Went along + sent off my small bag by post. Got Scotsman + came back to breakfast. Cycled to Auchincruive + got the 9.37 to Mauchline.1 There I had nearly an hour to wait. Went to the village + bought a handkerchief. Had to change again at Auchinleck2 + got to Muirkirk at 11.15. Left 11.30 + came along well with a following wind. It was fair at first but mist on the hills. Got to Biggar at 2.45 + had lunch there. After leaving it began to drizzle heavily + I was very wet when I reached Peebles. Had to pump my back tyre several times. There must have been some very small punctures as I ran each time for 8-11 miles. Got home about 7.30. Met Jock3 near the Station + he pushed my bike up the O.B. Road.4 The run from Muirkirk was almost 70 miles + I averaged about 9.5 [miles] per hour.
1 Auchincruive, East Ayrshire, NS382,235, and Mauchline, NS499,272.
2 Auchinleck, East Ayrshire, NS549,220 and Muirkirk, NS696,274.
3 John ‘Jock’ Roberts (1904-1950), son of John ‘Jack’ Roberts junior and Agnes Amelia ‘Nancy’ Roberts née Muir. John married, 5 February 1929, at Haslemere, St Bartholomew, Surrey, Elizabeth Helen ‘Betty’ Muir, daughter of William Edward Muir and Logie Elizabeth Muir née Whiteway, thus his second cousin, Dr J S Muir was one of the witnesses. Jock died in a climbing accident
4 It is not clear if Dr Muir used the train for the last part of the journey (the mileage suggests perhaps not) so it is likely that he travelled from Peebles to Selkirk via Caddonfoot and Linglie and then ascended to Ettrick Terrace via Old Bridge Road, before presumably crossing over to Halliday’s Park, Chapel Street and Scott’s Place and thus home.
[Source: Scottish Borders Archives & Local History Service SBA/657/26, Dr J S Muir of Selkirk, medical practitioner, journal for 1923]
Rumbling Clint's Scottish Notes 