great day living in Paris, there are a few days that really take the cake: Bastille Day (Fête nationale), and the finish of the Tour de France. Over the last three years however, ASO/UCI … Read More Here
A Day at the Tour de France: Time Trial in The Mountains
While I typically get in a number of Tour de France stages each year, this year was a bit different with the arrival of our little peanut. The Girl went into labor a few hours before Le Tour began Stage … Read More Here
Tour de France 2016: The Trainers & Power Meters of the Pro Teams
Yesterday I spent the day at Stage 18 of the Tour de France. One of the advantages of this particular stage is it’s a time trial. This means that each rider races individually, with the first rider of the day starting … Read More Here
Paris-Roubaix 2016: A Day On The Route
Yesterday I made the trek to watch Paris-Roubaix. While you might think that’d be as simple as a walk across town, the reality is that Paris-Roubaix hasn’t started in Paris in many decades. Instead, it starts in Compiègne, which is … Read More Here
TdF 2015: Comprehensive list of Strava & TrainingPeaks pro uploads by stage
Over the last few weeks the folks at both Strava and TrainingPeaks have been sending me occasional (or daily in some cases) updates of each file upload to their respective services for all riders in the Tour de France that … Read More Here
The Tour de France in Paris: Riding it, watching La Course, and the Finish
As is always the case, yesterday is an epic day for cycling fans in Paris. I went for the trifecta of craziness, and tried to jam it all in. Here’s a look at my (semi-exhausting) day. Riding the final stage: … Read More Here
More than you ever wanted to know about power meters in pro cycling
Over the last week or so there’s been substantial talk about power meter data in the Tour de France, specifically around scenarios of data snooping, data accuracy, data estimation, and data tampering. For the most part, the mainstream cycling media … Read More Here
My Top Tips for Spectating the Tour de France
Tomorrow I’ll be headed up to watch another few stages of the Tour de France (TdF). Having lived in France now for three years and going on our 4th Tour de France, we’ve seen quite a few stages. Usually 3-6 … Read More Here
Watching La Course (the women’s race by The Tour de France)
Earlier this year a significant announcement was made that there would be a women’s race at the Tour de France. It wouldn’t be the entirety of the Grand Tour, nor even a multiday event – but – it would be a … Read More Here
Checking out Stage 4 of the 2014 Tour de France: From Le Touquet to Lille
Things started early this morning – approximately 6AM. Which, for you early birds is indeed early for this non-early bird. From there I’d catch the RER train 10 minutes up to Gare du Nord, where I’d change to a regular … Read More Here
Paris-Nice 2014: Going to watch a stage of the famous race
I had hoped to go out and catch the first stage of the famous Paris to Nice cycling race, which occurred on Sunday and generally marks the beginning of the European cycling season for professional riders in major races. But … Read More Here
Watching the Tour de France finish in Paris
While we moved to Paris last year just before the Tour began, I unfortunately had to go on a work trip the day the Tour finished in Paris – thus missing the famous finale. Given this year was the 100th … Read More Here
A day spectating on Alpe d’Huez at the Tour de France
After spending the week wandering around France we got back late last night following an exciting day on the climb to Alpe d’Huez at the Tour de France yesterday. While I’ll circle back over the next day or so with … Read More Here
A day at the Tour de France time trials headed to Mont Saint-Michel
Yesterday was a rather long day. It started at 5AM, leaving home in Paris and driving approximately three hours to the site of Stage 11 of the 2013 Tour de France. This year that was an individual time trial consisting … Read More Here
A look at the Tour de France photo gallery in the gardens
A few days ago I saw a tweet on the official Tour de France Twitter feed announcing some sort of gallery opening featuring 80 images from years past. After a bit of poking around, I found out that this display … Read More Here