Unspoiled

I rode that singleswizzle thing hard, I guess. I’m hoping it didn’t set me back too far.

There’s a time to ride easy and a time to not ride at all. But I miss my big bike and the technical trails.

Sometimes it’s just about getting out. I’ve been doing a bit of trail work. After yesterday at Tucson Mountain Park I came back to a note on my windshield:

The Resort has been designed to preserve the unspoiled natural beauty of our Tucson Mountain Park setting. The absence of large paved areas has allowed us to sustain the biological corridors that flow through the Resort and ensure breathtaking views from our guestrooms. These conservation efforts reflect the spirit of the JW Marriot Starr Pass Resort & Spa.

To preserve the natural beauty of the resort, we request that all parking be either valeted or self-parked at the country club.

HAHA. I couldn’t stop laughing when I read that. The irony just knocks me out.

Never mind that they leveled untold acres to build the gigantic hotel that looks like it belongs in Las Vegas, not the Tucson Mountains. Never mind the dozens of golf holes they have at Starr Pass.

What really kills me is that the actual hotel sits on top of what used to be almost a mile of pristine 1-track–a favorite trail of mine, in fact. I alerted the county about the about-to-be-clobbered trail, and access to it has been preserved, minus said first mile.

So excuse me while I vomit in laughter at being scolded for not using valet parking at their fancy resort, in the name of preserving the natural beauty of the area. All while we are building a trail to replace the one they destroyed.

So it goes in the Sonoran Desert (and elsewhere, too). Development always wins. Conservation efforts of the JW Marriot? Please. It’s great that they didn’t build a massive parking lot, yes, but it would have been even better if they hadn’t built anything at all.

AZT work tomorrow.