Bicycle pedal and shoe

The combination of a bicycle pedal including a sleeve rotatably mounted on a shaft, a pair of connectors laterally spaced on said sleeve, said connectors being oriented to define a substantially concave arc facing outwardly from the pedal's rotational axis, with the midpoint of the arc being between said connectors, said arc being in the plane defined by the center of the arc and the pedal's rotational axis, a shoe having a reinforcing support plate imbedded in the sole of the shoe, a pair of laterally-spaced connectors secured to and extending downwardly from said plate, the connectors on the shoe being sized to move laterally into engagement with the connectors on the pedal in a manner to enable a rotational force to be applied through said shoe to said pedal through 360.degree. of pedaling rotation, the connectors on said shoe being oriented to define a convex arc such that normal pedaling action on the pedal produces lateral forces urging said shoe to remain centered on the pedal with the connectors interengaged.

A method of making a releasably interengaging connection between a bicycle pedal and a shoe to be worn by the person pedaling the bicycle comprising mounting connector means on the pedal and on the sole of the shoe that can be releasably connected and disconnected by substantially sideways movement of the shoe in a direction substantially parallel to the rotational axis of the pedal wherein the connector means mounted on the pedal define a concave curve facing outwardly from the pedal's rotational axis, said curve being in the plane defined by the center of the curve and the pedal's rotational axis, and the connectors on the shoe are mounted to form an outwardly facing, convex curve which mates with the pedal curve such that normal pedaling action creates lateral forces tending to center laterally the shoe on the pedal.