I like your off road diversions, sorta "gravel-like"...which is cool to me. I sent the shoes AND the straps back to Amazon. I can't walk across my laminate floor w/out slipping and nearly busting my a#@...Screw it their gone. And the cheapa#@ straps are hard as heck to get into once I'm on the bike...Their gone as well, same as the overpriced styrofoam helmet. Jeez I saved over $100 send all the useless junk back! I want some cheap cycling shoes I can actually walk in and I'll just get some clips or something.
I still am will always be a street cyclist...I just am not made for nor am I interested in endurance events. All I need is my cheap HourPlus light road bike, and some cars to dodge.
Those kind of cycling straps should be made from some super thick ballistic nylon so they hold their shape and are easy to get into. They'll cost more, but they'll last a really long time, Cinelli makes a pair called Kink, the kind I used for a long time were from Ynot, R.E. Load makes some too. The Ynot's I had lasted for 7 years, and they were still functional after all of that time, just ugly and frayed. But it sounds like you might benefit from using a clipless set up.