Yesterday I could FINALLY take The Beast out for a ride again, after two months of absence. One crank was loose, so I had to tighten it properly:
Oh well. Riding The Beast again was just wonderful. Swoooosh! I canāt believe I have ridden my 29er all this time. Why do people still ride these tiny wheels outside the trails?!
I zoomed along Oslos main river Akerselva and was surprised by how short all distances suddently felt. I went all the way upstream to Nydalen - a nice urban junction I love riding past - and started riding home again.
(Archive photo of Nydalen with my 29" Micromachine)
As I approached the gate of De Norske GjƦr og Spritfabrikker A/S (Norwegian Yeast and Liquor factory) I hit my head on the gate and UPDed.
Maybe this is why people ride 29ers - you sit quite high on a Coker!
It was getting darker and I kept riding and exploring the opposite side of the river. Then I saw a place I had never seen before. How could I not have been here before? Was this a branch of the river? Unlikely.
I came to a place that had a park with some architectural elements and a bridge that reminded me of a place on the other side of the river called Badebakken. Intrigued, I wondered if this could be the bridge over to Badebakken with some mirrored elements.
To my surprise Badebakken was not across the bridge. Just another place I had never seen before. How was this possible? Where was I? Had I entered another realm or something? How hard did I even hit my head? 
I just picked the downstream direction and kept riding. After a short ride I suddently realized where I was. I was at Nydalen again. How was this possible?? How the heck could I have ended up upstream of Nydalen? At least this explained why I did not know where I had been?
As I rode through Nydalen I suddently realized what was going on. I was actually riding upstream and not downstream. Earlier when recognizing architectural elements from Badebakken, I happened to actually be at Badebakken, but in the believe that I was on the opposite side of the river.
My false believe was so firm that I didnāt recognize all the familiar places as they were all kinda flipped the other way around. They just didnāt fit somehow. And it being dark sure didnāt help.
I had somehow crossed the river without noticing right after hitting my head at the gate of the Yeast and Liquor Factory. Or I might have blacked out and someone carried me and my Coker across? I will never know! 
It is still crazy to think about how I rode around in familar surroundings without knowing where I was, and not even noticing riding upstream instead of downstream.
I blame the blinding speed of The Beast!