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Joe Grant, who recently set a new self-supported record on the Tour de Fourteeners, is no stranger to feats of endurance.
Joe Grant, who recently set a new self-supported record on the Tour de Fourteeners, is no stranger to feats of endurance. (Photo: Courtesy of Joe Grant)

How Ultrarunner Joe Grant Scaled All of Colorado鈥檚 14ers in a Month

With nothing more than his bike, running shoes, and small amount of gear, Joe Grant managed to climb every fourteener in Colorado in record time. Here鈥檚 how he pulled it off.

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Joe Grant, who recently set a new self-supported record on the Tour de Fourteeners, is no stranger to feats of endurance.
(Photo: Courtesy of Joe Grant)

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At 5 a.m. on July 26,聽Joe Grant set out from his home in Gold Hill, Colorado, with the goal of running every fourteener in the state using only a Reeb Cycles X bike and his own legs for transportation. The weather was clear as the lanky ultrarunner, who looks a bit like Health Ledger in Lords of Dogtown,聽peddled away from his front door toward Bierstadt (14,065 ft) and Evans (14,265), the first two out of 57 peaks. 鈥淚 wasn鈥檛 trying to break any records,鈥 he says. 鈥淢ostly I wanted to bring attention to the idea of self-propelled adventures.鈥 But 31 days, 8 hour, and 33 minutes later, the 33-year-old had set a new self-supported record on the Tour de Fourteeners, breaking Boulder athlete Justin Simoni鈥檚 mark, set the previous year, by almost three days. Here鈥檚 how he did it:

Training

Grant is no stranger to feats of endurance: he鈥檚 been running ultras since 2007, and just last year, he biked the 560 mile Colorado Trail race鈥攈is first time on a mountain bike. While he didn鈥檛 train specifically for the Tour de Fourteeners, he had solid base after spending the spring preparing for the Hardrock 100, which he unfortunately DNFed聽due to a concussion sustained halfway through the event.聽Although Grant says聽it proved to be a blessing in disguise, as it forced him to rest, recover, and prepare for this trip. 鈥淟uckily my recovery [from Hardrock] was pretty quick,鈥 he says.

Navigation

Grant knew that he wanted to start and finish at his house, and that he needed to make it to Culebra (14,049)聽by a certain day per his permit (it was聽the only peak on his trip that required one). This was the primary framework he used for establishing his route. 鈥淚 was linking the peaks by bike, so I basically picked the most efficient route. Culebra was a challenge, though, because if I didn鈥檛 do some of the peaks on the way there, I would have to make huge detours to get them in.鈥澛

Gear

Grant carried only a bivy sac and a sleeping bag, two pairs of Scarpa running shoes, rain pants, a long sleeve shirt, and a jacket in the frame bag of his bike. At trailheads he would stash his bike in the woods with a cable lock, and try not to think about the possibility that it might get stolen.聽

Processed with VSCO with 6 preset
(Courtesy of Joe Grant)

Food

鈥淚 didn鈥檛 carry a stove, and relied on a lot of frozen burritos from 24 hour gas stations,鈥 he says. 鈥淚鈥檇 put the burritos in my frame bag, and let them thaw while I was riding. Occasionally, when I was in a town, I鈥檇 eat real meals, but otherwise it was a lot of easily transportable food.鈥澛

Weather

The late summer weather proved to be Grant鈥檚 biggest challenge, with afternoon thunderstorms and the possibility of snow. 鈥淭he weather imposed a certain rhythm on the trip,鈥 he says. 鈥淚 needed to bike to the base of the peaks at night so I could start them early in the morning.鈥 Still, one night Grant slept in a forest service bathroom because the storms were so bad.

顿补苍驳别谤听

Apart from a broken bicycle rim, which required a two-day stop for repairs in Alamosa, and the expected wear and tear of a 30-day self-propelled adventure, Grant ran into few issues. 鈥淭he biggest challenge was weather.鈥澛

Stoke

鈥淭here were a lot of awesome peaks I hadn鈥檛 run before,鈥 says Grant. 鈥淚 thought this would be stressful, not knowing the routes, but it was actually really positive. It ended up being the peaks that I鈥檇 already seen that were more of a grind. It was a lot of up and down of familiarity, wear and tear, curiosity, and excitement.鈥

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(Courtesy of Joe Grant)

Loneliness

鈥淭here was definitely a loneliness factor,鈥 Grant admits. 鈥淧eople don鈥檛 know you when you鈥檙e going through town, and I don鈥檛 know them. Friends joined me along the way, but not that much. My friend Fred Marmsater聽did a few peaks with me, and another met me on Princeton (14,197), and Yale (14,199), and one other guy on Mount of Holy Cross (14,009).鈥 But, Grant says,聽loneliness wasn鈥檛 really an issue, 鈥渕ore of an observation that at times it would be nice to share some of these moments (particularly the good ones) with someone.鈥

Finishing

All told, Grant had traveled roughly聽1,500 miles鈥1,100 biking and 400 running and聽hiking鈥攚ith around 100,000 ft of climbing.聽鈥淲hen I finished,聽I sat on my porch for about a half an hour. My wife was at work. Only my dog was home.聽Fred came out to see me. It was pretty anti climactic.鈥澛

Lead Photo: Courtesy of Joe Grant

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