A North Carolina native and longtime Asheville resident, Thomas spent his adult life on the culinary circuit. As his enthusiasm for bikes turned into passion (and then morphed into a bit of an obsession), he began dreaming of leaving the kitchen life behind and focusing his energies elsewhere. When the opportunity to join the stellar team at i9 cropped up, he jumped at the chance and has had zero regrets about it. When not working on bikes, or talking about bikes, or riding bikes of all kinds, he is likely at home still at the stove. But let's be honest, bikes take up most of his time.