80’s clear, light breeze from the west to northwest At about 4-5 miles in I was diving around a curve at the bottom of about a 40 ft drop in the trail when a young female squirrel 🐿️ leaped out of the brush and grasses to my left and dove right into my front wheel. I had no time to react at about 24 mph and leaning to the right to keep an eye on anyone coming my way. The squirrel flipped around inside the spokes 2 revolutions of the wheel then came out and did a face plant on its front teeth and nose… I shut the bike down and did a Uturn to see if it was ok? It was not… it was struggling to breath for about 5 breaths after I got to it while laying on its back with blood running from its mouth and nose…. Then I saw its spirit leave its body, then its bladder let loose its contents and no more breath… I felt and still incredibly sad 😭. As an INFP I feel everything with every fiber of my Being. I stood in silence just feeling the permanence of a life snuffed out. A blood line ended… A little vibrant soul that some other squirrel person will grieve the loss of. I don’t think she’s had any babies. Her breast didn’t appear to have suckles little ones yet. I eventually moved her little body off the trail to the area she was headed for… Took a few more deep breathes & remounted. Awkwardly but as gracefully as I could muster, shifted down to a much lower gear to climb back up the other side of this drop in the trail. As I regained momentum l felt my soul lettingg go of what happened and refocusing upon the task at hand of completing the taper session. I was just a couple of miles from the Norco end of the trail and by the time I’d I turned around at Arlington, I passed a guy on an e-bike with a throttle and it was game on. He came up from behind and stepped into more watts than the plan allocated and dropped him quickly. I backed off after the city sewage treatment plant and saw him coming back full throttle. So I stepped into the watts again to keep him a hundred yards back until I reached Jurupa which is my exit from the trail. Dancing with him left me with about 10 minutes left on the taper session clock so I spin down to Brockton and over to Central within the programs recommended wattage range and the clock times out 100 yds from the turn in for my cottage community. Sorry Ms Squirrel 🐿️ may your body feed a hungry coyote or bobcat and your soul come back as another squirrel lady to live out what you didn’t get to this time around 👁️😔💔❤️‍🩹