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<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; For someone who worked in area bike shops for more than three decades, Tom Jones was always more concerned with making a friend than selling a bike, according to the co-owner at Around Town Bicycles.</p><p>&#8220;Tom wanted to be your friend,&#8221; Rich Adams said Tuesday afternoon in the North Main Street shop. &#8220;He wanted to sell you a bike by being your buddy. That was genuine.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;Tom was the most genuine guy I know.&#8221;</p><p>Jones, 56, of Kingston, died Sunday after a battle with adenoid cystic carcinoma, a rare cancer. His loss will be felt by area cyclists.</p><p>&#8220;You can&#8217;t replace a guy like Tom,&#8221; Adams said.</p><p>He had been a fixture in the region&#8217;s cycling community since he began working in his grandfather&#8217;s bike shop, Sickler&#8217;s, when he was a boy.</p><p>Jones helped run that shop, which had several locations in the Wyoming Valley, and was most recently on North Main Street near King&#8217;s College until the family sold it in the 1990s.</p><p>Jones then moved on to a successful career in California with Giant Bicycles, according to his obituary.</p><p>In 2004, he and Adams teamed up to open Around Town Bicycles.</p><p>Adams had been a longtime Sickler&#8217;s customer and first became acquainted with Jones when he took his first bicycle maintenance class from him.</p><p>&#8220;He was the best guy to hang out with,&#8221; Adams recalled. &#8220;He was very funny &#8230; very perceptive.&#8221;</p><p>The affection the cycling community has for Jones was on display just over a week ago when more than 100 cyclists turned out for a ride past his house in a show of support.</p><p>&#8220;Tom Jones is the leader of bicycling in the valley,&#8221; Bob Kelley, a lifelong cyclist and friend of Jones and his family, said at the time. &#8220;And for 45 years, he&#8217;s been the father for us riders with his bike shop, his promoting races and his experience in Los Angeles with (bike manufacturer) Giant.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;He&#8217;s the number one bicyclist in our valley, and he&#8217;s been number one for years in the past, and (will be for) years in the future.&#8221;</p><p>Whether at Sickler&#8217;s or Around Town, Jones&#8217; shops were always the type of place where cyclists would gather to trade stories and socialize.</p><p>Monday at Around Town was no different.</p><p>&#8220;People were trickling in and out all day,&#8221; Adams said. &#8220;They wanted to let us know that Tom meant something to them.&#8221;</p><p>Jones&#8217; funeral will be at 10 a.m. Thursday at the Kopicki Funeral Home, 263 Zerby Ave., Kingston. Friends may call from 5 to 8 p.m. Wednesday.</p><p>In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Geisinger Foundation, Cancer Research at Geisinger Foundation, MC 25-76, 100 N. Academy Drive, Danville, PA 17822; GeisingerFoundation@geisinger.edu, or to NICA, National Interscholastic Cycling Association, <a href="http://www.nationalmtb.org/donate" target="_blank">www.NationalMTB.org/donate</a>.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Beth Slock hugs her partner, Tom Jones, as family and friends ride bikes past his house in Kingston earlier this month. Jones, a beloved figure in the area cycling community and a bicycle shop owner, died Sunday after battling cancer. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/web1_ttl082117ride-3CMYK-2.jpg</photo0><caption0>Beth Slock hugs her partner, Tom Jones, as family and friends ride bikes past his house in Kingston earlier this month. Jones, a beloved figure in the area cycling community and a bicycle shop owner, died Sunday after battling cancer. </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta></subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p><strong>By Joe Soprano</strong></p><p>jsoprano@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div>

Cyclists mourn death of beloved bicycle shop owner