INTERVIEW
2014 CYCLE NEWS RIDER OF THE YEAR KEN ROCZEN
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greatest trainer in the history of American motocross in Al-
don Baker. Since Baker started with Ricky Carmichael in late
2000, the only championships his racers have lost have been
the championships they didn't complete due to injury. That
holds true today, 15 years later. In 2014, Baker's two racers
won both 450cc Championships (Ryan Villopoto won Super-
cross and Ken Roczen won outdoors).
FINDING A BALANCE
The tough thing when working with Aldon Baker is to avoid get-
ting burned out. He has proven to be the best trainer in moto-
cross, but if there's one downside to working with Aldon Baker,
it's that it seems some racers get run down by training so well
for racing. The two racers who have had the most success with
Baker are Villopoto and Ricky Carmichael, and perhaps not coin-
cidentally, they are also both naturally sort of chubby guys. They
put on weight easily. But then there are people like Roczen, who
has always been thin, or James Stewart, who also has always
been thin. They tend not to last as long working with Baker. Roc-
zen realizes he has to make sure that he includes the fun stuff in
his life in order to help avoid the burnout that even Villopoto and
Carmichael succumbed to eventually.
"I know how to train and still have fun," Roczen said. "So, I
did the whole Aldon thing last year [meaning staying strict on
the diet regimen that Baker puts in place]. I've done the non-
fat, the diet, the portion control, everything, and I felt shitty. I
got really light. I've not been horrible eating. I still fuel my body
with good stuff, but I've just been eating how I want to and
what I want to, and especially how much I want to, and I've
"I GOT INTO FIGHTS WITH MY
DAD AND HE LEFT. IT WASN'T
AN EASY TIME…YOU CAN SAY
WHAT YOU WANT ABOUT MY
DAD, BECAUSE HE'S A VERY
UNIQUE DAD, BUT I THINK IF
HE WASN'T AS UNIQUE AS HE
IS, I WOULDN'T BE WHERE I AM
RIGHT NOW."
