Frid’Eh Update #10 | Keylan Meston Interview | Brought to You by RP Race Performance
By Billy Rainford
Welcome to Week #10 of the DMX Frid’Eh Update presented by RP Race Performance. It’s been a busy week for me and the old DMX Van. After 6 days straight of chasing events in Florida, I left Palm Coast on Thursday in search of Canadians on my way to Birmingham, Alabama, for this week’s Monster Energy AMA Supercross.
On my way north-ish, I stopped in at WW Ranch just outside Jacksonville to chat with Hannah Cole, Izack Guadagno, and Alek Guadagno being trained by Club 57. My next stop was at Dreamland in Live Oak to see Sebastien Racine, Austin Jones, and Zach Ufimzeff being trained by Kody Renzland. I’m currently at Josh Woods‘s facility GPF to see Tanner Ward, Quinn Amyotte, Jess Pettis, Josiah Natzke, Tanner Scott, Nathan Germain, Bobby Gravel, and more. Canadians are definitely helping to pay the bills around here!
When I have time, I’ll post up a bunch of video and photos of all the riders from today. It seems like our entire Canadian industry is trying to figure out a way to beat Dylan Wright. It’s lonely at the top, folks!
Keylan Meston from Calgary, Alberta, is career #10. Keylan is definitely one of the good guys of Canadian Motocross. He works hard on and off the track and is always a great interview. He only raced 2 rounds of the series in 2023, but if you read between the lines (pretty obvious) you’ll see that we haven’t seen the last of the friendly cowboy.
I think this may be one of the best-answered interviews I’ve ever been a part of, so give it a read and enjoy.
Direct Motocross: Hello, Keylan. We haven’t spoken to you in a while. We’ve definitely done a few #10 Update Interviews with you, though, and here comes another one. You only raced two Canadian MX Nationals in 2023, your fewest ever. 5th in Edmonton and then 6th at your home race in Calgary. First off, with such good results, were you at all tempted to keep going?
Keylan Meston: Actually, I was planning on doing the whole series but some things slowly fell apart. Seemed like it would have been a good fit for me but it just never happened and there were some broken promises. I trained all winter in the gym and rode my ass off once the snow melted. Maff (Shawn Maffenbeier) and I even linked up pre-season and I had some pace. If I am honest, I was bitter! I had 30 hours on the bike by the time Calgary rolled around and I was feeling primed and gritty with the least amount of prep I had ever had in my career. I knew I would get better as the series would go on too. But it wasn’t meant to be..
Were these results what you expected of yourself? How did those two rounds go from your perspective?
They were decent on paper. Edmonton was a good start. I knew where I could have been but I didn’t have that upper end like the fellas in front of me. That’s where some bitterness came from, because I wanted to hang out with Maff and Tyler (Medaglia) a little more. I felt on track to light it up at Calgary. I’m so confident that I can make some guys shake in their boots there! It was subpar results but there were memorable moments.
My lady broke her ankle at Kamloops on day one of the WCAN, we had one hell of a week dealing with that. She didn’t get surgery till 6 or so days later in Calgary. I was dispatching trucks and working from the hospital. I had one bike and it blew up on Thursday night. I cried on the track behind my parents house and pretty sure Gibby (Tyler Gibbs) and his lady thought I was having a mental breakdown (I definitely was).
Gavin, Richard and the Jack Carter Powersports gang were angels and loaned me a brand new 2023 YZ450F off the floor and I spent all day Friday swapping parts on bikes. I put 30 minutes on the bike that night and left her in the stable till Sunday.
I had such an epic crash in qualifying where I’m pretty sure my soul left my body for a second. I passed for the lead in Moto 1, duked it out with all the top guns at least once, and then I believe I gassed out at the 20-minute mark. I was spent for the rest of the day and could have used some Pepto Bismol, but man the crowd was so sick and it’s cool when your friends and fans follow you with cheers around the track.
Last time I saw you, you were going surfing in the south of France. How did that trip go?
Ah man, so cool! But some parts (cough *Paris* cough) can go up in flames. Pretty sure I ate some salmon there that swam up out of a toilet and onto the grill. We got to see the whole west coast of the country, a little rendezvous in Spain, and tied it off in London. Always love getting out of my bubble and experiencing some different culture, makes me look at life a little differently. Purpose was to visit my sister who was finishing up studying to be a nuclear physicist, check out Des Nations, and visit my best buddy, Boston Calder.
We’re at that point in your career where I have to start asking you questions like this: What’s been the highlight of your racing?
Highlight was probably having Brent and Trev Carlson take me under their wing. Could not have asked for better men to help me make my dreams come true.
What’s your favourite track?
Ulverton, Raymond or Glen Helen.
Who has been your biggest rival over the years?
I don’t know. But it was always a mental grind being friends with Maff. We chuckle about how we would torment each other and dig at each other’s egos to get an edge. I love eating burritos and talking about life with that guy.
Who do you respect the most?
Probably Maff and Tyler. They mean business and I like their underdog grit. Maybe (Jess) Pettis too, I like his personality and he’s always straight with you.
I am impressed with (Daniel) Elmore too. I believe in 2020 that kid was traveling with his mom and brothers in a little cargo trailer to the races, tenting it, and last year he got his first podium, straight up!
From a racer’s perspective, is there anything you would suggest that could help our sport and series move forward?
Barriers to entry are god awful. Perhaps more rental options, learn to ride programs, and cheaper but durable alternatives to purchase. Maybe that Kove bike will be a stepping stone? An education subsidy or incentives would be nice as well. For a sport with a considerable amount of risk, it might be more appealing if there were more possible outcomes of “success” for pursuing it. How cool would it be to say as a parent, “My kid won the TransCan 250 Intermediate title, got 12th OA on Sunday and they were awarded a scholarship to go to Queen’s University.” [Editor’s note: Western University would have fit nicely here…🤣]
Also, to supplement some of these barriers to entry, top pros could then branch out into more groundwork, tap into their sales skills. I mean that’s what they technically are there for, to sell and grow the sport. It’s cool how MX101 does the schools with the top pros at times. Imagine being a kid doing a school field trip to the motocross track and Dylan Wright is telling you all about motocross and how cool it is to be a pro dirt biker. That would be a long waiver to sign!
I fantasize about a lot of cool ideas around this.
Was there ever an injury or moment that had you questioning whether you’d continue or not?
Not really, but I take head injuries very seriously now. Those that know, know the battles. Those that don’t, should ask questions for when they find out…
You joked with me that I haven’t come to see you on your farm. Tell us about your farm.
I’m moving out to my parents place east of Calgary as they retire into something smaller. I’m calling it a Dude Ranch now. Grass Track, SX/AX, gym, race barn, peace and tranquility garden, etc.. I hope some people come stay and moto while the AB rounds are in town! I really want to get a ping pong table.
Would you say you are or were our Aaron Plessinger? The fans love you and you are a real cowboy.
Ha! I don’t know, but once upon a time, he and I could have been doppelgangers. We walked past each other at Glen Helen once and took a double take.
As for cowboy, Ryder rocks that hat and the boots real nice but I can guarantee I have more cow shit on my head/toe attire and probably consumed more prairie oysters. Can’t discredit the imprint the Allison brothers left, either. They are inseminating their red angus herd with some real interesting manual techniques. I heard Parker holds the front while Jared manages the back. [Editor’s note: I have video, unfortunately…]
Big question, but what have you been up to since we saw you last?
Working on the family business. Looking for some other passions in life and seeing where my heart currently lies with moto.
What’s the bike situation?
I think I will have a 2024 YZ450F coming from Jack Carter Powersports soon. My MX101 unit should be here shortly after.
If you were to look at the talent in the USA, how far down the list of riders do you think a team would need to go to get someone who could win our 450 title?
Legally? Top 10ish. Illegally? I’m your guy. See above..
Any recent adventure stories for us?
Recently, not really. But itching to brew up something here soon. I’m cooped up and I gotta go!
Before we let you go, you have to give us one of your classic Life Lesson lines.
Eat food before making a decision or opening your mouth. I say a lot of stupid things when I’m hungry.
What does the future look like for you?
Not sure yet, but probably going to be rich and wealthy by my standards, have a hot wife with wonderful, disruptive kids, and have a ton of fun. I also want to do something really cool and outside the box! If that fails, I’ll haul your cattle!
OK, I don’t know if you’ll retain your #10 for our 2025 Frid’Eh Update interview list, so let’s ask you who you’d like to thank.
Buddy, they don’t make suspension springs heavy enough for anyone else to run the 10 on their plates…
Gavin, Richard and JCP South, Brad Peake, Azraie Dumont, Phil Jenkinson, JC Seitz and Fox, Brent Carlson, Seco Seat Cover and some folks from the past who were always great and still great like Dean Thompson, Andy White, Ben Fooks, and Brad Hatt.
How good was that?! I always enjoy chatting with Keylan and it looks like I’ll have a bunch more opportunities this coming race season, so that’s great news.
It’s time for me to head north from GPF to Birmingham, Alabama. Here’s a look at the schedule and entry list:
How about we leave it with this message from #221 Tyler Gibbs who is up in Alabama in the rain. Are we going to have yet another mud race???
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