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10⎪DECEMBER 2022⎪shop . cmausa . org |
Terri and I were in Virginia City with the State Coordinators of Nevada , Dave and Gayle Erickson . We were at the Pre- Race Drawing Party for the Virginia City Grand Prix when they shared this story with us , and we were grateful when she offered to write this article . This story helps us to put in perspective why we are called into CMA and the urgency in reaching motorcyclists with the Gospel of Jesus Christ .
Doug and Terri
Doug and Terri South oversee the West Region as
National Evangelist .
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THE
2021 Virginia City Grand
Prix ( VCGP ) was unlike every other VCGP . The race had been delayed from April 2020 due to the COVID-19 Pandemic , rescheduled again in April 2021 , and finally held off-season in October 2021 . All attendees and racers held high expectations for this particular
VCGP as it was the 50th Anniversary event and had been long anticipated .
Dan Heller , CMA ’ er from Santa Rosa , California , was one of those racers . After a 10-year pause from racing the VCGP , Dan anxiously waited for the race date to be posted in 2021 , and then he registered and waited again until that race day finally came . Dan had taken a break from riding dirt bikes and spent his time riding street bikes with his wife . During this important time , Dan worked on turning his life around and focused on living to serve the Lord .
Dan and Dawna have been actively involved in their local church since 1999 in multiple areas of ministry . Dan ’ s soft spot for kids stretched him from the little ones at church to the young men he invested in through active participation in AA (# TakeSomeoneWithYou , SOR 2022 ). In 2016 , Dan and Dawna became involved with CMA in the Santa Rosa , California area (# Compel , SOR 2019 ), where they built friends and family in their local chapter .
The excitement and anticipation for the long-awaited VCGP in October 2021 led racers from around the nation to monitor the weather conditions closely . As the race approached and heavy rain was forecast , many competitors pulled out of the race due to the conditions of the course . However , being familiar with the intricate details of the racecourse , Dan did not let the weather forecast deter him ! For the whole week before the race , he would wake up every morning , thank God for another day , and do a countdown to race day .
As expected , the weather took a turn and the race weekend ended up being one of the rainiest , wettest weekends in the history of Virginia City , Nevada . CMA members who worked in various positions around the racecourse reported multiple cases of racers who DNF ( Did Not Finish ) and returned hanging their heads , some in tears . Others spent hours digging mud and debris out of their swingarms to only advance a short distance to repeat the process . The rain did not let up throughout the entire Sunday race .
Unfortunately , the race that day did not end with Dan earning a
( continue on page 11 )