Posting a lot of rides lately — it’s getting to be that time of the year. This is one I try to do every year:

It’s National Bike Month and once again the RTP foundation and Go Triangle are helping out with the annual Ride of Silence RTP. This ride is in memory of fallen cyclists and in celebration of those who have survived auto/cycle crashes.
WHEN: Wednesday, May 16th.
WHERE: RTP Headquarters 12 Davis Drive, RTP, NC.
TIME: 7:00 p.m. sharp.

This ride take place across the world at 7:00 p.m. We ride in complete silence, using only hand signals. Be sure to arrive early to air up your tires and for a moment of reflection. We will once again have a police escort. Visit www.msfits.org to get more info or www.rideofsilence.org to look at the national site for this ride. LET THE SILENCE ROAR!

Never have taken part in this, but the leader of the Raleigh Gyros posted this this morning, and thought I’d share the details:

Please join is in rural Lee, Chatham, and Moore Counties for a great ride. Roads built for cycling (no traffic), great rest stops, and a band at the end. You get to meet some of the denizens, have some CBC refreshments and lunch is provided by Cafe 121 (gourmet chef). The food is the best you will ever have on a ride!

New routes this year. Join us for a fantastic time!

When: Saturday May 12th (Every year, the first Saturday after Raven Rock)
Where: Deep River Park/Camelback Bridge just West of Sanford off Hwy 421
Times: Metric Century leaves at 8:30 AM
Half-Metric and 10 Mile ride leave at 9:00 AM

Registration and directions are at www.cara-nc.org

So the Triangle and its surrounding area is out of phone numbers. Saturday, we’ll all be forced to do 10 digit dialing — not much of a shock to the system for most, as most of the cell networks already required it.

The bigger annoyance will come in the form of an increase in wrong numbers — people needing to dial the new area code for the number but dialing 919 instead, and vice versa.

The new area code is 984 by the way. What a terrible area code to pair with 919.

I’d think with so many people dropping home phone service, there’d be plenty of numbers available. But then again, with many households having two, three or even more cell phones, I guess it makes sense we’re out of 919 phone numbers.

Get Ready for 10-Digit Dialing in the Triangle, NC Area

January 31, 2012 marked the only date on Kelly Clarkson Stronger Tour where she performed in North Carolina. Luckily, it was nearly in our backyard — in downtown Durham.

The location was for the Clarkson concert was the three year old Durham Performing Arts Center — a theatre-like venue with two balcony level.

We were lucky enough to be on the ground level — just ten rows from the stage.

The opening act was Matt Nathanson, whom I hadn’t heard of, but turns out he’s had seven albums, with a few hits like “Come On Get Higher” and “Faster.” His hour set included a lot of selections from his latest album, Modern Love. The tracks were good, though Nathanson dancing and gyrations were a little strange and distacting.

Kelly had a cool stage setup, consisting of a shallow front stage area that had a semi-transparent curved screen behind it that could be quickly be raised and lowered. Behind it, there were several cylindrical risers where the drummer, keyboardist and backup singers had a little elevation above the stage.

The set started out with the lullaby-like intro from Stronger‘s “Dark Side,” while tabloid-like headlines were projected on the large curved screen a la the Mr. Know It All music video.

The dynamic verses versus choruses of “Dark Side” were a perfect opening song. Right away, it was obvious Kelly Clarkson’s voice was as strong as ever, and she was going to do justic to the studio tracks from Stronger and her past catalog.

Kelly then belted out energetic versions of “Behind These Hazel,” “Eyes Since U Been Gone” and “Gone,” all from her 2004 Breakaway album.

Despite having five albums to draw from, Clarkson found time in the set to do three covers — all of which rivaled, if not beat the originals: Florence + the Machine’s “Heavy in Your Arms,” fellow American Idol alum Carrie Underwood’s “I Know You Won’t” and Sara Bareilles’ “Gravity.”

The band did great arrangements for all three covers, especially for “Heavy in Your Arms,” where the semi-transparent screen was brought down, while Kelly sang in the middle of the audience and the drummer played the march-like beat on a single drum — really neat rendition that made me a fan of the song — Kelly’s version more so than the original.

Another cool arrangement was a medley that featured an abbreviated of a track from each of her five albums, on this final night of January included “The Trouble With Love Is,” “Walk Away,” “How I Feel” and “I Want You” — all good choices and a good variation of ballads and upbeat tunes.

For her hit duet with country singer Jason Aldean, “Don’t You Wanna Stay” they again employed the curved screen — this time projecting a larger-than-life Aldean, so that Clarkson and ALdean could do a virtual duet. I wonder if Jason Aldean has a larger-than-life Kelly Clarkson during his concert? But at either venue — no offense to Aldean, but Clarkson really carries the song and makes it the hit that it is.

Between songs, Kelly was very entertaining and interactive with the crowd, exuding her down-to-home manner that’s always been evident in most any interview she’s done.

The concert was weighted heavily to the latest Stronger album, with Breakaway a close second. The only downside to having five successful albums is the setlist is never going to be able to include every song.

The encore was as great as the rest of the concert, with starting with a piano and vocal only “Never Again,” making it a bit more sinister, but very enjoyable. Clarkson even admitted the minimal arrangement made it sound even more evil.

She then ended the concert with three of her big hits over her still young career — “Because of You,” “Mr. Know It All” and “Miss Independent.”

The near two hour set flew by. There really weren’t any down moments, and Kelly’s vocals were spot on throughout. Song after song, Kelly exhibited a super-strong voice, a personable demeanor and evidence she’s got a long career ahead of her.

This was the second concert my wife and I had seen of Kelly’s. This one was markedly better, and makes us already anticipating her next appearance in North Carolina.

Amanda and I were lucky enough to see the Kelly Clarkson concert in downtown Durham last night after a long spell of not seeing a single show.

Our last was several years back. Just looking it up, it was more than several years — in fact it was our first Kelly Clarkson show in Charlotte back in 2005. Wow.

Anyway, I’ll write up a full review of the show in the coming days, but in the meantime, here’s the set list she played last night at the DPAC downtown:

Dark Side
Behind These Hazel Eyes
Since U Been Gone
Gone
You Love Me
Heavy in Your Arms (Florence and the Machine cover)
Gravity (Sara Bareilles cover)
Medley – The Trouble With Love Is / Walk Away / How I Feel / I Want You
I Know You Won’t (Carrie Underwood cover)
Don’t You Wanna Stay
Let Me Down
I Forgive You
Already Gone
Breakaway
You Still Won’t Know What It’s Like
Stronger
My Life Would Suck Without You

-Encore-

Never Again (Acoustic piano only)
Because of You
Mr. Know It All
Miss Independent

Great set. Quick stats on the breakdown of tracks per album (including the medley, but not the covers and the 1 yet-to-be-released track):
Thankful: 2 Tracks
Breakaway: 6 Tracks
My December: 2 Tracks
All I Ever Wanted: 3 Tracks
Stronger: 7 Tracks

Not surprisingly, Stronger — the newest album had the most tracks, but Breakway had almost as many, with My December and Thankful being under represented. As you get more albums, it’s bound to happen. More greats tracks have to be mothballed unless you do a monster multi-hour set.

My full concert review will be coming soon.

OK, April 21, 2012: Greensboro, NC. Who’s going with me?

Tickets go on sale for earlier dates on January 10th, so thinking the later dates should be mid-month.

Van Halen Tour Schedule 2012

A friend and former teammate of mine just posted this a minute ago and thought I’d share to my fellow cycling peeps—especially to those local to Chapel Hill, North Carolina:

The UNC Pediatric Hematology/Oncology clinic—i.e., the doctors who treat kids with cancer—are holding a fundraising ride on Saturday, September 24. It starts at McDougle Middle School, and there are both 50 and 28-mile rides. (There’s a shorter family-friendly ride, too.) It costs $50 to register, and you can also hit your friends up for donations.

Proceeds from the ride will support UNC Peds Hem/Onc’s mission to care for and cure all children with cancer and blood disorders in the state of North Carolina through pediatric cancer research, fellowship education, and other programs like cancer survivor college scholarships, and food and gas cards for out-of-town families.

I saw this on one of the cycling lists I’m on, and thought it was a cool idea, and wanted to get the word out there. A new restaurant in downtown Durham is doing some Tour de France viewing parties that can educate those new to professional stage-racing and us old pro’s.

Starting this Saturday, Bull City Burger and Brewery in Durham is hosting viewing parties for four stages of the Tour de France. It should be a great opportunity for viewers of all levels and backgrounds to have a beer and burger and enjoy the race together.

Check it out! Details follow:

This July, Bull City Burger and Brewery* will hold weekly Tour de France viewing parties. The events will be hosted by Rusty Miller, cycling coach and former professional racer, and Peter Hymas, production editor at Cyclingnews.com, the world’s biggest cycling website. Rusty and Peter will provide inside color commentary to supplement television coverage and provide topical mini-clinics and Q&A sessions during commercial breaks. The viewing parties are meant to be inclusive of cycling fans from the hard-core passionate to the merely curious. They will follow a No Spoilers format so that those who have not watched the live morning broadcast will be able to enjoy the suspense of the stage finish.

Selected stages and times are:

Saturday July 2nd at 7:30pm: A Tour Primer for the Casual Observer. 8:00pm: Stage 1, Passage du Gois to Mont du Alouettes. Today’s stage winner will earn the first yellow jersey of the race.

Friday July 8th at 8:00pm: Stage 7, Le Mans to Chateauroux. A classic sprinter’s stage with finishing speeds near 40 mph.

Thursday July 14th at 8:00pm: Stage 12, Cugnaux to Luz-Ardiden. The long-awaited first mountaintop finish will reveal who is and isn’t capable of taking the yellow jersey to Paris. And, it’s Bastille Day.

Friday July 22nd at 8:00pm: Stage 19, Modane to Alpe d’Huez. Perhaps the most storied mountain in the history of the race.

*BCBB is a new restaurant in downtown Durham featuring local pasture-raised beef and seven beers brewed on-site. With the exception of the Locopops, soda fountain, and Heinz ketchup, every item and condiment on the menu (from buns to mustard to pickles) is made fresh in-house. 107 East Parrish Street. www.bullcityburgerandbrewery.com

I’m a big fan of the Japanese automakers Subaru, Toyota and Honda. They’re all big companies, but Honda especially. Honda and Toyota have both gotten involved in robotics, but I believe Honda’s the first of the three to take take to the skies.

This one has a local angle too — with the plane being manufacturer about an hour west of here in Greensboro, NC.

I definitely will keep an eye on this project. If their planes are anything like their ground vehicles (cars and motorcycles), they’ll make quality aircraft that are reliable, efficient and affordable.

Honda Takes Flight

Missed this last year, but thinking I’ll be able to make it this year. Anyone else going?

Please remember to join us on Wednesday night – May 18th at 7:00 for the 7th annual Ride of Silence RTP

The ride starts/finishes at RTP Headquarters – 12 Davis Drive, RTP, NC. This is a NEW LOCATION.

This ride is in memory of fallen cyclists and a reminder to Share the Road. THis is a free ride that takes place annually around the world on the third Wednesday of May at 7:00 p.m. We will have a police escort by Durham Reserve Police and the ride is 7 miles long. Headlights are suggested, Helmets Required. We will leave promptly at 7 so please be there early enough to air up your tires and participate in a memorial moment before riding out. For more info on ride: www.rideofsilence.org.