Nice piece of biking lore.

Back when I was doing a lot of bike touring, they didn't even have clip on shoes and pedals. Instead, we used toe clips, little baskets that attached to the front of the pedal. You slid your foot in, and you could tighten a strap if you wanted to make your foot "one with the pedal." But I didn't do that. I just found that the toe clips kept my foot from slipping around too much on the pedal -- and kept them from accidently slipping off. With toe clips, I could move my foot around a little bit during a long ride to adjust for minor pains. Also, it was pretty easy to yank my foot off the pedal when stopping in traffic. Racers would use stiff-soled shoes with a cleat on the bottom of each shoe that slipped onto the pedal rail, thus locking onto the pedal. Those shoes were highly impractical for touring, and it was even harder to get your foot off the pedal than today's clip ons.

I still use toe clips, even for the short rides I do these days, probably just for mental comfort.