We never thought we would be doing anything like this but on 18th January 2011 our world was turned upside down with the knock on the door that every parent dreads, our family was changed for ever with the loss of our only son Lewis.
We never imagined the support we would get from family and Lewis many friends, there was always one question that kept being asked and that was “are we going to do a ride in Lewis memory” so with a lot of organising and the help of many people we set up The Lewis Balyckyi Trust Fund and our 1st event was help on September 18th 2011 with the Lewis Balyckyi Memorial Ride. We organised three rides each one being called after quotes that Lewis would come out with, The Family Ride “Chillax Ride” was the shortest route and aimed at people who wanted to support us and remember Lewis for what he did best Riding his bike, this was a steady ride which set off from Preston Sports Arena (where Lewis won his National Title) and travelled along the back roads up to Bonds ice cream shop. The ride was marshalled by Ribble valley juniors this is the club which started it all off for Lewis from the tender age of 8. We had a great turn out with friends old and new even little toddlers that couldn’t even ride a bike (they where given a helping hand by mum & dad).
The middle ride was the ride over Bleasdale “Men & Boys” this was a middle distance ride taking in the lower roads of the Trough of Bowland, this wasn’t a ride for the faint hearted it certainly tested your legs out, and if a rest was needed there was cafe stops on the way at Holy Bank Farm and Cobbled Corner these where both places where Lewis would stop off and for the lads that went training with Lewis you all knew why he liked Holy Bank Farm apart from the delicious food there was a certain pretty girl that worked there. The longest of the rides and the toughest was “the man up “ ride this ride took you along the same route as the Bleasdale ride but you turned off and went over the trough which took in some breath taking views, there was some great stories to be had when every one returned to the sports arena and a great day was had by everyone involved. The ride was a great success and we would like to thank everyone for organising the event and to everyone who turned up to ride on the day. A special thank you to the staff at the arena for coming in early, and the family and friends for making refreshments and signing all riders on. We hope to see you all again for The Lewis Balyckyi Memorial Ride 2012.
