Two hundred fifty years ago today, the Second continental Congress established the Continental Army. Heather Cox Richardson: "The First Continental Congress, which met in 1774, refused to establish a standing army, afraid that a bad government could use an army against its people. ... In 1775 the Battles of Lexington and Concord changed the equation. On April 19, British soldiers opened fire on (the Lexington militia) just as Patriot leaders feared they might." Eight militiamen died and nine were injured. One of the injured was Prince Estabrook, an enslaved black man, born around 1741, probably in Lexington. The law may have prohibited Prince Estabrook from training with the militia, but on that night, he answered the call. And two months later, recovered from his injuries, he joined the Lexington Company of the newly formed Continental Army, guarding the army's headquarters in Cambridge. In 1776, he served at Fort Ticonderoga, and in 1777-8 he guarded British prisoners of war in Cambridge. In 1781, he began three years of service in the Massachusetts Third Regiment. Prince Estabrook returned to Lexington after the war a free man, freed either by his former owner or by the Quock Walker cases that effectively ended slavery in Massachusetts. Prince remained with his former owner's family as a paid farmhand. For today's ride, I rode a couple of hard climbs I've avoided for some time. I've felt a lot stronger climbing lately, so I wanted to see whether I'd find it easier to climb from Jefferson Boulevard to the Baldwin Hills Overlook and from the entrance to Kenneth Hahn to the top of the pavement. And, no surprise, I found both climbs relatively easy. I was still very slow and near my max heart rate for the whole climb up to the overlook, the steeper of the two. But I was able to do it without stopping, so that's an improvement. Then I rode up Westwood Boulevard and Gayley Avenue to UCLA, where I passed lots of grads still in their caps and gowns! The traffic on Gayley was thick with people still heading in to the graduation events. Ugh. On Gayley down in Westwood, as I went through a green light at speed, an oncoming driver turned left in front of me and then panicked and slammed on his brakes, blocking the intersection. I was able to brake and get unclipped to stop without crashing into his car or falling over, but it was a near thing. On the way back, I rode down to Palisades Park to see the No Kings event I knew was scheduled there. It looked like a big turnout, with only a small police presence directing traffic. I took a picture and then turned back up to Fourth Street to navigate around the crowds. Credits: https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/june-13-2025 https://w.wiki/EUe5