CDA was my first IM, 2015. Beautiful place. If you want to stay close to the start/transition/village, then book a place in the downtown area. There is a large resort right there that is pretty nice, but we got a (relatively) cheaper room a couple blocks down the main street. Not a whole lot of options outside of the resort (which also sold out) so I would book early.

Single transition area. Wetsuit two lap swim. Two lap (double out and back) bike with some climbing but nothing too tough or over 1 mile length, good for spectators as you go through town twice on each lap. Two lap out and back run that goes through residential areas and marina where everyone is outside cheering you on. Both bike and run are probably about half shaded, half exposed. Super fun race atmosphere thanks to all the residents, definitely the best I ever experienced.

I think weather is typically fairly mild in June (80's), but 2015 was an anomaly that reached 106 degrees. Here's to hoping you don't have to deal with that!

Oof. 106 would be rough! How was the water in the mornings? Was it wetsuit legal?

It is typically wetsuit legal, but with the heat wave in 2015 the water temperature was increasing in the days leading up to the race causing some concern (I definitely benefit from a wetsuit!). But, it still ended up being wetsuit legal for AG.

CdA is an all time favorite of mine and I am so happy there will be a full there in 2021 (hopefully)! You must visit Hudson's Hamburgers on Sherman!

We stayed in Spokane, specifically a hotel called the Oxford Suites (near the river) and we loved it. The staff were super friendly and accommodating, and they had a happy hour/social hour every night with free drinks, finger foods.

It’s a good 40 minutes from CdA but it does let you separate from the race atmosphere and craziness, if that’s what you’re after. Plus all the comforts and availability of a city; restaurants, bike shops, naked coffee baristas, etc.

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the world's still turning? >>>>>>> the world's still turning

'15 was my first IM (been in tri since '85), Hot? Understatement of the year. in Retrospect my best IM, ever
'16 also hot - I sucked
'17 held in August, also hot. Changed the run to 3 loops (can't remember if they did 2 or 3 in '16). Managed to get the last slot to race again in mid Oct. yikes!

The lake is great, only Tahoe is close. I'd call the bike hilly, the climb on the southside going out of town is no joke (x2). I love climbing, and, I'm sure it helps somewhat with breaking up draft packs.

Re: the run; the "in town" part has lots of neighborhood positive energy. The parts where you run next to the lake will have you tempted to want to jump in and join folks on a boat enjoying some beers and cheering folks on.

Enjoy the journey.

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I saw this on a white board in a window box at my daughters middle school...
List of what life owes you:
1. __________
2. __________
3. __________

Hoopfest in Spokane often falls on the same weekend as IMCDA and can mean most hotels in Spokane are booked up early and the town is busy.
https://www.spokanehoopfest.net/

CDA can get busy but the town is pretty decent sized that its not overwhelmed by the Ironman crowd. Id probably suggest staying a bit farther from downtown if you want to avoid the race atmosphere all week rather than Spokane. Spokane is nice though if thats the route someone feels they want to go.

I've stayed in 3 different places:
1) CDA Resort--- Very pricey but cannot beat the location
2) Hampton Inn and Suites--Reasonable price--away from the hype. Need to drive to race as too far to walk.
3) Rented a House on a Lake 20 Mins away--Great spot but too far.

If I do it again in 2021, I will do Hampton Inn and Suites

Water can be VERY Cold

Ironman let you defer to this race, that’s awesome. I haven’t seen it open up yet. I haven’t actually seen it on their website yet either.

Does anyone know when this will open to the public?

I had heard a few months ago that it would open up July 1st, but that was before the madness and the schedule mayhem.

I've never actually done the full, but am from CDA and volunteered a bunch of times there. Will you be solo? If you're not, and want to save some cash, you could easily stay anywhere in CDA or Post Falls, or even Spokane or the Valley if you wanted to. Getting to downtown is quite easy, even on race morning, and there's plenty of dropoff options. For added quickness, take Government way or 4th Ave downtown instead of NW Blvd. As mentioned, the Resort is the best location, though I believe they're perpetually 10-20 years out of date and 20-50% overpriced for what they offer. They do have that unbeatable spot, though.

Hudson's is a fiiiiine burger, but for post race, hit up Meltz for great grilled cheese or Bardenay Restaurant & Distillery for some really great, somewhat unique food (though some complain about poor service.) Cafe Carambola and Garnet Cafe are always must-visits if you're in town (Cafe Carambola looks a bit iffy; trust me on it.) If you go to Garnet, get the trout omelet. For food, skip anything owned by the Resort. Skip Ceders, Beverly's, and Dockside.

It's a really great course in summer. Weather is typically nice, but yes, it has the chance of being brutally hot (though never humid.) Sadly, fire smoke is a possibility as well.

CDA is a great place to visit.

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JustinDoesTriathlon

Owner, FuelRodz Endurance.

Awesome. Thanks for the insider info. I may possibly be solo and leave the family at home.

There's typically tons of parking available on street, and you also have the McEuen and NIC lots/streets. It's typically totally fine even if you have to park yourself, I always just feel a bit reserved on saying "You'll be absolutely fine" because I don't want to screw your race morning. I will say that as a volunteer I always drove in and it was a non-issue in mornings.

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JustinDoesTriathlon

Owner, FuelRodz Endurance.

Funny. CDA was my first IM in 2017 and coming from Texas, I remember thinking how cold it was that morning. I was freezing the first 30 miles of the bike. Never thought about it being hot until the next day when I was walking around town and realized it was kind of warm. That being said, I think it did hit 90 on the run which is pretty hot but the air was dry and it was 10-15 cooler then I was used to training in.

There is definitely some solid climbing on the bike. They are longer, steady climbs of 0.5-2 miles. Nothing really short or punchy. You end with a fast descent back into town which is nice at the end of a long bike ride.

Run has one hill you do 3x. There is also some shade and a nice breeze alongside the lake as you go out to the turnaround.

Love that race and I may be back in 2021.

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Mark Saroni
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COACHING | TRAINING PLANS
MS Kinesiology | USAT LII | USAC L3

It can be hot or cold. If you're out to save $$, maybe stay in Post Falls. It took me like 13 min. to drive to CDA. I parked near the first run turnaround and walked like 3 blocks. I've done the race 3x, one of my favorite courses when I used to race Ironman distance. Post Falls saved me about 50% in room cost. Check into AirBnB too. It can be windy though, or not. We had rain all day and some cold 50'ish temps one year. It was perfect. People had arm warmers & jackets--I was like a fish in water loving the cooler weather. The water temp is crazy cold though--got to use neoprene socks ruling once. Numb out of the water--that was with a full suit and 2 caps, booties. Didn't care for the single line long sections where you couldn't pass though...got caught behind a lap 1 tourist on my 2nd lap.

If you do bring the family the spectating is pretty good and there are number of things to do around the area for kids. McEuen park is a good spot to watch the run. Lots of restaurants, coffee shops, ice cream places near by. If they are willing to jog across the park they could see you run by six times.

Silverwood is a fun theme park and water park. Lots of lakes nearby as well as short hiking trails. Sandpoint is a really nice small town about 45 minutes north which is worth a visit if your in the area. You could easily make a fun family vacation out of the trip for the Ironman

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Matt

It was also my first IM in 2015! I think it reached 110 degres on the marathon. I had tan lines for a year long after race.
Swim in a lake. Rolling hills on the bike.
I remember the run portion was soul crushing. Like 10k down, 10k up. Twice.

Great race in a small town. Logistics are much less stressful compared to a race taking place in a touristy spot like IMFRA.

Good luck, its a great race

CdA is one of my favorites, such a great area for a race. I stayed a few miles from town at the Best Western right off I-90 and it was easy to drive into town on race morning. I know the bike course has changed since I did it (2004); run course was awesome with the crowd support going through town and the sections along the lake. Enjoy!

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"You can never win or lose if you don't run the race." - Richard Butler

Anyone know when registration opens?