Originally Posted by
TenSpeedV2
Riding barefoot or in sandals is a bad idea. Why? I used to think it was alright, you know, just down to the beach or whatever. One day I am doing a casual slow ride on an MUP with a friend. Out of nowhere, as I passed a family, the dog lunged out and clamped down on my foot. What kind of dog? Pit bull. She was wearing open toe sandals, I had cycling shoes on as I clip in to all of my bikes. I am glad that it was me and not her that was attacked. After that day, I swore that I would never wear anything but appropriate footwear while riding. To this day, I swear I can still feel the heat of that dogs mouth on my left foot. Luckily the family managed to pull the dog off before any real damage was done.
I do appreciate everyones comments. And humor. I will rethink the barefoot thing. But I have to admit I never thought about a dog clamping down on my foot, though I would imagine if he/she took an interest in making a piece of me a snack, the pedal I was using wouldn't matter much when my ankle or calf would be readily available no matter what pedal I was using. Personally I don't like clipping my feet into anything. I don't care how adept you are at getting out of them, clips are still dangerous in live traffic. So I was looking for some sort of happy medium. These platforms are comfortable as well as functional and serve my needs regarding fitness. They perform very well at speeds exceeding 12mph.