Like many athletes, Namibian cyclist Dan Craven didn’t want to retire: injury forced his hand. And like many athletes, Craven also didn’t really have a retirement plan…

“I was in the doldrums of not knowing what to do next,” he says. He and his wife Collyn had settled in Girona, Spain, which is a cycling paradise, but there was something missing. “We felt like there was a ‘thing’ that needed to exist, but it would never exist if we were in Girona,” Craven says.

Having travelled all over the world, the Cravens eventually decided to return to Dan’s home country of Namibia and to commit to the project of building a new bespoke bike brand called Onguza. Craven took his inspiration from Portland US-based bike-builder Ira Ryan. “His bikes were beautiful; and at that time I was amazed that he hadn’t been building bikes for very long, yet here he was, making these wonderful things. It was that American attitude of ‘we can do anything’.”

Ryan’s bikes ‘annoyed’ Craven into action. “It got under my skin. Namibia is a land of makers. It’s a country full of people who use their hands – yet no one thinks they can build world-class bicycles. I decided then that we would make bicycles in Namibia.”

“I went from being a pro rider to running a business.”

In a short space of time, Onguza bikes have become coveted around the world. “I went from being a pro rider to running a business,” Craven says. “There’s been a lot of learning; but we’re building bicycles in Namibia that are being sold in New York. That blows my mind, and makes the struggle worthwhile.”

I take my coffee from Swakopmund’s Two Beards Coffee Roastery – lightly roasted, black, with 90°C water, in a French press. All morning long.

I’d love to go for a ride with an excited community of cyclists. If you have a group of people who are happy and supportive of each other… nothing beats that. I joined a group in Windhoek called the Long Ride Addicts – their sense of community really blew me away.

The secret to happiness is financial security. Boring, I know. But lots of other things also make me excited to wake up in the morning. I have a wife I love, and we’ve started a company together… Being able to do something together that I feel is so worthwhile gives me a great level of happiness that I don’t think I’d have in a nine-to-five life.

My greatest exhilaration was racing the 2016 Olympics TT on a road bike. I went in with the fear that everyone in the world would think I was a fool, and I came out the other side with the world having cheered me on. I loved it.

A moment of pure clarity was in 2022 when my wife and I had come to Namibia for a photo shoot to launch Onguza. We went back to Spain and realised that the thing we wanted to do wasn’t happening because we weren’t in Namibia. And there was nothing else we wanted to do, so we made the decision to move back.

I am passionate about things being made in places that people don’t expect them to come from. One of my favourite brands is Hiut Denim Co. They make jeans – only jeans – in a small town in Wales. Onguza makes bicycles in Omaruru, about 200km from Windhoek. It’s a place no one would expect a bicycle to come from.

When I wake up I’m probably thinking about how we can improve the bikes that we make. Then my kids wake up and the storm takes over!

I rage about negative attitudes, especially relating to where we live. I’ve travelled the world and people complain in every country and every town – it’s not just an ‘Africa’ thing. It breaks my heart when people don’t realise how much of that is a mental attitude – an attitude they have the power to change.

I wish more people were making things by hand, and that more people realised how special it is to own something that is individually crafted with care.

See Dan’s bikes at onguza.com

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