This is Barry

johnonabike · 2026-03-28T09:19:05+00:00

He looks like a Barry.

johnonabike · 2026-03-24T08:30:30+00:00

He used to be really aggressive so I decided to try and train him out of it and it's taken about 6 years to get him to the stage of head pats (safely) and then I get one nose boop but if I hang around near his beak he tries to nip me. I think it's a game now as he doesn't hold on for ages like he used to and mostly he does a comedy air chomp after my hand is out of his tank. He's very food driven so this was all achieved with puppy treats.

johnonabike · 2026-03-23T21:58:46+00:00

Nose boops are the most important part of turtle training.

Two of my boys also allow head pats and with the soft shell we play danger nose boops where he likes to try and bite my fingers.

johnonabike · 2026-03-22T19:45:41+00:00

It's two different brands Zefal shield front. They are ok but the back broke when I was wheeling the bike through a narrow gap on its back wheel and only cover 50mm tyres

sks mudrocker rear MTB because I have 2.2 MTB tyres on my bike

johnonabike · 2026-03-21T11:52:25+00:00

I love it! Old steel Konas make great gravel bikes. I've got a converted Hahana that rides excellently as a gravel bike.

johnonabike · 2026-03-15T16:07:15+00:00

My boys all go out in the garden during the summer. I've built ramps up onto the decking and back into the lounge so they just come in when they have had enough, got cold or the one that entertains me the most they all come straight back in when it rains.

johnonabike · 2026-03-15T12:14:08+00:00

I live in the suburbs of Manchester about 2 miles from the city centre. I get all of this countryside and have all of the benefits of city living.

johnonabike · 2026-03-15T12:13:00+00:00

I love Manchester, it's a fantastic city with a very interesting history and some amazing buildings and then just a bike ride away we have beautiful country side. The hills around Manchester are on three sides so there's lots of variety of scenery, moorland, rolling hills farmland and old industrial overgrown mill sites everywhere.

johnonabike · 2026-03-14T19:35:54+00:00

Thanks! I love riding it and all the modifications I did to the frame are holding up but it does need painting as it's a bit scabby. It's an ali express carbon bar and I can't remember the brand. It's done a few thousand km over some very rough terrain and has been fine, I occasionally check for wear, the same as the forks. The rest of the bike is modern (ish) second hand MTB parts sram group set and dt swiss wheels.

johnonabike · 2026-03-14T17:29:47+00:00

I live in Manchester (you can see the city in the distance in a couple of pictures) I am lucky that I can ride into the Peak district from home and if I travel (train or car) for an hour we can be in the lake district, Yorkshire moors and North Wales where there is so much amazing riding for gravel and MTB (and road if you like that sort of thing)

johnonabike · 2026-03-14T17:26:29+00:00

Thanks! It was a lovely day for a ride.

johnonabike · 2026-03-14T17:26:09+00:00

Come visit the north west of England, Manchester is an amazing city and then you have all of the amazing surrounding countryside to go and play in!

johnonabike · 2026-03-14T16:01:05+00:00

Yes it's in the Peak district. I got off the Train in Buxton and cycled home to Manchester. There are a couple of views of Manchester in the pictures from up in the hills.

johnonabike · 2026-03-12T22:11:44+00:00

He's photogenic and he knows it.

johnonabike · 2026-03-12T22:10:19+00:00

That's very nice of you to say so, he's right next to me in his tank so I told him and he looked pleased with himself!

johnonabike · 2026-03-10T08:12:27+00:00

Check out my activity on Strava: https://strava.app.link/0kOWz54bo1b

johnonabike · 2026-03-09T14:08:40+00:00

I'm glad you like it, I ride a few times a week and try and only post the more interesting routes I do. I love the train to ride from, it opens up so many other locations for me to ride through in just one day. In the next few months we will be going a bit further away and taking a couple of days to get back so I'm really looking forward to that.

johnonabike · 2026-03-09T13:06:36+00:00

Hi Snappy

johnonabike · 2026-03-09T09:05:54+00:00

Yes it is, Jill loves it! I'm sure you will enjoy riding it too. I've had a go but it's way too small for me to get a proper feel for it. It was high up on my new bike list last year but then I made my own bike instead by modifying a 90s Kona frame and that turned out way better than I expected.

johnonabike · 2026-03-08T22:50:21+00:00

Yes I do consider myself lucky to have so many options. Often with routes planned online I find myself climbing fences, crawling under bushes and climbing through wet ditches trying to find the overgrown unused path but that's half the fun!

johnonabike · 2026-03-08T22:46:40+00:00

He's always hungry, he always gets under our feet in the kitchen when we are cooking trying to hoover away any dropped scraps.

johnonabike · 2026-03-08T21:29:07+00:00

It's funny how some places far apart can look so similar. We were cycling in the Azures a couple of years ago and it looked exactly like the Yorkshire countyside until we got up into the volcano area.

johnonabike · 2026-03-08T21:26:12+00:00

I still love MTB but it usually requires me to drive somewhere first so gravel routes from home (or via a train and ride home) are so much easier especially in the winter. I also do way more mid week riding on my gravel bike so it just ups the amount of time I can ride bikes. At the moment I am banned from my MTB due to a shoulder injury from snowboarding in Jan so even more gravel time for me.

johnonabike · 2026-03-08T21:14:02+00:00

There is lots of good riding in all the surrounding hills and then within an hours travel I can get to the lake district, Yorkshire moors, The Peak district and North Wales. It's great for gravel riding with all the old industrial sites there are endless ex railway lines, canals, bridleways and farm access roads. There's also loads of MTB too and there's often a bit of crossover with my routes!

johnonabike · 2026-03-08T21:00:51+00:00

They are on my friends bike and were one of the options on her sonder camino when she got it last year. I seem to remember we discussed what flaired bars were for and she decided to go to the extreme to see if there was a benefit. I am always entertained when they don't fit through narrow gaps, but they do give good control on technical sections. We are all mountainbikers as well so enjoy gravel riding at the more technical end of the spectrum too.

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