THE FAMILY of a biker who died in a crash when on his way home from work paid tribute to a ‘great man’.

Father-of-three Dominic Lee, 49, died when his Triumph Spirit ST collided with a grey Hyundai car on the A65 Skipton Road, near Skipton, at around 9.20pm on Wednesday.

Dominic, a big Blackburn Rovers fan, was on his way home to Colne Road, Trawden, from work in York when the accident happened.

His wife Tracey Lee, 49, said: "He was just a great man and everyone loved him. He had time for everybody and would never hurt anybody’s feelings.

“He loved Blackburn Rovers. He was a season ticket holder until a couple of years ago when he gave it up because of what was happening there.

“He was very well known as the drummer with Bill Toland, he did that for years, people used to complain around him that he was making their ears bleed.

“I think the biking took over from Rovers as his big hobby.”

Dominic and Tracey learned to ride around three of four years ago with Syd Rasheed of the Valley Bike School.

Tracey said: “He was a very competent biker and was determined to do things correctly. He had all the right equipment and did things properly on the road.

“I think he got me involved so he could buy these nice bikes with my approval. He had this idea that we would ride into middle age together.

“He loved being on his bike, he had always wanted to get a bike but his dad didn't want him to do, so he only got one when his dad passed away.

“In June he was due to go touring on his bike in Germany with two friends.”

Dominic, who is originally from Accrington, and Tracey, from Clitheroe, first met when they were 14 at Catholic Youth Club in Clitheroe.

Tracey said: “From that day I loved him. We were together as teenagers but then we ended up living at different ends of the country.

“Then we were 29 we both moved to the area and had both just separated from our partners and we together and got married about 17 years ago.

“When we met again we realised that neither of us had changed and we were still the same people who were still in love.”

The couple moved to Trawden eight years ago with their children, Joseph, 22, and Robyn, 20, who Dominic had adopted, and Iggy, 15, who is named after Iggy Pop.

After working for several national companies Dominic was a partner in Boulsworth Services, a business training company, and he worked delivering courses all over the country.

Syd Rasheed, who taught Dominic to ride, said: “Dominic was an absolute pleasure to teach and was keen to raise his standards. A lot of people pass their test and that is it, but Dominic wanted to go to advanced level and I had taken him on full days tuition to achieve that standard. He took his riding very seriously.”