I recently went to a Confident City Cycling class sponsored by the League of American Bicyclists and the instructor said that it's always a bad idea to go against traffic. He also said to stay off the sidewalks as much as possible even though in VA you are allowed to be on the sidewalk. Overall, he said the two aforementioned actions are highly dangerous. I'm still trying to get my confidence to stay off the sidewalks. Slowly but surely, right?