A REDDITCH rider is in the last few weeks of training before heading to Japan to embark on a month-long, 2,361mile extreme cycle in memory of his uncle.
Rough camping along the way, Danny Ensor will be navigating the country’s infamous mountainous terrain as he travels from the southern tip to its northern reaches.
Danny’s uncle, Chris Dooley, was a former Royal Marine and suffered a cardiac arrest in April last year just months after retiring.
Chris served 34 years in the Royal Marines and had only been retired for 10 months when Chris died.
Danny said: “My uncle and I had been planning to travel across Japan together.
“And so, to mark the first anniversary of his death, I was determined to go ahead and make those plans a reality.”
Danny has been training alongside his ‘oppo’, Emanuel Gramada, and hopes to raise £30,000 for The Royal Marines Charity.
So far they have had £4,000 pledged.
Danny added: “My uncle was an incredibly important person in my life.
“I can only say that he was like a second father to me.
“Without Chris, I wouldn’t be the individual I am now.
“Like him, I also joined the military and completed the Commando course, earning my Green Lid as he did.
“It made me feel like I’d won the lottery twice knowing my uncle was proud of me.
“To his fellow Marines, my uncle embodied the core Commando qualities throughout both his military career and his brief life as a civvie and he supported his favourite charity, RMA – The Royal Marines Charity, to the very end.”
Visit: justgiving.com/fundraising/ZULU-Commando for Danny’s fund-raising page and to donate.
