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 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!
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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 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.
Central and South America, Mexico, and the Caribbean
5 Random Things From A Week in Cancun
After a busy week up in Banff at the ANT+ Symposium I traded a foot of snow for steaming hot…weather…with The Girl. We’d long been looking forward to this trip, as it’d be the first week away from the kiddos … Read More Here
Mexico City Runaround
Mexico City, 7:08PM: I sit here now in a cab, stuck in barely crawling traffic in the dark, hoping to make it to the airport in time for my flight. The check-in cutoff time is 37 minutes from now, and … Read More Here
A Rio de Janeiro Runaround
I arrived into Sao Paulo, Brazil early on Thursday morning, directly from Europe. With meetings on Thursday and Friday taking up all daylight hours, I didn’t see much of Sao Paulo by time I was back at the airport Friday … Read More Here
A Mexico to Israel via London Layover Airport Interval Runaround
To start, let’s just recap the last two days. Or at least, I think it’s been two days: Sunday 10AM France Time: Departed, connected in London, flew to Mexico City. Sunday 6:45PM Mexico Time: Landed in Mexico City after 11hrs … Read More Here
A weekend in the sun
We’re gonna keep this weekend update post pretty short – since you’ve got a boatload of detailed posts coming up this week covering all sorts of goodness. As I mentioned on Friday, The Girl and I had a long scheduled … Read More Here
Two days in Tegucigalpa, Honduras
The one and only thing you need to know about flying into Tegucigalpa is that it’s gonna be an interesting landing. So interesting in fact, that pilots have to be specifically trained on the approach. As you descend below the … Read More Here
A brief visit to Haiti
In a continuing trend for very short work trips, I just finished up spending the last 24 hours in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. While I’m now on my way to Central America (via a convoluted routing involving Miami and Houston), I did … Read More Here
A very short trip to Jamaica
This will be a very short post, for a very short trip. After leaving Canada and the ANT+ Symposium on Wednesday (well, technically Thursday I suppose) I caught a few flights that eventually had me descending into the very water … Read More Here
Swimming into a policed compound…in a foreign country
I arrived under cover of darkness into Santo Domingo on Tuesday night, after my 48 hours in Guatemala City. When I left nearly two weeks ago, the Dominican Republic wasn’t actually on my travel itinerary, but a last minute change … Read More Here
48 Hours in Guatemala City
After leaving Mexico city on Sunday, I caught a flight some 670 miles south to Guatemala City, Guatemala. Now, it’s fully understandable that you may not know much about Guatemala City, or for that matter – exactly where it is … Read More Here
Training at 7,500 feet
As I talked about yesterday, I’ve spent the previous week in Mexico City, Mexico – which has an elevation of 7,500 feet above sea level. That’s roughly 2,000 feet higher than Boulder, Colorado…or, for those Floridians, that’s about 7,498 feet … Read More Here
A week in Mexico City
I’ve been spending the last seven days a bit south of the border, some 2,000 miles from Washington DC in Mexico City, Mexico. I’m down here for work, and while it’s kept me quite busy during the week – I … Read More Here
Isla Guadalupe Great White Shark Diving – Day 5
I woke up surprisingly late – around 9AM. Though, since we were just making the trek back to land, I wasn’t exactly missing much. Thankfully, the weather continued to hold up and made for an incredibly calm ride back – … Read More Here
Isla Guadalupe Great White Shark Diving – Day 4
Over the course of the night the boat moved a round a bit in an attempt to avoid some of the winds and swells that can make life on the boat uncomfortable. But, by time the sun rose we were … Read More Here
Isla Guadalupe Great White Shark Diving – Day 3
For some, the day started earlier than others. In an effort to get to a better shark diving spot after yesterday’s empty handed attempt, the boat pulled up anchor and started motoring north at 4:30AM. The film crew followed suit … Read More Here
Isla Guadalupe Great White Shark Diving – Day 2
Our day began with sunrise at sea, just after 6AM. We had been motoring east now for some 17 hours, making way towards Isla Guadalupe at a steady clip of about 10mph. However, while we slept, the ocean did not. … Read More Here
Isla Guadalupe Great White Shark Diving – Day 1
Our itinerary put together by Shark Diver called for us to leave San Diego around 6:30AM via charter bus. We’d then drive South about half an hour, where we’d cross the US-Mexico border before continuing onto Ensenada, Mexico – the … Read More Here
Gone…Great White Shark Diving
And now…for something completely different… With what turned out to be a very long triathlon season now in the books, I need some rest and relaxation before starting up for a very exciting next year. I went for a nice … Read More Here