MXP Chatter: Dylan Kaelin post-season Part I

Could Dylan Kaelin be one of the next ‘top guys?’ We catch up with the top MX1 privateer and ask.

 

By Danny Brault
Photos by James Lissimore

Could Dylan Kaelin be one of the next ‘top guys?’

During the Rockstar Energy Drink Motocross Nationals, the 21 year-old showed that he’s capable of running the pace of guys like Tyler Medaglia, Teddy Maier, Kyle Chisholm and Bobby Kiniry. Speed isn’t the question, but it seems that to get “the call,” a rider must either win, podium or lead a lap. Competition is deep and spots are limited, so team managers are forced to focus on the best-of-the-best with disrespect to the efforts, results and heart of guys like Kaelin, Liam O’Farrell or Nathan Bles.

Kaelin surprised many at round one in Nanaimo, BC. Nobody thought he was slow, but he had come into the series late, worked a full-time job and didn’t really put much pre-season preparation time in. Add to that, the MX1 class is the ‘big boys’ class, manhandling a 450 for 30 minutes plus 2 laps can be a chore. Fortunately, things clicked for Kaelin and his Devils Lake YZ450F right away on the shale rock of The Wastelands. In both motos, he would charge from outside the top-10 to finish 8-9 for 8th overall. Seems just okay, but he was right there with Medaglia, Maier, Chisholm and Kiniry.

From Nanaimo, Kaelin scored another six top-10 overalls, with his best a 6th at Sand Del Lee (best moto a 6th at Moncton). He ended the year with national #8. Good, not great, but it’s a step towards something bigger if he keeps up the momentum. Sadly, Kaelin’s year was cut short when he banged up his shoulder at round nine in Ulverton, Quebec. He missed Walton and has since had surgery to get things in line.

So has Kaelin got the call yet? Kind of, sort of. As you’ll read below, Kaelin is quite content to stick with his current team, Devils Lake Riverside Yamaha, but if an OTSFF or GDR Honda called, he probably wouldn’t turn down the offer.

Okay, enough blabber from me, let’s see what’s shaking with Canada’s Top Privateer MX1 racer in 2014!

 

 

MXP: Hey Dylan, what’s going on today?
Dylan Kaelin: I’m actually just unloading my bike from my truck. I was watching some old motocross videos and it got me itching to go for a ride down the road. It’s filthy right now; I haven’t washed it or touched it since my crash at Ulverton [laughs].

I bet your practice bike has a lot of hours on it!
I was riding my practice bike during the last nationals because my race bike was having problems. We were chasing down issues so I just rode my practice bike. It probably only has 30 or 40 hours on it so not too bad.

Where are you living these days?
I’m out at my parents’ place that they rent. It’s 20 minutes from Sherwood Park. It’s near Antler Lake, like 5 or 10 minutes down the road from the track where they had nationals.

You’re still taking time off work for your shoulder injury to heal up?
Pretty much. I’m waiting for my shoulder to heal up so I can do somewhat of a good job at work. I would like to leave (work) earlier (in the spring) so that I can put more effort into racing and be a consistent podium guy. Unless I get a deal to do that, I will work again and do the same deal.

It’s been two and a half weeks since I had surgery. It’s still tender and sore. I wanted to start back to work this week but it’ll probably be next week. I need to suck it up; I’m sitting around when I should be working and making money!

What did they do to your shoulder during surgery?
They put two screws into the head of my humorous, left my collarbone alone and looked at my rotator cuff but said the joint looked good after the dislocation. I may have to go in and get the screws removed if it causes lack of movement in my joint. It’s been healing well, but now it’s evened out and my range of motion hasn’t improved in a week. I may have to get the screws removed.

I wanted to ask about the Canadian Arenacross Series, but now that all being said, you’re probably still a bit away from racing again.
I was planning to race arenacross and talked to Trevor (Cerny, Devils Lake Team Manager) about it. At this point, I haven’t ridden or been able to train. You need time on whoops and get holeshots to do well in arenacross, but neither is my strong point. I don’t want to end up not making money and battling in the pack where it can be dangerous. I’m just not ready to get into that aggressive racing until my shoulder is stronger. If I didn’t get hurt, Devils Lake and I had it all figured it out to go racing with 250Fs from the season, but not now. Leading Edge (Kawasaki) was talking about doing a team and talked to me about it this summer. I’m sure they have talked to others riders as well.

That’s interesting … you didn’t want to take up Leading Edge on the offer to race arenacross?
It sounds like a great idea but I don’t want to leave Devils Lake to race four arenacross rounds. I told Trevor and was up front with him. Unless Leading Edge is offering me a contract for 450 outdoors as well, then I’m not switching for that. Loyalty is a big thing in this game and I’ve learned it the hard way. I don’t want to affect anything with Trevor and my current deal with Devils Lake. We did have it all figured to go racing arenacross but then I got hurt. I don’t want to jump ship and then get left high and dry if things don’t work out. You have to be thankful for what you have on your plate.

What exactly do you do for work in the Alberta oil fields?
Pipeline work. I get into a machine soon, but I oiled last year. It says ‘Apprentice Operator’ on my pay stub. There is a lot of work going on around right now. I like it. It’s more around dirt and machines than welding. My Dad runs a welding company but I have zero desire to do welding. There is lots of pipeline work around Edmonton right now, like seven to eight companies, so there are lots of jobs available.

Thinking about your riding this past summer, did you surprise yourself with your results and speed? There were many, myself included, who didn’t really expect to see you mixing it up with the ‘factory guys’ at round one in Nanaimo.
At round one, I surprised myself because I was nervous coming in. I had only ridden a few motos and rode only with my teammates before the Nationals. I felt good on the bike in the little time that I had. As soon as I got onto the new 2014 YZ450F, it was night and day difference. That made a big difference; being more comfortable with a good base set up.

After Nanaimo, I was confident going into Kamloops, and I was really happy after Kamloops with where I was at. As everyone knows, things die off quickly outside the top group. ‘Newf’ said in one of his podcasts, “Did we not expect Dylan to be in top 10? He’s a good rider, but he was mixing it up with the higher up guys.” If I wasn’t around Tyler (Medaglia) and Teddy (Maier), it wouldn’t be so impressive. That, for me, was a big thing because it was a step in the right direction. In 2013, I was in the top 10 consistently, but never saw the Teddy Maiers or Medaglias and guys at the front of the pack. I do need to improve my starts though; it’s tough to beat those guys if you don’t start ahead of them.

Can you be one of those ‘top guys’ in the MX1 class?
Absolutely. For me, it’s doing more testing, working on bike setup and trying things that I’ve never been able to do before. I have the skill and conditioning; there’s plenty of time ahead of me and I want more time to be committed to racing full time. That would help. Having resources to do testing and improve bike setup is important. There were a few motos where I struggled with setup and suspension. Next year I want to be a top five guy. With some more pre-season testing and riding, I think I will be there.

Check back tomorrow to read Part 2 of this interview with Dylan Kaelin!