Rollin Sitcom Interview with Brinker.

I first remember Tom Brinker at local bike meetings or volunteering at races because he was not riding much 5 years ago. Seasoned members of the BoCoMo peloton treated him like royalty and still get a faraway look in their eyes, saying "That guy can spin 300 rpm; you cannot train for that. It is just talent." Confused, I always nodded and wondered.

Tom has started riding again in the last few years. One of his first rides back was Tight Pant Tuesday (or Tuesday Night Worlds) with a bike just of the showroom floor (spoke protector, reflectors and a price tag still intact). Normal characters took a few jabs :"You bring your big boy pants?" "Come out to play Brinker." Tom grinned. Tom forgot plum smugglers, so he rode in running shorts. The ride was whittled down to a few at the end with Brinker holding on. Everyone was leading out for the final sprint, then Tom comes flying around --with his running shorts hiked up his crack like a thong -- putting several bike lengths on everyone with each pedal stroke. He smoked everyone in the last 100m. To come off the couch, hang on to TPT and sprint is impressive, but not nearly as impressive as winning his first crit at age 12 in 1982 on a Ross Super Gan Tour 27, then racking up many 1/2 regional wins and countless state championships, four US National Championships, and competing in two World Championships. Chew on that for a little bit.

At age 15 he moved to the Olympic Training Center to focus on his sprint and kilo events. He was mentored by a Polish coach who considered Americans "beach boys" and passed on wisdom like "Eat like a pig, sleep like a baby and ride like a bull." Training and competition started to takes its toll, so Tom chose to focus on his growing business Cyclextreme and slowed down his competitiveness and riding. Dave Henderson says Tom is the “businessman” of our little sitcom. If you want to chat with an experienced bike geek about perfect fit or technology, visit Tom at his shop. (A rider from BoCoMo was set up by Brinker, then went to get fitted for the National Junior Team, where his seat was raised only a few millimeters. Miles and miles later, the rider's knee started hurting, and he had to drop the seat a few millimeters.)

Brinker began riding again for the challenge and has focused on triathlons. He says the diversity of people he meets and the multiple disciplines keep it interesting. A key ingredient is keeping it fun and avoid anything like "training." He hopes to finish out this year with two upcoming half Ironman triathlons in September. Next year he is hoping to spend more time on the track.

Brinker sees himself as a "novelty" in the Rolling Sitcom by being a voice of reason, and Butthead sees him as the "triathlete advisor." ProPam and ShowPony see Brinker as a cycling ambassador for BoCoMo. I mostly am getting dropped by Tom so I do not really see him.