'especially where the bikes can go contrary to the traffic.

We had quite a long discussion the other day about riding on roads where there are no sidewalks or designated bike lanes. I was always told when I was little to ride facing oncoming traffic. That way if a vehicle was coming at you there was always the option to run off the road and avoid being hit. The current traffic laws here say to ride with the traffic flow, making it impossible to see imminent danger. I still continue to ride against traffic on the more narrow roads and with the traffic on the wider ones where I feel there is enough room in the traffic lane for both car and bike. How do you handle the situation? (I know the most ideal thing would be to ride only where there are sidewalks or designated paths, but that is not always feasible)