Killing shoes!

I never knew buying a pair of shoes could bring me closer to death(exagerrating a bit :P) than a ride in highest rollercoaster or the scariest bungee jump. Sitting in front of the computer, I was drowsily reading about Bezier curves, they seemed interesting but starting is always tough. I noticed a new mail in my inbox and switched windows. The new mail, from a member in Bangalore Bikers Club, read
"I had been Decathlon on Saturday to pick up MTB shorts and as I passed by the cycling shoe section happened to see 8 XC cycling shoes which was priced at Rs5,999 was being sold at Rs1,499..."

I jumped up! To hell with Beizer curves! "I am not going to miss this offer"!
I heard about these shoes on one of my cycling rides. Avinash and me were leading the group. We stopped for rest and he simple fell off the bike, just like that; ride, stop and fall. He smiled sheepishly and told me he forgot to "disengage the shoes". Taking a closer look at the shoes, I realised that when engaged, they stick to the pedals enabling the rider to pull the pedals too instead of just the usual pushing action. I resolved to buy them but canceled the resolution immediately when he told me the shoes had cost him Rs6000 and the compatible pedal set Rs1200, way beyond what I could afford!

Confirming the offer was still on, I suspended the computer and was off to Decathlon.
Within two hours, the bike and me were equipped and I was ready to try out the new accessories. Excitedly, I took a quick glance at the manual, read how to engage the shoes and sped away cycling. After struggling a bit, the right shoe got "engaged" and with a little lesser struggle, the left shoe got "engaged". The new cycling style felt good. Previously, cycling was like "right push... left push.. right push.." but now it became "right push left pull.. left push right pull...".
I saw a cluster of red lights a little ahead and slowed down, traffic jam! Suddenly, I realized I forgot to read how to "disengage" the shoes. I was slowing down but my shoes were stuck to the pedals! Struggling to free my legs, I watched in horror as a the tail lamps of a Honda City came closer and closer. I could not stop with my legs tied to the pedals! I would fall off!I decided to stop alongside the City and support myself with my hand on the car but maneuvering was going to be very tricky; the car was very close to the divider. When there were just a couples of meters to spare, the left shoe got free and I immediately braked hard coming to a halt. For a few seconds, I remained a bit shaken imagining what would have happened otherwise - fallen off, scratched the car, smashed against the divider? But soon I composed myself and burst out laughing. It was really funny to imagine myself falling off  because my legs were stuck to the pedals and I remembered Avinash's incident.

I crossed the traffic jam, practiced a little and picked up speed.
I am now pretty comfortable with my new shoes but questions still stare at me. Was it a wise investment? What if I had to brake suddenly? What if.. What it.. What if.. only time will tell :-).