“Fortune sides with him who dares.” – Virgil
Please email me with more information on past completions, or future attempts!
2016
Joe Grant, 31 days, 8 hours, 33 minutes
Grant finished his tour in a very impressive time, after overcoming many obstacles, including a destroyed wheel on the Lake Como Road descent. Grant was also only the second person to finish the Tour using modern bikepacking style gear.
Although Grant used the core spirit of the challenge as it is documented in the Rules on this site, he did take several deviations from the rules for his own personal reasons, which he is quite candid about in interviews and media – Joe never said he was following the Tour 14er Rules that are documented on this site.
The largest deviation was taking the tracks of the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad from Silverton to the trail that leads to the Chicago Basin, instead of the highway after getting advice from a professional photographer that met up with him while in Silverton. The railroad tracks (and the land directly besides them) are private property through public lands and the usage of them is considered trespassing. Even the Weminuche Wilderness boundaries bow to the right of way to the train route.
In the big picture, it’s not sustainable for anyone to direct/advertise/promote future challengers to utilize these train tracks for their own attempt at the record or their use – they really should be off-limits. As well as being private property, riding them could potentially disrupt the running of the train line, which itself could be a dangerous situation for the train and its passengers. The train tracks aren’t just besides cleared off areas, but cross bridges spanning the Animas River. Some segments are built on trestles, where little option to get off the tracks may be available. Other legal access points are easily accessible, including the highway just to the west of the tracks.
Joe’s integrity isn’t questioned here – as he said exactly what he did, nor was his photographer shy of mentioning they directed Joe through the tracks, but it was still against one of the core pillars of the rules of self-supported bikepacking challenges: Don’t break the Law.
This puts an asterisk in his run of the Challenge, when compared to Simoni’s run and the rules they followed. Again, Joe never said he was following the rules posted on this site. But when it comes to records, how do you compare times between challengers, where one participant follows rules that are thoroughly documented, and another participant follows rules that are not shared and could change depending on circumstance?
2014
Justin Simoni, 34 days, 12 hours, 26 minutes
Simoni summited 58 14ers and his trip was the first modern bikepacking trip of this type; using lightweight bikepacking bags, rather than pulling a trailer.
(Past challengers documented below aren’t somehow beholden to Tour 14ers rules written well after they did completed their trips. Obviously.)
2009
Bart Miller, ~49 days
In the Denver Post article, Miller is said to have summited 53 peaks, skipping Culebra Peak
2005
Nick Ehrhardt and David Paquette, ~ 2 months?
- Friends Pair Extreme Hiking With Extreme Biking, Knocking off Colorado’s Fourteeners
- Pair include bikes in their 14ers mission
1995
Roy Benton, 37 days, 12 hours
More information of this trip would be greatly appreciated.
1985
Glen and Pete Dunmire
The Dunmires are not only the first to have recorded a trip of the 14ers by bike, they’re also the first to have recorded a self-powered trip of the 14ers of any kind!
