**DISCLAIMER** This entry is probably pretty boring, but I thought I would put it out there in case anyone considering the race ever goes to Cambridge so that they could see the hotels and restaurants we went to on our trip.
We hopped a Southwest flight from St. Louis to Baltimore late Thursday afternoon and by the time we landed, got our bags, and picked up the rental car it was about 7PM and dark. I hadn't been to Maryland before, let alone the Eastern Shore, so I was disappointed that we couldn't see what was around us. We found a Boston Market and grabbed a late dinner just north of Annapolis before completing our dark journey to the Hyatt Regency Chesapeake in Cambridge.
Hyatt Regency Chesapeake
We checked into our room and watched some of the Falcons destroying the Bucs as we drifted off to sleep. I woke up around 6:00 because the walls in this hotel must be paper thin! I could hear the entire conversation of the two guys in the room next to us. Based on their sleeping pattern, I'm guessing they were triathletes.
Panorama view from the pier of the Hyatt
While Amy ran a few miles, I worked on packing up my gear into the bags that I would receive when I checked-in for the race - morning clothes, bike, bike special needs, run, and run special needs. I loaded them into a suitcase, and we drove into town, stopping for some breakfast.
When we arrived at the race site, we found that a number of the side streets were closed to non-resident parking (which was communicated to us previously), but we found several private options for parking in people's vacant lots. The lot we chose was directly across from the athlete briefing area. We were able to pay not only for 4 hours today, but all-day parking on race day.
10AM athlete briefing
I walked over to the 10:00 athlete briefing while Amy walked around the wharf area - she sat through most of the Louisville briefing, so there wasn't much for her to learn here. She also picked up her VIP wrist band which would provide her with preferred viewing spots and food during race day. She thought that wouldn't be necessary if you had a larger group or were tracking multiple athletes, but she said it was great for a single spectator.
Finish line under construction
After the briefing I went through the check-in process and loaded my bags. We walked the 0.75 miles down to transition and noticed that the City was ready to welcome Ironman. The lawns were mowed, streets were swept, and banners welcomed the racers.
Cambridge welcomes Ironman
When we arrived at the transition area, I went to Tri Bike Transport to pick up my bike which I had left for them at Big Shark in St. Louis the week before. The TBT guys attached my pedals for me and I found a shady bench where I could finish my assembly work - attaching carbon bottle cages, the saddle bag, bento box, etc. It was just after transition opened at noon that I racked my bike, dropped off my bags, and we walked back to the Ironman Village area. We checked out the merchandise tent and I got some ideas for things I would buy after I finished this race.
Bike components reattached - ready to ride!
Racked with about a half-inch of clearance for my rear tire - typcial
Lunch was at Jimmie and Sook's in the downtown area of Cambridge which I would recommend if you're ever in town. Amy had a crab cake which looked awesome, while I stuck with a roast chicken club. I was afraid to tempt the racing gods by eating seafood before the race.
Downtown Cambridge
Duct-tape art just up the road which marked one of the turnarounds on the run
By this time it was about 2PM. We went to Wal Mart to buy some food that I would be using during the race and went back to the Hyatt for a quick nap. Sadly, we hadn't received maid service by almost 4PM, so we walked down to the hotel's pier on the Choptank and watched the world go by. We got back to the room around 4:30 and rested for a bit before dinner at Stoked - a wood fired pizza and pasta place for my typical pre-race meal of pizza.
We were back to the hotel around 7, and I was asleep by 8:30 - ready for the adventure of the next day.
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