You Deserve VIP Treatment

You wear sunglasses at night to protect your eyes from the flashbulbs of the paparazzi. . . You live on the side of the velvet rope others only dream of going to . . . You always score the best table at the hottest restaurants . . . and you want everyone to know you're a VIP at the Michelob Ultra No. 11 Katy 5K, but how can you do that?

Brand new this year is VIP Registration for $100. Sound steep for a 5K? It's not. It's the best value in town because it includes access to VIP area before and after the 5K with your own catered food and drink, a 2009 Friends of the Katy Trail membership, 5K entry, and a cool, limited edition Katy 5K running hat. As a bonus, it's limited to 150 participants. So sign up today!

D Magazine and Aeon Studio Love Us

Want a free circuit-training session? Want it at a super cool gym that looks out on the Katy Trail? Good news, you can get that at Aeon Studio. Click here to check out the details from D Magazine.

Did we mention Aeon is giving $50 to the Friends of the Katy Trail for every member who joins this month? Go check it out and our friend Ryan will make sure to pump you up, er, motivate you.

It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's . . .

The Bulldog Mobile Billboard for the Michelob Ultra No. 11 Katy 5K!

Feel free to wave at the truck and tell Rod thanks for promoting the Katy 5K with his cool mobile billboard truck.

Drinking Fountain Arrives at Dedo's

The drinking fountain that will be installed at the plaza near the north end of the Trail arrived on the scene last Friday. As you can see by the photo, the fountain is our standard three-tiered one with drinking bowls for adults, children and people in wheelchairs, and pets. The concrete to anchor the drinking fountain will be poured later this week, weather permitting.

Construction of the $200,000 Dedo's Place plaza is expected to be complete by the end of the summer. Go to the Friends of the Katy Trail's construction page for more photos of the project.

Fort Worth Going Bike Friendly

Fort Worth has rolled out a plan to become a Bicycle Friendly City by 2015. The plan includes making complete streets that are accessible to ALL forms of transportation users -- vehicles, bicycles, pedestrians, mass transit, disabled, elderly -- as well as requiring new development to meet city codes for bicycle accessibility and parking. They even plan to (gasp!) remove some parking and replace it with bike lanes and bike parking.

Check out our neighbor to the west's effort to solve their transportation and infrastructure problems and move their city into the 21st century.

Bike Oak Cliff on Saturday

Our friends at BFOC (that's Bike Friendly Oak Cliff) are having ribbon cutting for the Coombs Creek Trail on Saturday, April 18. Here are the details from their blog:

"The first leg of the paved Coombs Creek Trail has been completed and a ribbon cutting is set for tomorrow morning. We’ll try to arrive around 9ish in the morning, and will probably be riding in a small parade at 9:30 a.m. The trail is located at Kessler Parkway and Junior Drive (on the northwest side of Methodist Hospital). The best way to get there is to take Sylvan Northbound toward I-30. Kessler Parkway is the street before the highway. Go right (east) to Junior. There should be a good crowd out that can point everyone the rest of the way."

Here's a link to their website. KT says "check it out."

Question of the Month

Last month we asked you what you would spend federal stimulus funds on. The power-brokers down at City Hall must have been listening because the Council approved the submission of a $21 million grant request to finish the Katy Trail-Trinity Strand Trail-Coombs Creek Trail corridor. Now let’s keep our fingers crossed that the Feds like our trail plan, too. The grant will be submitted by the City in late summer.

However, paying the $1 million ransom to Dr. Evil isn’t part of that grant request, so the whole thing may be moot if he’s successful in his quest for world domination. But you were concerned enough to make Dr. Evil the third-most popular answer, and we appreciate that.

Here’s this month’s question:
What are you planning to do for Earth Day and/or Arbor Day this year?

Keep Your Helmet On

We just received a tip from the Mayor of McKinney Avenue (who knew there was one?) about DPD officers issuing tickets to bicycle riders who are not wearing a helmet. As KT said on a recent answer in the Ask KT section of our website, it is a City of Dallas code that cyclists wear helmets. So be forewarned that DPD can give out a ticket, which comes with a $147 fine.

So unless you're willing to challenge the law, or your head is harder than concrete, we suggest you wear a helmet at all times when on your bike. This goes for inline skates as well.

Report Quality of Life Offenses to DPD

DPD has asked us to help them identify locations where you consistantly see any Quality of Life Offenses. Here's what Lt. Lewis said in an email to us earlier today ...

"With the weather becoming more pleasant and more daylight to enjoy it, there may be a noticeable increase of quality of life offenses such as panhandling, sleeping in public, public intoxication, homeless encampments and urinating in public. I am seeking your assistance in identifying locations that tend to have a chronic problem with such offenses. Please at your earliest convenience e-mail me with any locations you are aware of that need police attention in the Uptown area."

If you know of any specific locations like this, particularly on or around the Katy Trail, please email Lt. Lewis at ricky.lewis@dpd.ci.dallas.tx.us.

What's Your Fav Trail Event?

The Rails to Trails Conservancy asked its members that question in March and listed some of the responses on its website this month. Guess what event topped their list? The Michelob Ultra Katy 5K, of course. The RTC site even ran two photos from last year's event. Check it out.

Obviously, you don't want to miss the Katy 5K this year. The annual event takes place Thursday, May 14 at 6:30 p.m. If you haven't signed up yet, click here to register online today.

New Construction -- Dedo's Place

The contractor working on the plaza near the north end of the Katy Trail is digging trenches to install the irrigation line that will add a new drinking fountain to the Trail. Expect to see that work this week and early next. The hope is they will begin to pour the new concrete for the primary trail by then end of the week of April 13. The photo shows the forms that have been put in place to support the stained concrete that is part of the plaza. Expected completion of the $200,000 project is this summer. Remember, always check out the Construction Updates page on the Friends of the Katy Trail's website for more details and additional images of the construction progress.

This is a Freaking Cool Calculator

In case you were trying to figure out how green you really can go (while even losing some weight) or you're looking to waste some time at the office, check out this super cool calculator that tells you how much you can save by biking to work.

Dallas Police Department Events

Our friends at the Dallas Police Department sent us an email about two upcoming events that we think you should mark on your calendar. The first is Volunteers in Patrol training on April 11th. Volunteers in Patrol are trained by DPD in order to be a more effective version of neighborhood watch. On April 11th, DPD will teach volunteers how to spot suspicious or criminal activity in their neighborhood. The second event is the Central Patrol Division’s quarterly crime summit, on April 16th.
If you want to learn more information about the events, visit their website at http://www.blogger.com/www.cepatrolcrimewatch.org.

Construction Signs Installed

Just so you can't miss the location and reason for the big mess on the north end of the Katy Trail, here's a shot of the new signs that were installed on both ends of the construction zone. Sure hope we make that construction completion date despite all this rain.