I'm a huge clipless fan and have been since clipless first came out but, as I mentioned earlier, I did my cross country with toe clips and straps. It worked just fine. Maybe I would have been more efficient with clipless.

Still after reading the arguments on this thread, I'm thinking I'm sticking with toe clips and straps or, more likely, try out power grips. I just like wearing (and riding) in my hiking shoes; for my 2d pair of shoes, I'll bring crocs or tevas.