BEFORE the days of carbon-fibre frames, lycra and helmets designed by the makers of Star Trek, Hawick's Ken Laidlaw was cycling his way around the world, picking up as many honours as he could on his travels.
Ken, now aged 65, moved to Savannah, near New York, in 1963 with his wife, Theresa. He now has three grown-up children and four grandchildren, and has settled down to a new way of life.
Last weekend Ken and Theresa returned to Hawick on a whistle-stop tour of Europe. I caught up with him on Monday, just before he left for Newcastle to meet an aunt he hadn't seen for 50 years. Although a little thicker round the middle and a little thinner on top and speaking with a slight American accent, he still has the same twinkle in his eye and is remarkably fit-looking for his years.
Hardly surprising after he revealed: "I completed a 400-mile tour back in July. It was very difficult for me, I find it hard to come down to the slow speeds".
On Saturday night, Ken met up with all his old cycling friends at the home of fellow cyclist Bill Ponsford where he was presented with the new Scottish Cycling jersey. He said: "We had a lot of laughs and there was a lot of reminiscing. Getting the jersey was a real surprise and I was really touched. I kept most of my old ones, but the moths have had some of them."
Born in 1936, Ken began racing with Hawick Cycling Club at the age of 15. In 1957 he entered national service after serving an apprenticeship as a joiner. Based in Catterick, North Yorkshire, Ken used to go back home for weekend leave and cycle back down again in time for guard duty on a Monday.
He recalled: "I travelled thousands of miles on that road and got to know it like the back of my hand".
His first break came in 1958 when he was selected to ride for Scotland at the Cardiff Empire Games. In the same year he finished eighth in the Tour of Britain Milk Race and fifth in the Isle of Man International. In 1959 he competed in the Tour of Tunisia and Sweden.
Ken was selected for the British Olympic cycling team for Rome a year later.
In 1996, he went to watch the Atlanta Olympics and was surprised to see there was not much difference. "The bikes are lighter, but they are the same structure. They were all steel then, there was no carbon or aluminium. It gives them about five miles an hour more".
Later the same year (1960), he finished 16th in the World Amateur Road Race in Leipzig, only 22 seconds behind the winner. His third major competition that year saw him complete the 1,380 mile Prague-Warsaw-Berlin event when he finished 13th from 119 starters.
Ken married Theresa Smith, from Kirkintilloch, in 1961 - the same year he turned professional and undertook what was perhaps his greatest achievement - finishing 65th in the 2,372-mile Tour de France, one of only a few British riders ever to finish.
He remembers: "I was the first ever Scotsman to finish the race, it was very difficult and it wasn't any fun. I came out of it with about £500 which was a lot of money at the time. I went back in 1997 to watch, it was a very emotional experience. I thought to myself: Oh my God, did I really do this".
Ken and Theresa are off to Italy next where they intend spending three weeks cycling.
But before he left Hawick, he could not resist a bit of mischief-making. He took his bank book from the 1950s, which had the equivalent of 50p in it, down to the bank to see if they had looked after his money!
Well you know the old saying, you can take the Scotsman out of Scotland, but ....!