TRAVELER:
KELANA HUMPHREY
Kelana is an ancient Indonesian word that means traveler and twelve-year-old Kelana Humphrey is a living embodiment of that exact definition. The youngster out of California by way of Bali has been doing the quarantine right the past couple of months, refusing to let a broken arm he suffered at Spring A Ding Ding ruin his good time. His family recently moved from Huntington Beach to Temecula in order to better suit the moto lifestyle and Humphrey has been reaping the rewards the last few months, spending his time in a sling filming and editing videos of his moto buddies stunting for the camera on their pit bikes. Since getting back to riding fitness, he’s been spending significant time out in Utah racing in some of the local series as well as doing his fair share of free-riding at various spots across the state. Last year was his first year racing on the national scene and his first year competing at the Loretta Lynn Amateur National Motocross Championship so he’s looking to break into the top five this year after an impressive 6th place overall in 2019. We got Kelana on the phone after a Thursday afternoon of riding at Glen Helen while he was in transit to Utah for a couple of weeks of racing, free riding, and whatever else the road has in store.
So, your dad mentioned you were at Glen Helen practicing a little bit before heading to Utah for the Loretta's Regional.
Yeah, we're road tripping to Utah and Glen Helen was just on the way so we decided to grab some practice. You know, Glen Helen is normally a pretty rough track on pro day so it's just good to practice rough tracks before races, it's good to get the seat time.
Were there a lot of fast guys out there practicing?
Yeah, it was pretty busy. There were actually a lot of amateur riders, like I saw the Star (Racing Yamaha) guys out there and then (Chance) Hymas, Jett (Reynolds), and I saw Ryder (DiFrancesco) out there today. So there were lots of factory amateurs out there, too
You broke your arm back at Spring A Ding Ding. How'd the recovery process go for you and how long have you been back on the bike now?
Obviously, I broke my arm at Spring A Ding (Ding) and I was off the bike for about four weeks. The doctor said I could ride but not jump so I did that and he said two weeks but my arm felt really good. I rode at Cahuilla one day and I did all the jumps and my arm felt fine. I've been riding ever since so I think I've been riding for about a month and a half now I'm pretty sure.
What did you do during all of that downtime that you had when you were healing up?
I did a lot of off the bike training like every single day. I was working hard on the stationary bike, working out, and running. I did a lot of schoolwork too. During quarantine, some of my buddies have been coming over to my house and I've been filming them a little bit and editing some videos which is fun so that's pretty much what I've been doing. We also got a side by side when we moved out to Temecula so I've been driving the side by side, doing a lot of off the bike training, and filming and editing!
So you're pretty close to quite a few other moto people at your new place in Temecula, right?
Yeah, Talon (Hawkins) and Wyatt Thurman are my neighbors and I literally ride my pit bike to their house like every day basically or they'll go ride their pit bikes at my house. Then (Jarryd) McNeil only lives like five minutes up the hill from my house so I'll ride my normal bikes there. It's pretty cool 'cause when I lived in Huntington I didn't really know a lot of motocross people, so it's cool to live close to moto people and just be able to ride my bike anywhere basically.
You've spent your whole life living on the beach back home in Bali and previously in Huntington Beach. Has it been strange for you living in Temecula not being that close to the water?
I've lived on the beach basically my whole, life like eleven or twelve years but I was spending more time outside of the beach driving to the track and everything. When I lived in Huntington, the car drives...it would be an hour and a half to go to Pala and I'd go there like three times a week. That was just hours in the car so it made more sense just to move out to Temecula; I've got a figure-eight track, I've got a pit bike track and pit bike jumps, I've got a ramp and then obviously I've got McNeil's house, Talon's, and Wyatt's house. Also, there's a secret little sand track that you can go to from my house, I can literally just ride right out of my door and Pala is only thirty minutes from my house, Cahuilla is only twenty so everywhere is a lot closer. Also, I'm only forty-five minutes away from the beach so it's not like I'm way out there.
For sure, it's invaluable to be able to get on your bike from home and not have to load up to get that extra seat time. We've seen on your social media that you've spent time traveling back to your home country of Indonesia before. How often do you do that now and do you still have a lot of family there?
Normally I go to Indo like once a year basically. My mom is actually full-blown Indonesian so I'm actually like half Indonesian so half my family is from there and I have a lot of family there. When I lived in Indo, I went to an international school so I have friends that I speak English with and stuff. I have a bunch of close friends there too so I'll go there and see them boys since I grew up around them, so I have lots of friends and family there.
What are some of the things that you get the most excited about going back to Indonesia?
Definitely being back there and seeing all my old buddies. It might sound kind of funny but here in California with the weather, you have to put wet suits on to go surf but in Indo, you just put on your trunks which is pretty nice. I don't know, Indonesian food -- I really miss that and just being there is awesome.
So you've spent some time in Utah the last couple of weeks racing and free riding and you're headed back out there now. Talk about some of the stuff you've been up to out there.
Yeah, so I've been racing in Utah 'cause the gate time is just very important to me and the tracks are really rough and rutty, so that's good practice for the Regionals. I'm actually going to race a local race where the Regional is gonna be in two weeks, so that's gonna be super beneficial for me. I stayed in Caineville (Swingarm City) and that place is amazing, it's so cool and there is just endless stuff to ride there -- some ridges, sand washes, jumps, big sand berms. There is so much variety there and then I went to the Palmer Compound for some pit bikes which was super fun; they had a super rad place and we launched pit bike jumps and stuff. We can ride out the door onto the street and apparently that's legal in Utah or somethin' and you go out and go straight to the gym which is sick.
Last year was your first year ever racing at Loretta's. What were your first impressions of the event and how did the week go for you?
Yeah, last year was my first year racing on a national level besides Mammoth so even Texas was new to me. I've never ridden anything like that and I mean, my expectations for Loretta's weren't low but they weren't the highest either. Getting 6th place overall for my first time at Loretta's and not growing up riding those kind of ruts, I was pretty pumped with that. It was definitely a super cool experience.
At the beginning of this season you did a few of the Supercross Futures rounds out on the west coast, how was that experience for you?
Yeah, Supercross Futures is one of the best experiences 'cause you watch the race the night before and you're riding the same exact track so that's super cool. I feel like supercross is super fun to me. In Indo where I grew up, it was just super tight turns and really big jumps so supercross just comes natural to me, so I love it! It's super fun.
That's interesting, what's the amateur motocross scene like over there?
So in Indo, you don't race a lot, I'll just say that. There are only like nine races I think and it's one series and they're a few months apart or something like that. So you don't get to race a lot but the tight turns and big turns are just natural to me 'cause that's what I grew up riding.
What kind of free-riding were you able to do back in Indonesia?
In Indo, there are different places where you can do different stuff. You can ride the volcanic ash next to volcanoes on Mount Batur which is super fun, you can literally ride on the beach and you'll be completely fine, just ride in the sand and stuff. There's a lot of variety there in Indo.
What do you think about the Super Regional format for Loretta's this year?
I think it's a super good opportunity 'cause for some people, for example, maybe a really fast kid just blows it in the Area, crashes super hard and can't make it or breaks their arm and can't race. The three steps are kind of hard for some people so I think the Super Regionals are super beneficial for a lot of people. Even some Vet guys that don't wanna do the Area 'cause they're running low on money, they can just sign up for the Super Regional.
Considering this is your second year going to Loretta's, what's your mindset heading there this year?
I'm obviously a little bit smaller than the rest of my class but I feel like I'm getting really good in rough tracks and getting better in the ruts and stuff, so I think I'm gonna do better than I did last year. I think I'm definitely gonna get top five!
What're your plans for the end of this year and 2021?
Yeah, I'm pretty sure I'm gonna be racing the Mini Sr. classes. I think I'm just a little bit too small to actually race the big wheel supermini but I feel like maybe in 2022 I'll probably be racing the supermini. As of right now, 2021 I'll be racing 85s still.
Have you been riding a supermini at all for training?
I have a small wheel 105cc right now and that's my practice bike, but I'm hopin' that I will get a big wheel soon just to train and stuff. Whenever I'm on a bigger bike and I get on a smaller bike, I can throw the bike around a little more easily. Hopefully, soon I can convince my parents to get me a 112cc big wheel.