Regarding farkles, my Russell DayLong is out in Shasta City, CA, having the rider's seat area recovered. Because of my balky right knee's refusal to bend more than 90-degrees, I have to do the less-than-graceful Tarman mount-and-dismount to get on and off the bike. That means that I hop closer to the seat while getting on the bike and farther away from it while getting off, and all the while my right leg is dragging its Cordura-clad weight back and forth across the seam on the right side of the seating area.
That seam had started to fray before I headed for Spearfish last summer and by the time I got to Madawaska it was getting worse. Before I left here I had treated the seam to a few layers of liquid electrical tape and that was still holding when I got to Maine. But I couldn't find any of that in Madawaska and got some other siliconish goop that said it would repair leather or vinyl.
Well, I guess it protected the saddle from having water get under the leather but it sure didn't look very good.
So Russell is recovering it and trying to move the seams down a bit so that they won't be subject to as much wear. In the meantime I'm riding on a stock saddle and I'm really missing the Russell. The only upside is that with the stock saddle both of the feet on the ends of my stubby little legs touch the ground flat-footed. But I'd forgotten what it's like to have your buttock-area experience discomfort.
The Russell should be back by the end of the week -- I'm ready for it!
