Memory Tapes: Lands’ End To John O' Groats via The Three Peaks – The Fellowship of the Chainring

Remember you can send your Memory Tapes anytime to lauren.6music@bbc.co.uk. That's exactly what Nick Knorr did on his bike ride around the hills of Britain. It was all for charity don't you know and it sounds like it was a real adventure, complete with breakdowns, horrifying weather of biblical proportions and group splits. There was also elation and, thankfully, Nick has very kindly provided us with the soundtrack to his travels: 

"In June 2014 three friends (Nick, Jon and Rich) set off on bikes to tackle Britain’s longest end-to-end bike tour and, as if this wasn’t hard enough, we also decided to add walks up the highest peaks in England, Wales and Scotland. This made the journey longer and harder, but it was about a personal challenge but was also about raising money for charity. The choice of charity came about because Jon had recently lost a good friend to Leukaemia and his positivity and work with the Anthony Nolan Trust was inspiring. Why the Fellowship of The Chainring? Well a chainring is a fairly critical part of a bike and Rich is a bit of a role playing geek and insisted not only on the Lord of the Rings link but also giving us character’s names which were printed on our sponsorship tops!

I am a music fanatic amongst other things and had my MP3 loaded with as much great music as I could so I could each day pick a track to summarise that days experience and one final track to summarise the overall experience. We set up a website where you can find out more about us and the ride we did here to find out more." 

"So here are the songs from my memory tape of this extraordinary trip and a little bit of explanation:

Day 1

Lands’ End to Holsworthy

Track: Ride- Sennen

Riding through Sennen and remembering many, many nights sat listening to John Peel, and on one of those first shows hearing this beautiful noise at a time when I was relatively young and starting out on life’s great adventure. But also the memory of those loved ones now gone but never forgotten, which is partly why we came to be riding through Sennen in the first place.

Day 2

Holsworthy to Weston

Track: Orbital- Somewhere Out There (Part2)

From my favourite Orbital album, this track is an undulating soundscape that perfectly matches this changeable day from a bright start to a doom filled water drenched blissed out end. We then arrived in the sunshine to meet friends and have well deserved food and drinks at the local pub. At times, it was hard to see that the road was “somewhere out there” given the torrential rain, but all ended well.

Day 3

Western to Bishops Castle

Track: Jnr Walker And The All Stars - Roadrunner

This was a wonderful day of sights, sounds and sun and made me imagine that a life cycling the roads wouldn’t be a bad thing at all. The day ran into the night and we ended up pitching our tents in the blackness of night, having had a few drinks in the local, truly bohemian pub.

Day 4

Bishops Castle to Llyn Gwynant

Track: The Cure – Boys Don’t Cry

…but we nearly did as Rich’s bike fell apart bit by bit while we were hammered by rain, hail and wind. A late night arrival, but only two of us made it on bikes so not a great day, but a pretty good song to sum up the emotions.

Day 5

Snowdon Walk

Track: Radiohead – Subterranean Homesick Alien

From one of the best albums of all time. A melancholy song of longing for a suitable day where we were missing one of the fellowship and I was reminded of when Joe (my son) and I had walked the same mountain a few years ago. I missed him so much after only a few days away.

Day 6

Llyn Gwynant to Heskin

Track: Smiths – The Boy With The Thorn In His Side

The Smiths at their finest and my favourite song of all time. This was a day of hot, hot sun and many hills which made for tough going. Rich had got his bike sorted the day before and the fellowship was once again united. The song reminds me of many things as we cycled close to the home town of a long lost and dearly missed friend. My best friend Sean and our heady days of youth; true friendships are hard to find and when Sean was lost at a terribly young age, it had a profound effect on my life. Equally the song could have been written about me and the fellowship as we arrived late at another campsite and I really lost my sense of humour!

Day 7

Heskin to Great Langdale

Track: Len – Steal My Sunshine

After the day of sunshine before, this was an overcast day but, thankfully, we started in great spirits. The day closed with an ill-advised celebratory drink in Ambleside, still several miles from the campsite. As a result I was temporarily floored (literally) while I recovered from what became known as the Ambleside mix!

Day 8

Scafell Pike Walk + ride to Glen Ridding

Track: The Verve – Gravity Grave

An early classic from The Verve, the title of which summed up a day which started with a very strenuous walk up Scafell Pike and ended with an equally strenuous ride up Kirkstone Pass. Suffice to say that we all felt the full effects of gravity’s pull, but we had the company of good friends on the walk and the promise of a house and a bed. A great day that couldn’t even be ruined by England’s awful first World Cup match.

Day 9

Glen Ridding – Glen Midge

Track: Rem – Shiny Happy People

A fairly lazy day with a late start, massive breakfast, clean clothes and great company thanks to our being put up by Steve and Sarah. A happy day full of shiny happy people.

Day 10

Glenmidge – Luss

Track: The Leisure Society – Save It For Someone Who Cares

This is a darkish song for what was a very long and very hot day of toil on the bikes. This was made worse by some rather busy / dangerous roads and crazy drivers. The fellowship was straining towards the end of the day, resulting in my temporary departure from the fellowship, but we were reunited at the campsite and the tension was drowned in the pub.

Day 11

Luss – Fort William

Track: The House Of Love – Destroy The Heart

Today was my 45^th birthday and what a morning on Loch Lomond. The scenery all the way to Fort William was breath-taking and the weather made for great riding. It makes me feel 20 years old again, so what better song than one that makes me feel young every time I hear it. We ended the day in the Ben Nevis inn listening to a traditional Scottish band while the sun never seemed to quite set!

Day 12

Ben Nevis Walk

Track: Money – Bluebell fields

One of my favourite songs from last year. This is a majestic and hauntingly mesmerising song that matched the views we had, on what was a hot and clear day. The view from the top of Ben Nevis is as breath-taking as the song and well worth the hours of effort we had to put in to get there and back.

Day 13

Glen Nevis to Tain

Track: Embrace- Fall All The Good Good People

This was a dull day weather wise and accumulating fatigue was beginning to have an effect, but we met some amazingly generous and quite unexpected people along the way. For me, it was quite simply life affirming and returned my faith in human nature, so this song is for all the good, good people who took the time and made the effort to sponsor and encourage us. This adventure was about trying to help others and I have been touched at how generous and genuine people can be.

Day 14

Tain to John O’ Groats

Track: David Holmes – 69 Police

The last day of our adventure. It started with us getting caught up in a police escort, so to match the feeling of elation at nearing the end and the friendly encounter with the police, what better song is there? The last few miles is always the hardest and Lands’ End to John O’ Groats is no exception. We struggled through sheets of driving cold rain but we made it. And when we got to the end the cloud lifted and the sun came out to what is an end to an amazing adventure.

Track to summarise the whole trip

The The – This is the Day

It’s over 30 years since this gem was released and it’s as relevant now as it was then. From one of the albums that kick started my lifelong love of music a song that offers two polar perspectives from the time I first heard it as a 13 year old. I didn’t understand the lyrical emphasis but was amazed by the song’s subtle beauty. I understand only too well the sad and reflective nature of the song and the feelings it evokes (surely the same for most people as they grow older) and yet there is a message of great positivity. It says if you want to change something you can, we all make mistakes or wish for a past that is gone, but it’s what we do after we move on that defines us. It’s never ever too late to make a difference, so that’s what we, and all those who helped and donated, did. What a great experience!!!!!"

“Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened” – Dr Seuss