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.
-
Check out my weekly podcast - with DesFit, which is packed with both gadget and non-gadget goodness!
-
5 Easy Steps To The Site
1
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.
2
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!
3
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.
4
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!
5
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: Washington DC
Washington DC Tidal Basin Intervals
Ahh yes, back in Washington DC. Though, not permanently. Just for a few days before I head off to CES on Sunday evening for a crazy-busy packed few days (with a lot of awesomeness in the pipeline). After arriving into … Read More Here
A look at a week of rides (and a run) in Boulder, Washington DC
It’s been a busy week thus far (and seemingly only getting busier, despite being Sunday). So I figured I’d catch folks up on where I am, and in doing so I have a post that isn’t about power meters (since … 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
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
A look at the 2012 Washington DC Multisport Expo
In between various things going on Saturday, I managed to sneak a bit of time at the DC Multisport Expo, which is held within the Georgetown Prep sports facilities. I try and make it out there each year for the … Read More Here
Top 10 Reasons I love running in the Washington DC area
Given how nice the weather has been here in DC the last few days, I figured it might be fun to highlight some of my favorite aspects of the DC metro area from a running perspective. After all, that’s how … Read More Here
Spending time with the Specialized Venge and running hard between DC monuments
You know when you nail a weekend’s worth of workouts and the numbers come out perfectly? Yup, that was this weekend. This past weekend had both a long (yet finishing hard) run and a hard bike on it. The run … Read More Here
The Sports and Fitness History exhibit at the Patent and Trademark Museum
Washington DC is full of fascinating monuments, memorials and museums. There are of course the many famous places that those outside of the region hear about on a potentially daily basis (i.e., the White House), some that you might hear … Read More Here
Running at night on the National Mall
I’ve recently remembered again how much more interesting long runs are when you can do them point to point. If you’re like me, and are essentially doing a weekly long run almost year-round, you’re probably a bit worn with your … Read More Here
Friday Tidbits of Note
Rather than have a specific theme for today, I figured I’d share a slew of interesting little tidbits that have floated across my week thus far. Some of them sports technology, some of them me-stuff. #1: Dinner with the Speaker … Read More Here
Fitting it all in: Work, Run, Fly, Blog
On Sunday evening I realized that Monday was going to be a bit of a whirlwind day – starting on one coast, and ending on the other, so I figured it might be a bit fun to simply put together … Read More Here
Friday: Olympics, Presidents and everything else
For a Friday, I figure a couple of fun and random things are in order. Head Honcho Sightings: First up was a presidential sighting. Well, not ours. But rather another countries. So technically, it was a Prime Minister sighting. Thursday … Read More Here
DC Hot Chocolate 15K 2011 Race Report (Alternate Title: How not to organize a race)
(I’m going to start this like any other race report…but fear not, I’ll get to my ‘suggestions’ section later on. It’s probably better to just sit back, and let it all unfold – rather than going straight into rant mode.) … Read More Here
Tracks, Timex Run Trainers…and a night at the Kennedy Center
To say this week has been busy so far would be an understatement. A certain company is off going for a record on the number of product updates/releases in a single week, and I’ve been holding on trying to keep … Read More Here
A bit of Washington DC flavor in my weekend
The weekend started off with a Friday evening swim at the outdoor pool, which is one of my favorite summer activities. I just love being able to swim outdoors, especially in the evening when it’s quieter. Regrettably, there’s only a … Read More Here
A Long Run Tour of Washington DC
This weekend was full of loops – be it ones I seemingly did everywhere trying to get errands done at breakneck pace in preparation for next weekend (wedding), or ones that I did while running and cycling. I’ll spare you … Read More Here
2011 DC Tri Race Report –3rd Overall!
Prior to the race, many folks asked how I thought the race might go – and my only answer was to sum it up simply as a ‘Hail Mary’ of sorts. The last week has been far from ideal as … Read More Here
National Half-Marathon Race (Pace) Report
You know what’s the nice part about a running race? You don’t have a massive pile of junk that you have to setup anywhere. It’s really rather simple actually. You’ve got shoes, shorts, top and a race chip. Perhaps you … Read More Here
Flight, Run, Soccer, Bike…oh, and tailgate.
A busy weekend was in store…but first, I had to get myself home from a brief 24 hours in Charlotte. Actually, I think it was more like 22 hours to be exact. Either way, a 45 minute flight is so … Read More Here
Steaks, Ducks and Planks
Now that I’m home for a short bit, I’ve been enjoying kicking off the weekend with a bit of cooking – just like last weekend. After consulting with The Girl, I checked in and see what she wanted. Turned out … Read More Here
Nation’s Tri Athletes: Just ignore the 8’ Bull Sharks…
The biggest triathlon event in the DC area – and one of the biggest in the nation/world is just a few days away. The Nation’s Triathlon will kickoff this Sunday with 4,000-6,000 athletes on a redesigned course that takes you … Read More Here
New–Washington DC Tri Resource Section/Post
I get a ton of requests for the best places for triathletes to train, so I started putting them all together in a single cohesive (updatable) post. Now, there are a gazillion places to train in the DC area, but … Read More Here
A very hot 4th of July…and lots of BBQ.
After leaving San Diego on Thursday, I arrived back into relatively cool mid-70’s weather late Thursday night. However, my acclimatization period would be decidedly short, as by Friday it was well on it’s way to the 90’s. Luckily, my easy … Read More Here
2-Mile Swim Race & a bunch of other stuff
Saturday brought a whole bunch of tiresome activities. First, there was the waking up early thing. That in and of itself is tiring. 7:30AM? On a Saturday? It’s almost as if we’re training for an event or something. Need to … Read More Here
DC Bike to Work Day 2010
Bike to Work Day in the DC area is probably one of the best days out there to get free stuff if you’re a cyclist. Not sure what I mean? Well, let me take you along on my journey this … Read More Here
How to fit two triathlon bikes into a really small private airplane
There’s some smart nuggets amongst ya’ll yesterday in the guessing game around details about the picture I posted. You can read all the guesses here. And here’s the original the picture: Some of you picked up on two key items … Read More Here
Pushing the envelope
It finally happened, almost 6 years to the day from when it first started. What happened you ask? Well, first, some history. I moved from Seattle to Washington DC on May 1st, 2004 (6 years ago tomorrow) – and when … Read More Here
Adventures in triathlon RV’ing
I have officially discovered there is no better way to do local or semi-local race weekends than renting out a little RV and going full tilt at the race site. Let’s do a not-so-quick recap on how it all goes … Read More Here
Free National Park Access for a week, starting Saturday! Wootage!
As many of you know, over the past few years I’ve spent an inordinate amount of time up on Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park, which…is part of the National Park System. Not only is it probably the best cycling … Read More Here
Someone left a floater
Due to a flip-flop in the weekly schedule of runs, both the Girl and I were in position to be able to enjoy a nice 10 mile run with our friends on Saturday morning. Normally the 10m run run occurs … Read More Here
St. Patrick’s 8K Race Report
Alternative Title I: Finally! Alternative Title II: Adventures of blurry cam! But more on the alternative titles in a bit. Let’s get to the start first. And getting to the start required the Metro. It’s just so much easier for … Read More Here
Time Trialing with the subway
Sunday night after I got home from New York City around 5PM I still had one minor item left to knock out…a 2hr and 45 minute ride. Now, I could do this indoor on the trainer – but I’m sick … Read More Here
Weekend Tidbits
This weekend was full of all sorts of stuff – to start off with, The Girl was busy making Valentines cookies…and I was busy eating them: Of course, post-cookies there was some brief running to do – in the Cupid’s … 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
Tidal Basin 3K Race Report: Things that hurt…a lot.
It seemed like a good idea yesterday. It did not seem like a good idea at mile 1. But first…let’s rewind to last year. Last December DC runner/blogger Peter was taunting me to show up at the monthly Tidal Basin … Read More Here