Sunday while Thomas and I were are out hiking in the Shed we come upon a single track of hoof prints on Viper. We were hiking up the trail toward Gambrill Park Road and the tracks were in the opposite direction toward Blue. The prints were surprisingly small. I was interested by these and what they meant so Thomas and I payed attention to them - studied them. A lone rider, on a small horse, going one direction with no turnaround. There were the usual rocks turned and deep holes were the soil was soft. I kept hoping that we would see prints in the other direction, a sign that the rider had been thwarted by the rock sections below and wouldn't be back. No such luck.
This 4th of July holiday weekend began with a blast. David Kegley, mastermind of both the Fugly Dog and the Double Dog, had planned something special this year - the Mega Dog. The Dog series has began a couple years ago and while each one is unique they all begin at the Dogfish Head Brewery in Gaithersburg, MD, all are mixed-surface rides, and all involve cyclo-cross bikes. As the name implies, the Mega Dog, was to push the envelope of what is fair and decent in a mixed surface ride.
A mixed surface ride means that we will be riding on pavement, gravel, double track, and singletrack. I decided to ride down to Gaithersburg from Frederick and left my house at 7:30am. Knowing that the ride was leaving DFH at 9:00am this gave me 1 1/2 hours to get to the ride. I decided to take a straight shot down 355 - no traffic, lots of rollers, and 28 miles later I rolled into Gaithersburg with time to spare. After a quick stop by the local Starbucks to refill my water bottles and grab some espresso I met the rest of the gang in the DFH parking lot at 8:58 am. Our crew was comprised of David Kegley, Jon "Baler", Jay Williams, Todd Bauer, and I. Shortly after 9 we quickly left the asphalt behind for the first of many trails. This one led us around Seneca Creek towards Schaeffer. 
After burning a mostly-complete lap around Schaeffer we took some time to ride the big logs near the parking area where David snapped this nice picture of Jon on the log. 
We refilled our water at the MoCo Soccer complex and took some connectors/greenways up to another lake and on to Sugarloaf Mountain. At Sugarloaf we rode some technical singletrack, doubletrack, got caught in a brief thunderstorm, and again filled our water bottles. Here is Jay ripping it up near Sugarloaf.
Here is our leader, David, tanking up again at Sugarloaf.
We hit Little Bennet, Hoyles Mill Connector, the Greenway, some more gravel, and a little pavement coming back into Seneca Creek. I would say that there was far more singletrack on this ride than any of us anticipated. The group ride ended up being 75 miles long and taking 9 hours and 45 minutes - adding the 28 and 1 1/2 coming down and it was a 103 mile 11 1/4 hour ride. My longest day in the saddle to date - pretty much a 12 hour solo.
These roads are also on the Bay Country Century ride and feature miles of single-lane paved roads with little traffic.
Advertised as a "B" ride. I spent some time at the front to insure that I wasn't out riding all day. After the second rest stop I decided to go it alone and pulled the tattered cue sheet from my pocket to wrap up the last 20 miles of the club ride. 
Back at Southern HS on Route 2, I headed north to Annapolis pretty much a straight shot with a few rollers.
Downtown Annapolis was pretty busy. I rode down to "Ego Alley" to grab an espresso.
There was a persistent headwind for most of the day - especially crossing over the bridges.
This is the view out toward the Chesapeake Bay from the Naval Academy Bridge.
I spent a few miles on the Baltimore - Annapolis rail trail on the way back to my in-laws house.
Finally this private path takes me from the rail trail over to Old County Rd. where they live.
Here is the view after 81 miles - pulling into the driveway for some wiffle ball, frisbee, hot dogs, fireworks, and family time.
The best Father's Day so far.
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