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April 2012 Interview with LA's Shelia Monk
By Lucas Comeaux
Shelia Monk from central Louisiana worked hard to win the LACC Series women's class championship in 2010 and has since moved over to racing with the men in the main event. She's been doing well, having fun, and making some great memories. Shelia is always a crowd favorite so we took some time to learn more about her - enjoy!
 Shelia with her Dad Howard Click on pictures to enlarge. |
Shelia on how she ended up in Boyce, LA: I was actually born in Dallas, Texas.
My mom and dad, Edith and Howard, adopted me when I was just
two weeks old from Hope Cottage, an adoption home in Dallas.
We moved around a lot when I was young. My dad was an
auditor for the federal government so his job took him to
several different states. I have lived in Albuquerque,
New Mexico; Seattle, Washington; Kansas City, Missouri; and
Oxen Hill, Maryland. When I was in the third grade we
finally settled in Denham Springs. I graduated from
Denham Springs High School in 1986 and stayed in the area
until 1996. During that time I had several jobs, got
married, then divorced, and that’s when I landed in Boyce.
In 1995, my dad had retired and he and my mom moved here to
be closer to my grandparents, who lived in Hicks. I
decided to go back to college and get my degree, so my
parents offered to help me out if I would move here and
attend Northwestern State University. I did; and in
May 2000, I graduated Suma Cum Laude with a degree in Health
and Physical Education. I always thought I would end
up back in Denham Springs, but after I graduated from NSU, I
was in love with the area, and I have been here ever since. |
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On getting started a bit late in life with the dirt bike riding: I started riding dirt bikes around 2006, after I got a job at Northwood High School. Coach O’Kelly had his bike, a Honda CRF 450X, at school working on it. I asked him if I could ride it, having never been on a dirt bike before! He said okay and helped me get on it, being that I am vertically challenged and the bike was HUGE! I stalled it several times trying to get started, but thankfully it had a button! Anyway, I rode around the school yard a few times and then decided to take it a little further around the school. The first tight turn I had to make around a fence, well, let’s just say I didn’t make it. I dropped the bike. It was too heavy for me to pick up, so I had to walk back and get Coach to help me get the bike back up. Needless to say, by then I was hooked!! Within a couple of weeks, Kevin Hutchinson had hooked me up with Darin Lafleur and I bought my first bike, a KTM 125. My dad couldn’t believe it. He said, “Are you crazy? You are forty years old and taking up dirt bike riding?” Anyway, he came to grips with it and even came to some of my races before he passed away (my mom passed away before I took up riding). I rode the 125 for a little over a year and then bought my next bike, a KTM 200. I rode it for a couple of race seasons, when my good friend Julie Broussard and her family, decided to get out of the sport, and offered to sell me her new 2011 KTM 200. I bought it halfway through the 2011 race season, so this is my first full season on it. |
 LACC event pic by Deb's Prints |
 Sicily Island LACC Round by Willie |
 '10 Don Burgess Memorial by Shows |
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On her first races: I rode a couple of local motocross races, nothing big. My first enduro was in 2007, the Acadiana Dirt Riders’ Cajun Classic. I remember I was so afraid that I would get lost! But I didn’t. I did okay, but I got a flat tire before the gas stop and didn’t get to finish the entire race. I believe my next race was the next year’s ADR enduro and it was a National. I remember I fouled a plug not five miles into the race (that’s what happens when you ride with the choke on!). Coach O’Kelly was riding with me and stopped to help me change the plug. I was so upset because we were getting passed by a lot of other racers. I was saying "We are going to come in last place." He kept telling me not to worry about that |
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| because it was a long race. At about mile marker 32, I ran out of gas. Thankfully, it was at a road crossing and Ken Gautreaux was there and went back to get me some gas. Coach O’Kelly stopped with me again. This time I wasn’t concerned with coming in last. As a matter of fact, I believe my words were, “I don’t care if we do come in last…I’m pooped!” I houred out at that race, but I was hooked with the competition and looked forward to racing more. Kevin Hutchinson told me about LACC and my first race was at Sicily Island, when the ladies class was riding in the main event. Oh my gosh, I thought it was so hard! I didn't even finish one lap! |
What do you do for a living and do you enjoy it?
I got started late with my career. When I graduated from high school I really had no idea what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. So bounced around from job to job and then I guess I finally grew up and decided to get my degree. I am now a high school teacher
 Girls Basketball Head Coach |
and coach at Northwood High School in Boyce. I teach junior high and high school physical education and I am the head coach of our varsity girls’ basketball team. Northwood is a small school, so all the coaches pitch in with other sports. I also help with track and even football! I absolutely love my job. The faculty and staff are not just co-workers, but we are all really good friends, especially the coaching staff. Most people would think that my most satisfying moments would be winning ball games. Don’t get me wrong, that is nice, but actually, my most satisfying moments are when I see former students/players finding success in their lives after high school. I try to teach all my kids to do the very best they can, no matter what they are doing. If you do the best you can and still get beat, then you just got beat by a better team and there is nothing to be ashamed of. You just have to be willing to work hard and get better, but to not give your |
all, or not working to get better, then you are letting yourself down and you will never know what you are capable of.
Did you play any sports in your younger days?
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Oh yea, I loved sports. I played
the usual softball and basketball. Basketball was my
passion. I started playing when I was in the third
grade and played year round until my
junior year in high school. I tore my knee up and could not
get back to a competitive level. (I have had a total of 9
knee surgeries over the years.) I loved basketball, but
with a bad knee I had to find another sport, so I took up
golf. I ended up being fairly successful; I believe the
lowest I got my handicap to was a 7. I won several Ladies
Club Championships at the country club I belonged to and
finished third in my flight in the Louisiana Ladies State
Amateur golf tournament one year. I was just thinking the
other day how my athletic career has spanned a wide
range…from the laid back sport of golf to the, what some
people consider an extreme sport, of dirt bike racing! |
 Lady Tigers Basketball |
So you finished runner-up in the LACC Women’s class in ’09 and then won the class championship in 2010 by over ten points over younger competition – how did it feel to get it done and how much work did you put into it?
 '10 LACC Awards Banquet by Shaw |
Yea, the championship really meant
a lot to me. My dad passed away on Thanksgiving day in
2009. So I decided to dedicate the 2010 race season to
his memory. It was really important to me to do well.
I worked hard that year on my fitness, lifting weights and
working on my cardio fitness as well. I was also
riding every weekend. I think my biggest improvement
from 2009 to 2010 was that I rode smarter. I improved
on picking out lines and knowing when to take chances and
when to lay back and let the other riders make the mistakes.
I did have one scary moment during the season, however.
While practicing at Trampas’ track in Mansfield, I broke my
scapula clean in two just a week before the next race.
I was going out for “one more” jump and wrecked. (note to
self, never go out for “one more” lap, jump or anything
else, bad things always seem to happen!haha) I was
really bummed because I just knew I would miss the next race
and I really needed to earn some points to ensure the
championship. I had already used a drop earlier in the
year and didn’t want to go into the last race without a drop
in my pocket, especially since it was Sicily Island, one of
the tougher courses. Anyway, thanks to some football
shoulder pads, a shoulder strap, and some pain medicine, I
was able to race the next weekend and finished third.
I finished third at Sicily Island as well, and wrapped up
the championship. It was a great year! |
After the championship you decided to jump in with the men in the main event. What were your main reasons for the switch?
I guess it is just my nature to always be looking for a challenge. I knew that it would be hard jumping in with the men, but I also knew that it would make me a better rider, and ultimately that is my goal. I mean, like I said before, I love to win. It is just as important to me to be as good as I can be, and I felt like racing with the guys would help me get better. I have to be more aggressive, and I can’t take any time off during the race. Sometimes, I get in the habit of coasting and not really being on the gas all the time. If I do that with the guys, I will get smoked. I have to be aggressive and ride hard the entire time to even have a chance, and even then, sometimes, it’s not enough!haha At the end of the race, if I have rode hard and smart then I am happy with whatever place I finish. I also enjoy the longer race time. It has helped me in racing enduros as well. And of course, I have to admit, I like getting those couple of extra hours of sleep since the main event starts later!!haha
 '11 Podium shot by the LACC Staff |
 Shelia, Mister, & Beauford |
 '12 Leesville M. Park LACC Rnd by Shaw |
In '11 you finished 4th for the year just two points behind 3rd in the Men’s Beg. 40+ class which is one of the largest classes. How did it feel beating so many men and do they ever ask you to take it easy on them?
Haha. Yea, the guys in my class are great. We are all competitive, but at the end of the race we can get together and laugh about banging bars with one another. I think it was either Greg Kirk or Wayne Varnado, that jokingly told me this year at Leesville he couldn’t even be as fast as me in getting numbers for the year. I guess he was wanting 612 and I beat him to it.Haha As far as my finish last year, I was surprised that I did so well. When I first decided to race in that class, I was just hoping for a top 10 finish in the class. Towards the end of the season, I realized I had a chance to finish in the top five, so I was really excited about that and worked hard to keep improving. When all the dust settled I was in fourth. As excited as I was to win the women’s championship in ’10, the fourth place finish in ’11 was just as proud a moment for me.
Courtney Gerald won the Women’s class championship in ’11 and other women racers are stepping up their game. I’m sure you’re having fun in the main event but does a part of you want to battle with them in the morning race?
Yea the ladies are really
improving and that’s great to see. I hate that the
numbers in the women’s class has fallen some since we first
started. I remember when there were like 15-17 of us
on the line. With the addition of the girls’ class, it
gave a lot of the younger girls an opportunity for success,
so that’s good. They are the future. As far as
ever dropping back to the morning race, I can’t see myself
doing that. I have really come to enjoy the style of
racing that is in the main event. You always have
someone to race with because there are so many riders out
there, you are never riding alone.
Wrapping it up, anyone you want to thank?
Oh for sure. First of all I have to thank my Lord, Jesus Christ. I know a lot of people will always say that when they are asked who they want to thank, but I truly have a blessed life and I have Him to thank for all that I have. I want to thank my parents, and step-mom, Evelyn. My mom and dad were always there for me, as was Evelyn when she came into our lives. I was always given whatever I needed to ensure I had the best chance to succeed. I work with many children that do not have the support that I had through the years, and I have been truly blessed to have had the parents that I did. Of course I need to thank Kevin Hutchinson for always keeping my bike going and giving me pointers to help me ride better. Thanks to all of Team ¾ for their support. And most importantly I have
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to thank Tom O’Kelly. He really encouraged me to make the jump to the main event. He is my biggest fan, but is quick to get on me when I am slacking off!! And with all due respect to Lee Jay Haddox (voted best pit crew in LACC 2011 ), my vote for best pit crew goes to Coach. He spends countless hours to make sure I get the practice I need EVERY weekend. He hauls me to all my races and has given up racing himself so that he can be there for me during the races should I need some help. Coach O’Kelly also keeps my bike maintained and when he can’t fix it, he loads it up and takes it to Kevin. Also, thanks to Coach’s wife, Betty, for allowing me to have so much of Coach’s time! Finally, Lucas, I want to thank you and your family. I can only imagine the hours ya’ll put in to running off the LACC. I am sure you hear many complaints, but let me say that I love the series and I am very appreciative of ya’ll |
 Coach O'Kelly |
putting it on. I am not much for traveling, so LACC gives me the opportunity to race without having to leave the state. It’s a great series and we should all be thankful that we have the LACC to participate in. Thanks again Lucas, for asking me to do an interview. I am so flattered to have this opportunity and it really is a highlight in my life!
Good luck to Shelia this season and watch out guys!
