I played chicken with a fietser and won!!

The other day I was walking in the middle of the sidewalk, all by my lonesome.
Coming towards me, ON THE SIDEWALK, was a fietser. GRRR!

You may ask, "But, Robin, WHY was there a bicyclist on the sidewalk? Aren't there bike paths EVERYWHERE created and meticulously maintained SOLELY for bicyclists? What reason would a bicyclist have for being on the sidewalk?" Excellent questions. I'm very glad you asked. The answers to these questions are that the asshat would have been biking in the wrong direction if he were biking on the bike path and he was apparently too lazy to get on the other side of the car lanes so that he would be biking in the correct direction. (In case I hadn't mentioned it before, there are places where the bike lanes are in 2 directions and others where the bike lanes are in 1 direction).

My blood started to boil. WHY do they insist on doing this? I have to share the sidewalk with parked bikes, mopeds and cars (yes, cars parked on the sidewalk), construction equipment, outdoor seating at restaurants, and shop stands (e.g. produce stands, flower carts, etc) as it is. THEY rarely ever share the bike path with anyone. So, I refused to step aside. I just stood my ground and continued walking smack-dab in the middle of the sidewalk. I was banking on him being too afraid of being in the wrong to actually run into me.

Fortunately, I was correct. He swerved off the sidewalk onto the bike path just enough to get around me.

A small victory for pedestrians in NL!!