I thought last weekend was pandepic. I was wrong. This weekend was far more pandepic! It was a deceptively hard ride given the elevation. But most of it was in Pleasanton Ridge where most of the climbs and descents were very steep and very loose. But the views were equally amazing. And on the way back the headwind was much stronger than anticipated. The wind wasn't too bad in the park but as soon as we left it and got back on the road - BANG! - right in the face! It was really bad in Coyote Hills along the Alameda Creek Trail and heading west out on the levee. On the levee there was a bit of an incident. A squirrel jumped out of one of the bushes right in front of me and immediately stopped, I guess realizing it couldn't make it across. I don't know if it was trying to turn around but what ended up happening is it turned into me and I ran right over it's little body with both wheels! Yikes!!! We had a much needed lunch stop at L&L Hawaiian BBQ in Union City. I don't know if I would've made it back without it. The last 15-ish miles my legs were pretty smashed and the headwind was adding insult to injury. A super fun ride in spite of that though.