Tucker started riding in the National 24 Hour Challenge in 1984, never having ridden more than a century. He had no crew or support, but had a great ride, climbing into his car at 2:00am with 301 miles. He trained hard in 1985 and was one of the local favorites, but bailed after the big loop due to hypothermia (rain and temperatures 50s). His best ride was 1986, with 427 miles in spite of the ride being suspended for a while in the middle of the night due to an accident – that was good enough for 2nd overall high mileage. In subsequent years, he crewed for the first woman to break 400 miles, twice tandemed with his wife Carrie, and once supported her ride on a single bike. From 1994 onward, Carrie and Tucker have volunteered as directors of Checkpoint One.

He is retired from Meyer Music (manager of their Muskegon store for 20 years) and West Michigan Symphony (principal French Horn for 25 years). Since 2012, he has been teaching music and doing volunteer work in rural Jamaica during the second semester of the school year.