news-record.com

With his nose bleeding and his legs feeling as heavy as lead, David Caton shot toward the finish line at the top of America.

He was trying to mountain bike 100 miles in under 12 hours , through wind and freezing rain. He had reached speeds of 27 mph , going downhill on pavement with a rainbow in the sky above Colorado.

Other times, he pushed his bike uphill. With his legs cramping and his right heel beginning to bleed, he saw a washed-out roadbed level off and rise, level off and rise. Six times. For at least two miles .

“I can’t quit!’’ Caton thought. “I can’t!’’

He had traveled to Colorado to compete in the Leadville 100 , which is like the New York City Marathon for mountain bikers.

It’s also called “The Race Across The Sky’’ because it starts in Leadville, Colo., a city of 2,688 people where a wooden sign shouts the slogan: “On Top Of It All.’’

Leadville is an old silver mining town amid the shoulders of the Rocky Mountains. It sits at 10,152 feet and represents the country’s highest incorporated city. And every August, it becomes a mecca for mountain bikers.

Caton joined two other Daves from Greensboro — David Pokela , an attorney, and David Phlegar , the city’s stormwater manager. They think nothing of cycling a few hundred miles in a week and pushing their bodies as hard as they can.

They all knew about Leadville. They paid the $250 entrance fee and dropped their names in Leadville’s lottery to see if they could get in. They did.

They trained for months, all to stand at a starting line at the top of America, with the temperature hovering at 38 degrees . It was Aug. 15 , a Saturday. Rain had just started to fall.

Pokela, 44 , didn’t make it. Two nights before the race, he was hit by a stomach virus so severe he drove himself to a hospital emergency room. He didn’t eat anything Friday. Still, he biked Saturday. He got as far as mile 60 .

That same day, his wife Elizabeth and one of their three children — their son Anders , 11 — ended up in the emergency room. They got the stomach virus, too.

Phlegar, 41 , did make it. His time: 10 hours, 13 minutes, 55 seconds, or 10:13:55 ,

numbers he still can repeat off the top of his head. Phlegar also remembers something else — his boys, Matthew, 11 , and Brian, 8 , at the finish line.

They burst through the metal barriers, bent on greeting their dad. After all those years of watching him train so hard on his bike, Matthew and Brian got it.

Caton got it, too. He heard the roar of the crowd and saw the red carpet. He pedaled hard. He thought of all the time and money spent — the $600 round trip plane ride, $2,000 in food and equipment, the eight months of training.

And he thought about Rob Eubank , his biking buddy from childhood.

They grew up together in Gainesville, Fla. Now, at age 40 , a father of three , Eubank was battling liver and colon cancer . And Caton was biking for him. For the first time, Caton chased people down and asked them to give. He even organized a fundraising party, went after sponsors and sold cheese balls. The result: $5,162, all raised in Eubank’s name and donated to the Lance Armstrong Foundation to help fight cancer.

So, Caton had to finish in under 12 hours. Had to.

Caton came in at 11 hours, 56 minutes and 14 seconds . He was bleeding from his nose, bleeding from his right heel and barely able to lift his legs over his mountain bike. But Caton made it — with four minutes to spare.

He’s got a silver and gold belt buckle to prove it. Phlegar does, too. Phlegar keeps it on his dresser; Caton keeps it beside his bed. They both would go back. Pokela would, too.

It’s to conquer a mountain. But for Caton, it’s also a chance to help.

“To fight cancer,’’ said Caton, 38 . “It’s a terrible disease. It keeps popping up in my life and robbing me of the people I love and care about.’’

Contact Jeri Rowe at 373-7374 or jeri.rowe@news-record.com