Brad has spent more than 25 years designing and leading cycling and cultural expeditions across the globe. From the Himalayas to the Alps, Bolivia to Bhutan, New Zealand to the Rockies — and deep into Namibia, South Africa, and Botswana — he’s built his life around taking riders beyond the obvious.
His gift isn’t just the route. It’s the space in between: the people, the culture, the roadside conversations, the quiet desert miles where the map goes silent.
As the founding Head of Rapha Travel and co-founder of inGamba, Brad helped define the modern premium cycling travel experience. He’s been all over the map — and he still believes the best roads are the ones that don’t show up on Instagram.
Cycling isn’t a career for Brad. It’s the through-line. Raised in Washington State, he now splits his time between guiding around the world and decompressing in a small surf village in Mexico with his wife, Dawn — surrounded by an undisclosed number of surfboards and bikes.
If you’re ever nearby, reach out. He’s always up for a ride. Road, gravel, mountain, desert — it’s all fair game.
IG: @bsauber
IG: @raidcycling
Nate is the definition of a utility man — the kind you want on your side when things get long, complex, or beautifully sideways. He officially joined the RAID crew in 2024, but the roots go way deeper. Nate and Brad first crossed paths back in 2007 at Bicycle Adventures, guiding hard, unforgettable cycling trips across the Western US, Canada, Hawaii, and New Zealand. Five seasons and 50+ trips later, the bond was sealed.
After reconnecting in Mill Valley, Nate became inGamba’s very first hire — guiding in Europe before stepping into the role of Operations Manager. In 2016, he took that same precision and calm-under-pressure mindset to Osmo Nutrition, helping shape the brand from the inside.
These days, Nate is based in New York’s Finger Lakes, where his life revolves around local roads, deep map dives, serious time in the vegetable garden, and working with his family’s online book publishing business. In February 2026, his world got even bigger — Nate and his wife welcomed their daughter, Cora.
Steady hands. Sharp mind. Always ready when the map goes quiet.
IG: @heyrippers
Dan Craven doesn’t just ride bikes — he carries a country with him every time he rolls out.
Born and raised in Windhoek, Dan became Namibia’s most recognizable cyclist through grit, stubborn belief, and a willingness to suffer longer than most. A multiple-time national champion and two-time Olympian representing Namibia, he has raced from the heat-blasted roads of Africa to the sharp edge of the European peloton. But medals and start lists only tell part of it. What defines Dan is purpose.
He grew up training on open desert highways where the wind is constant, and the horizon never ends. That landscape shaped him — wide, resilient, uncompromising. When he stepped onto the Olympic stage, he wasn’t just lining up for himself; he was carrying a young cycling nation into rooms it had never entered before.
Now, Dan is building something just as meaningful off the race circuit. He’s the force behind Onguza, a Namibia-based bike manufacturing brand producing beautiful, handmade steel frames right there in the desert. It’s not outsourced. It’s not symbolic. It’s real craftsmanship — African steel, African soil, global standard.
Dan and his wife Colyn live full-time in Swakopmund, raising their two young children between ocean fog and desert dunes. The life they’re building feels aligned with everything he stands for: self-reliant, grounded, intentional.
He’s equal parts racer, builder, and mentor. He believes the bicycle is freedom — not just for the rider, but for the community around it.
When Dan rides, it’s not for spotlight. It’s for Namibia.
@onguzabicycles
@danfromnam
Born in Yamagata. Forged on the road.
He turned pro in 2004 with Shimano Racing, then crossed oceans in 2005 to race Europe with Shimano Memory Corp out of the Netherlands. By 2011–2012, he was deep in the fire—two starts at the Vuelta a España, grinding through Spain’s hardest days and helping deliver results at the highest level.
2012 was the peak: Japanese National Champion. Jersey earned, no asterisks.
In 2013, Yuki came home. He spent the next five years shaping and elevating the domestic racing scene before stepping away from pro racing in 2018. The wheels didn’t stop turning—he shifted gears to storytelling with GCN from 2019 to 2023, bringing cycling’s joy, grit, and culture to a global audience.
Today, Yuki is RAID Cycling’s domestic road captain.
He knows these roads because he raced them. He understands the West because he lived it. That rare overlap—local soul, global perspective—is what makes riding with Yuki different.
Calm presence. Deep knowledge. Absolute trust.
IG: @yukihirodoi.pic
Sean came south from Alaska with winter in his bones and miles already in his legs. He cut his teeth in Seattle’s bike courier scene, where fixed gears, wet pavement, and messenger miles taught him awareness, grit, and speed. Moving to Los Angeles shifted the scale — the long climbs of the LA Crest and endless canyon roads showed him what it meant to really ride. After a brief orbit through Oakland, he returned to LA sharper and hungrier, racing as an elite road and track cyclist while chasing longer, harder days in the saddle. Sean has taken his bikes across continents, often self-supported and speed-packing, preferring minimal kit and maximum intent. He’s not chasing comfort — he’s chasing the work. For Sean, even the hardest day on the bike is still the best day on the bike.
IG: sean_eric_martin
Raised in Yokohama, Yoichi grew up dreaming of Formula One grids and apex lines — a kid obsessed with precision, speed, and getting the line just right. That instinct for detail never left him. Before RAID, he managed the Rapha Osaka Clubhouse, building community with quiet confidence and care. Today he runs the Japan service course — vehicles dialed, equipment sorted, logistics tight, nothing left to chance. He’s deeply involved in new trip design, shaping routes that feel intentional rather than obvious, and he curates Japan’s restaurant selections with the same discipline — no tourist traps, no shortcuts, just places that tell the real story of a region. As comfortable behind the wheel as he is in the saddle, Yoichi balances competence with warmth. Off the bike, he’s cooking, sharing a cold Japanese beer with guests, and smiling in that way that makes everything feel handled.
IG: @montag1031
Jada grew up in rural Canada but has called Kingston, NZ home for the past 17 years. A true multi-talented legend, she’s been riding bikes since childhood, fixing stringed instruments, restoring native plants, and mastering DIY projects.
Jada first met Brad 20 years ago while working at a luxury spot on New Zealand’s wild West Coast—one of the many places Brad would roll through with his groups. A few pints later, inspiration struck, and she jumped into the guiding world, joining Bicycle Adventures alongside Brad and Nate, leading trips across North America and Hawaii.
Fast forward to 2025, and it was Jada who had the brilliant idea to rally the crew back to NZ for this epic gravel adventure. Now, she’s back in action, and we couldn’t be more stoked to have her on the road with us again!
Brad and Kempton’s connection goes back to the Bicycle Adventures days, where Kempton rose through a well-established bike travel operation to become a Senior Lead Guide. Raised in Seattle and shaped by the grit of the grunge music scene, he’s been on two wheels since age 11 — starting in motocross before shifting to mountain biking and building a life around the bicycle.
Cyclocross has been his obsession for 25 years, capped by a State Championship win last year. More recently, he’s leaned hard into gravel, highlighted by a 4th place GC finish (Leopard category) at the 2024 Migration Gravel Race in Kenya. He’s also completed an astonishing 37 Caminos — a testament to both endurance and devotion to the long road.
With over 20 years of guiding and more than 150 tours worldwide, Kempton brings deep experience and steady leadership to every RAID trip. Based in Seattle, he works part-time as a bike fitter at Cascade Bicycle Studio and plays bass in the rock band Whiskey VooDoo.
Meet Jumbo, the 182cm tall rider from Aichi who’s been with Brad since day one—one of the OG guides from Rapha Travel to RAID Cycling. When he’s not working as a full-time electrician, he’s shredding mountain, downhill, and road trails or adventuring through Japan’s wilderness on epic hikes and camping trips.
Ben Lieberson has always ridden against the grain.
A founding member of the Rapha Continental and the originator of the phrase “outside is free,” Ben helped shape a generation of riders who believed the bike wasn’t just transport — it was permission. Permission to explore. Permission to suffer a little. Permission to belong.
Los Angeles is his proving ground. “It’s like a secret society,” he says. The city the world thinks it knows — traffic, sprawl, Hollywood — isn’t the one cyclists ride. The real LA lives in the margins: canyon roads at dawn, ridge lines above the basin, heat shimmering off quiet climbs. You don’t find those roads by accident. You find them through locals. Through trust. Through miles.
Ben was a senior ride leader with Rapha Travel from the beginning, guiding riders through some of the world’s most iconic terrain. He now brings that same depth, intuition, and road-earned calm to RAID. He reads a group the way he reads a climb — measured, steady, deliberate.
In 2025, when the LA fires tore through Altadena, Ben and his misses lost their home. It’s a hard chapter — but if you know Ben, you know resilience isn’t performative. It’s quiet. Rebuild. Reset. Ride again.
Outside is still free.
IG: @Dolophonic
Martin was raised in Namibia with dust in his lungs and geology in his blood. His father’s work as a geologist meant long stretches in the field — remote camps, wide horizons, and terrain that teaches you early that comfort is optional. Endurance, curiosity, and self-reliance weren’t hobbies. They were baseline.
That foundation carried him onto the world stage. Martin has represented Namibia across road, mountain, and gravel, lining up at World Championships and the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast. He claimed the National Road title in 2018, but racing is only part of it. For him, the podium sharpens the blade — the real draw is the long day out: heat lifting off the tar, gravel droning under tires, the quiet work of distance.
He and his wife, Chrystal, once spent an entire year bikepacking through Europe and Southeast Asia — no rush, no fixed finish line, just months of movement at human speed. Borders crossed by pedal stroke. Campsites instead of hotels. A deep understanding of what it means to carry your life with you and let the road dictate the rhythm.
Martin is also a sponsored rider for Onguza, riding Namibian-built steel because he believes in what it represents: craftsmanship rooted in place, resilience forged in desert wind, bikes made to endure beyond trends. For him, it isn’t branding — it’s belief.
Off the bike, he works as a physiotherapist focused on sport-specific performance. He understands the engine because he lives inside one — strength, recovery, adaptation. It’s all connected.
He rides the way he grew up: grounded, prepared, and ready for whatever the landscape hands him.
@martin_freyer
Brad and Mateusz hadn’t met in person at first — but their paths crossed professionally when Mateusz served as Tour Mechanic for Phil Deeker’s Cent Col Challenges, which Brad managed under the Rapha Travel banner. The reputation was clear long before the handshake.
Mateusz is the mechanic you want when the roads get rough and the days run long. Originally from Wrocław, Poland, he grew up riding mountain bikes and wrenching in local shops before relocating to London in 2012, where he worked with Rapha, The Service Course, and Fairlight Cycles. His precision and calm under pressure led to support roles with professional teams and high-level tours.
On a RAID, he might be behind the wheel of a support van — but he’s equally at home on road, gravel, or MTB. Each evening he’s washing, tuning, and dialing bikes so they’re flawless at first light. Quiet, capable, relentless — he keeps the expedition moving.
Born in Fukuoka in 1974, Atsushi came up through punk rock before he ever pinned a number. He started bands, spun records as a DJ, and lived loud and fast with a guitar in his hands. In 2000, he found something that stuck harder than distortion pedals — the bicycle. What began as another obsession turned into a life built around movement.
Atsushi is one of RAID’s core trip designers in Japan. He has an instinct for finding the roads that don’t announce themselves — the forgotten climbs, the narrow farm lanes, the weather-beaten passes that most riders roll right past. He doesn’t just build routes; he uncovers them. Remote, quiet, earned.
With a compact camera always close, he began documenting those miles. Today he blends both passions seamlessly — riding and shooting, always from the saddle. His images carry the texture of the road: wind, gradient, light shifting over rice fields and mountain ridgelines. Japan through Atsushi’s lens isn’t polished — it’s alive.
He rides to find the line. He shoots to remember it.
IG: @e_climber
Keyth comes from the wide southern plains of Oklahoma — a place where long horizons replace long climbs, and the wind teaches you everything you need to know about patience. Big mountains may not define his home terrain, but the appetite to explore — and the quiet glory of suffering — has always been there.
That instinct has carried him far beyond the prairie. From summiting in Corsica to ripping red-dirt gravel back home to carving technical descents in Southern California, Keyth rides with intention. He doesn’t chase comfort. He chases the work. For him, getting lost in a ride is the best therapy for feeling trapped by life — the reset button most of us forget exists.
On RAID trips, he’s the steady presence who will suffer right alongside you. He’ll encourage you through the grind, push when it’s time to push, and make sure you’re ready to roll again the next morning. He believes in the long arc of a ride — and in the version of yourself that shows up after the hard miles.
Off the bike, Keyth is a thoughtful writer. Many of the From the Road reflections on the RAID website are penned from his saddle — honest, unpolished dispatches that capture what the map doesn’t show. He rides it first, then he writes it down.
He doesn’t just love being on his bike. He loves what it reveals.
IG: @disciple411
Hailing from Yamanashi, Shinji owns a professional massage studio and he’s an all-rounder on the bike! A competitive rider, he enjoys road racing, mountain biking and cyclo-cross. He is also a skilled fly fisherman, and now operates mountain bike tours on the slopes of Mt. Fujji.
IG: shinji_iwanami
Dawn, the other half of Brad Sauber, plays a key role in RAID’s operations and marketing team. After getting her first road bike in 2013, she kicked off a multi-continent cycling adventure, including a ride across New Zealand’s South Island—where she met Brad. Since then, she’s racked up serious miles across four continents, conquering iconic climbs like Mount Ventoux and Mount Haleakalā.
With over 45 passport stamps, Dawn is always chasing the next adventure. She’s all about inspiring new destinations and crafting one-of-a-kind experiences that capture the heart of each local region, creating unforgettable moments for RAID guests. When you ride with Dawn, she might not be off the front, but you can count on her soaking up the sights, embracing the culture, and making friends at every stop along the way.