What is really bad is when you see some schmuck riding his crappy k-mart bike cruising through an intersection with cars stopped at all 4 corners... (Generalization, I've seen it before, and I knew the person who did it)

I think a lot of people do what you do, if the coast is obviously clear, why unclip and stop, only to have to push back up to speed seconds later.

Although I usually slow to a speed where I am going very slow but still stable enough to not have to put a foot down.