We received the news that fellow member Kent Peppard had a major bike injury. The crash occurred in West Irvine, on a residential street southwest of Portola Pkwy and the Peters Canyon Trail.
Kent texted, “On October 8th while riding in a quiet neighborhood near my house, I was hit by a “hit and run” driver. I don’t remember anything about the accident until I woke up in the hospital”. (Ken is back on his bike - When Ken got back on his bike, he found his pedal clip spring on his shoe had failed - so he was likely thrown down while pedaling and NOT hit by a motorist after all - CHECK YOUR SPEEDPLAY CLEAT SPRINGS! ) “I broke my femur and had surgery. I broke my collarbone and I got a concussion. I am now staying in a Rehab facility and I will be here for two more weeks.”
Additionally, Kent suffered numerous, large scrapes. Needless to say, this sounds like it was a very serious crash. Kent is on the mend, but recovery will take “a couple of months”.
Many of us recently enjoyed Dr. Kent’s lecture on “the aging brain” at the September BCI General Meeting. Kent is a strong, experienced rider and is an asset to the club. Both by training and by nature, Kent is a positive person. However, he says he would appreciate cheerful texts from BCI friends to help him pass the time at the Rehab Facility so let’s make Kent feel supported and encouraged. Rather than post Kent’s phone/text number here, please email us at Benevolence@bikeirvine.org and we’ll provide Kent’s number. Thank you for your care and compassion.
June Update: Kent is back on his bike and has this cautionary tale to share!
“…I was riding on a quiet street with little traffic in front of an elementary school. I crashed and was knocked out. All I remember is being in the ER with two police officers talking to me. I spent two weeks in the hospital.
I thought it must have been a hit and run. Even the police suspected this. They told me they had looked around the crash site and saw nothing that could have caused the crash. It was only later when I was home that I noticed the spring on my left cleat was broken.
Cleat with failed spring…
Cleat is supposed to look like this.
The two photos show the failed spring and what the cleat is supposed to look like with the spring intact.
Speedplay says you should replace the cleats after 5,000 miles. I had easily over 15,000 miles on these pedals.
When the spring broke, my left foot went flying off the pedal and I crashed.
I had no idea this spring could fail. This should be a cautionary tale to anyone who is still using the old Speedplay X-series pedals.
Several years ago Wahoo bought Speedplay and modified the pedal design making it supposedly better and safer.
If people want to continue using the old X-series pedals they can still get cleat replacements on Ebay. Maybe best to go with the new Wahoo pedals.
I switched over to Shimano SPD SL pedals, which I like a lot.”
Kent Peppard
