On the 3rd January 2012 what seemed like just a wet and cold winters day saw our lives changed forever when our beautiful daughter Sophia died suddenly and unexpectedly.

Ever since that day our family have had to attempt to comprehend what happened, and yet more than three years on we have still never had an explanation for why our healthy and 'normal' daughter died. We were one of 221 families that year whose child died for no apparent reason and with no cause found, even after a post-mortem was held.

2012 ended in a way we never imagined at the start of the year - we had our third child, a girl called Aislinn. But after the loss of a child you have a new set of fears and concerns for your children. The Lullaby Trust supported us through the Care of Next Infant (CONI) scheme, which is run in conjunction with the NHS. We were assigned special attention and care throughout the pregnancy, the result of years of research, campaigning and education. After Aislinn was born she was given extra tests, we had numbers to call if we had any concerns at all, and we were loaned (for as long as we needed it) a neonatal respiration monitor to help put our minds at ease whenever she slept - a lifeline for us as we could wake in the night, get an audio indication that she was still breathing and go straight back to sleep. We're not sure we would have slept without it.

The charity runs a free helpline staffed by people who understand child bereavement, which is available for anyone affected by the loss of a child, and also a network of befrienders who can help people in person. They organise free family days out, and we ourselves have been on two of these.

Through The Lullaby Trust we have also been able to take part in research to help further understanding of why babies die unexpectedly using samples retained from Sophia's post-mortem. On this occasion an answer wasn't found, but we were still able to assist scientists in their research, and hopefully prevent other families going through what we have been through.

Since the charity was formed as The Foundation for the Study of Sudden Infant Deaths in 1971 they have been pivotal in reducing Sudden Infant Death Syndrome by 70% through campaigns (such as the Back To Sleep campaign) and assisting research - they have invested over £11 million in this area. We want to help them reduce the instances of SIDs even further, and also want to thank them for all the support they have given us and other families in a similar position.

Thank you so much for reading our story, and we are so grateful if you choose to donate both to this deserving charity and in memory of Sophia.

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About the challenge

UPDATE: In 2015 Lucie broke her collarbone whilst out training so couldn't do the ride. Instead Rob as a super-sub did the ride dressed in a pink tutu.

In 2016 she is back as despite missing out in the public ballot she then only went and won two entries in a competition - thanks to Prudential for the opportunity! 

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The furthest Lucinda has ever cycled is 28 miles. However, over coffee one day she said the words "I'll do it" when she heard that The Lullaby Trust was looking for entrants to RideLondon 2015.

This gives her five months to build her way to cycling the 100 mile distance of the event within 9 hours (the time limit).

Her domestique for the event will be husband Robert, who will be carrying drinks, singing songs, entertaining her with stories about how many bottles of beer could fit on a wall, ducking whenever Lucie takes a swipe for him to shut him up........