As somebody who's been hit a few times by cyclists, one time suffering long-term injury to my elbow, I feel like I've grown pretty attuned to getting out of the

As somebody who's been hit a few times by cyclists, one time suffering long-term injury to my elbow, I feel like I've grown pretty attuned to getting out of their way. Yet in Amsterdam I kept getting belled, yelled at, or pushed. The busier parts of Amsterdam along people's commute are really quite scary as a pedestrian, there's often not enough room for 2 people to comfortable stand side-by-side without getting a bell or a curse from overpacked bikes on similarly narrow bike lanes bleeding out from their designated lanes. In some of the narrower streets there often isn't even place for pedestrians to walk separated from cars and bikes, but bikes will act as if the entire area is theres. After a few days there I finally started to get the system. Because some areas have sidewalks and bike lanes at the same level, I noticed cyclists will often use the sidewalks to pass slower bikes. I realized then that just like in any other big city, you have to stand up for yourself and when a cyclist is on a pedestrian right-of-way and decides to get up in your face, you're completely within your rights to push back and kindly show them the edges of the bike lane they've left. It reminded me a bit of figuring out how to get around NYC. Outside of the cramped shared spaces in Amsterdam the aggression levels are understandably much lower and the separation between bikes and pedestrians is more manageable, and I never once had an issue elsewhere in the Netherlands.