On this date in 1945, thousands of delegates from around the world, their staff, and thousands of reporters arrived in San Francisco to convene the United Nations Conference on International Organization, to create the United Nations. Read Heather Cox Richardson's column for the history of how the U.N. was created, starting with FDR and Churchill creating the Atlantic Charter in 1941, declaring that "countries should not invade each other and therefore the world should work toward disarmament, and that international cooperation and trade thanks to freedom of the seas would help to knit the world together with rising prosperity and human rights." https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/april-24-2026 I grew up with those values, and even though the U.S. has often failed to live up to them, I'm terrified now to see its leaders explicitly work to set the world on a more hateful course. Image: Wikipedia User Superbass Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike https://w.wiki/MFfF Today's ride was great, despite cold, heavy clouds, and light rain. It'll teach me to carry an extra layer when the forecast is like today's. At least, the ride was great for the first 25 miles, to the top of Mount Madonna Road. I was riding with Peter Jones, who I haven't run into for years. He was very supportive. Today he came back for me when I disappeared, having stopped to take an emergency phone call. (All's well.) I felt great at the top of Mount Madonna, having climbed it slowly in the rain but with no discomfort. But a mile later, I caught up with Peter fixing a flat. We tried everything. Both bikes' tools and spares spread out on the pavement. But Peter's spare tube wouldn't hold air, and mine wouldn't fit his rims. And it was much colder up there, windy and raining, and soon we were both shivering. We needed to get out of there. So Peter called Maura for a rescue and suggested I go back down Mount Madonna instead of 152. I hated to leave him there, but Maura was at Pinto Lake, not far away. The route down and back to Pinto Lake was the hardest five miles I've ever ridden. I was already dangerously cold, and the descent is tricky. But soon I was back at Pinto Lake, stumbling around, and Peter and Maura arrived. Whew! We had burritos and I struggled to stay awake driving back to Santa Cruz. A good learning experience: I can handle stuff like this. And I can carry a little more gear to make it easier next time!