Day 2
Staunton To SHIPPENSBURG
218 Miles ~11,000 Feet
the Heart of the Shenandoah
Today is the day in the valley.
- Breakfast sandwiches, fruit salad, yogurt and granola, coffee, tea and juice available early.
- Today the climbing of Day 1 begins to relent.
- Cattle grazing in expansive pastures speak to the agricultural heritage of the Shenandoah as the breadbasket of both Confederate and Union Armies.
Local Food Not to be Missed
- Several local shops in Bridgewater for second breakfast.
- Sweet Shop Bakery in Shepherdstown.
- Battlefield Market, Sharpsburg.
A break from climbing..
- Lose about 1,100 feet of climbing slowly over the first 165 miles.
- The 60 miles from Winchester to Williamsport is some of the flattest on the ride averaging about 35 ft per mile.
- Cross the Potomac River into Maryland.
- Cross the Mason-Dixon Line as you pass into Pennsylvania.
- The valley changes names to the Cumberland Valley but the terrain remains rolling all the way to the overnight.
Shippensberg Ends the Day
- Dinner provided by the Amish Maplewood Farm Market
- Fresh baked goods! ‘Nuff said.
- Maplewood’s meats and cheeses allow you to mix and match dinner to your taste.
- Maplewood cookies and perhaps pie for dessert!
History on this day …
-
About 17 miles from Winchester you enter West Virginia (mile 362), the state that seceded from Virginia during the Civil War.
- Antietam is a solemn battlefield, more subdued then Gettysburg. This fits Antietam’s horribly bloody legacy, where more American soldiers died in one day than in any other war in our history. Our route touches the western edge of the National Battlefield, while we head north toward the Mason-Dixon Line and Pennsylvania.
-
Shepherdstown served as a hospital town when the Antietam battled raged five miles away in September 1862. On the way out of town you cross the Potomac River and enter Maryland.
