About Us

We all start off falling in love with cycling as children –  developing our first taste of freedom while exploring the world around us –  and at some point along the way, the bike comes out of the garage less and less. I was lucky to find cycling again in 2016 and it changed my life in ways I never could have imagined. My wife Kelly (fiancé at the time) had recently moved to St. Joseph and was looking for some good places to ride her bike. At the time, I was the heaviest of my life and smoking a pack of cigarettes a day, but she convinced me to jump on an old bike and show her the paved trails around our Parkway system. We went for a short ride and at some point, as we approached a hill, I watched Kelly climb steadily up it while I fell further and further behind, struggling to breathe. With a bruised ego, I decided that it was time to lose weight before our wedding, and most importantly, show Kelly I was faster and stronger than she was! I started commuting to work every day, bought a fancy gravel bike, began training with a coach, and entering long distance gravel events. I was consumed with all things cycling and could see the positive impact it had in all aspects of my life.

In late 2019, I decided I wanted a career change and to work in a field I was passionate about. I left my job of 16 years and enrolled in bicycle mechanic courses at the United Bicycle Institute in Ashland, Oregon. After finishing, I returned home and started working at Horizon Cycling. Over the next 2.5 years, I further developed my skills as a mechanic and learned about shop operations with the help of Blake and Brad.

Over several late-night conversations with Kelly discussing our dreams and future, we started to think about the idea of owning our own bike shop. We purchased a building in December 2021, then fast forward to November 2022, we opened Tubes! We couldn’t be more excited for the next chapter of our life and are so excited to be able to help the Saint Joseph cycling community.

As a kid growing up in KC, my parents were really active – they were both runners and my dad also loved cycling. He took us kids on bike rides all the time, instilling in us the love of all things bikes from a young age. Fast forward to adulthood, my brother actually became an engineer designing high-end bicycles for Cannondale, then later Specialized, so I guess it had an impact! After moving back to KC in 2011 from Rochester, NY, where I’d lived the last 12 years, Jonathan helped me get a bike and I started riding here and there. But it wasn’t until I moved up to St. Joe in 2015 after meeting Brent that I started riding on a regular basis.  

I’ve always enjoyed lots of different kinds of exercise – running, cycling, strength training, kickboxing, Zumba, Yoga – and fitness has been a priority throughout my adult life. Though my workouts had to take a backseat at times over the last few years when we were having our sons (I'm sure my fellow moms will understand!), I'm feeling great and finally back to normal. I completed my first triathlon when our older son was 10 months old in 2018 and my first half marathon on our younger son’s first birthday in spring 2022. I'm also excited to be getting back on my bike more lately too. 

As far as work goes, my degree is in photography and I've had jobs in that field as well as in marketing, sales, retail, and finance. Brent and I are so excited that we can combine our strengths and different job experiences to bring a new type of bike shop to St. Joe.  :)

Emma has been an advocate for outdoor recreation since her earliest days with her family, camping and canoeing on the Missouri River. Coming into cycling as an adult about 15 years ago, she has continued to advocate for everyone to ride a bike and enjoy the outdoors at a slower pace. In her free time, she assists with several adventure races in the Midwest, continues to introduce friends to the river, and loves going to concerts.