A CYCLING couple from Chickerell will take part in a 100-mile bike ride to raise money for the Cystic Fibrosis Trust in memory of a sad loss.

Elaine and Ken Pearson will tackle the Ride London 100 in August 25 years since the death of Elaine’s brother, Nicholas White, who died of Cystic Fibrosis in 1989 aged 15.

Mrs Pearson, who works as a full time horse breeder on her parents’ farm in Fleet, said: “My brother died of Cystic Fibrosis when I was 11 and he was 15, which was a big shock to the family.

"It only feels like yesterday that it happened. We have had a lot of support from the Cystic Fibrosis Trust, they do a lot of research into the disease but they also offer support to people who suffer from the disease and to the families, and I just wanted to give a bit back.

“It is 25 years since he died, and it’s made it more important that we do it right and raise as much money as we can.”

The Ride London 100 course is the same one that was used for the Olympic Cycling Road Race in 2012 and will see the cyclists travel from London to Surrey.

The couple, who have four children aged from four to nine, are now in intense training ahead of the event as they try to juggle a hectic family life and full time jobs with their training.

Mrs Pearson added: “We enjoy cycling but we have never done that far before, so we thought we would go for the challenge.

“We go out three or four times a week, and we try and train together at the weekend, but we have to alternate what days we go out on in the week because of babysitting.

“Our families have been great and really supportive of us, they have been helping us out with the babysitting which is great.”

“It’s a massive event with around 24,000 taking park, and not only have we never cycled that far before but we have never been to an event this big before.

“We are both nervous and excited, we are excited to be doing it but nervous we are not going to get enough training in.”

To sponsor Elaine and Ken visit uk.virginmoneygiving.com/team/pearson2014 or to find out more about the Cystic Fibrosis Trust, visit cysticfibrosis.org