In aiming to grow its prestige and showcase the bike riding potential of the Pikes Peak region, a sixth-year race out of Colorado Springs is adding what might be called a quintessential route.

Or as the Pikes Peak APEX calls it: “what might just be Colorado’s most stunning gravel race.”

That’s the billing for Queen of the Canyons, set for June 8.

Broken into timed segments with cut-offs, the single-day race out of Colorado Springs’ southwest mountains boasts about 135 miles and 11,000 feet of climbing over Gold Camp and Phantom Canyon roads, following much of the Gold Belt Tour Scenic Byway between Cripple Creek and Cañon City.

The route features a steady, 30-mile climb around Pikes Peak’s historic mining camps and a “thrilling descent” down Shelf Road to Cañon City, said the APEX’s organizer, Micah Rice.

“It’s a heckuva day of riding bikes,” he said.

For a less-demanding day, the Mini Majesty will also run that Sunday. The 65-mile out-and-back covers the entirety of Gold Camp Road, the historic path that fueled the Pikes Peak gold rush.

Rice, who organizes one of the state’s biggest gravel races out of Steamboat Springs, SBT GRVL, knows Gold Camp as “one of the most beautiful roads in the state.” In his 15 years around the Springs’ cycling scene, he said he was unaware of a formal race covering the road’s full length.

The goal is simple, he said: “to continue the growth of the APEX.”

Dangling a prize purse of $12,500 in hopes of again drawing pros and local “joes,” the APEX will return its three mountain bike, singletrack-centric courses June 6-8: in Palmer Park that Friday and North Cheyenne Cañon that Sunday (Saturday was still being finalized as of this writing).

The Queen of the Canyons and Mini Majesty pose other options for Sunday, with the Penrose House serving the same start, finish and afterparty for both Cheyenne Cañon- and Gold Camp-bound riders.

Registration is $107 and $138 for the Mini Majesty and Queen of the Canyons, respectively. Single-day and three-day options for the mountain bike races run between $64-$295.

For Sunday, “there will be some people who have to make a decision,” Rice recognized.

But he sees the Gold Camp Road races and the more technical race in Cheyenne Cañon appealing to different riders. In terms of the Gold Camp Road races: “We look at this as kind of a safe way to do a massive, bucket list ride,” Rice said.

Maybe the route has been too intimidating for one to take on alone or in a small group, he said. “This allows those people to have a structured event, where they’re riding with more people, there’s dedicated rest stops with food and drink, there’s a medical operation team in place, a SAG vehicle in the back.”

Rice said he was keeping “conservative” expectations for Queen of the Canyons and Mini Majesty ridership. “If we get over 100 people, I’ll be satisfied.”

He said he was hoping for close to 200 across the APEX’s other three mountain bike races. Numbers have hovered below that in recent years.

Housed under the Colorado Springs Sports Corp. with national-level sponsors and significant backing from the city’s Lodgers and Automobile Rental Tax (LART) fund, the additional routes will stretch logistics like never before, Rice recognized.

“There’s a lot of moving parts for sure,” he said. “We’re gonna just pull everyone together and try to pull off year one and see how it goes.”