Saw by the weather report that I could gain about 10 degrees by riding south from DC to Yorktown/Williamsburg/Jamestown, so I hit the road early. I did the Colonial Parkway mostly, which is as bone-jarring as usual, but still a nice flat ride. On the way from Yorktown to Williamsburg there was an unpleasant detour that got me onto some pretty heavily trafficked roads. On the way back I decided to take my chances and sneak around the detour barriers. It was a good decision. I had the road all to myself for about five miles, and the only problem was one small unpaved section, and a spot where an ice sheet covered the whole road for about 20 feet.

The parkway has a canopy of bare tree limbs that cover the road. I had a really cool encounter with a bald eagle that was flying UNDER the trees just ahead of me on the road. I chased it for at least a couple of hundred yards, as it was just above and ahead of me. Beautiful!