APEX Gravel

Entry into either the Queen of the Canyons (135 miles) or the Mini Majesty (65 miles)

Swag bag from sponsors and partners

Custom Boco APEX hat (as supplies last)

APEX/Heuberger Subaru gloves (as supplies last)

Fully stocked aid stations on-course with help from Flow Formulas

Lunch after the ride

Beer or N/A beverage of choice

Both the Queen of the Canyons (135-mile distance) and the Mini Majesty (65-mile distance) will start and finish at the Penrose House in Colorado Springs.  The Queen of the Canyons is not for the faint of heart—we will ride 135 miles of mostly dirt road to Canon City and back, climbing more than 11,000 feet of elevation.  You will have to average 11 miles per hour to make the cutoff point in Canon City, so if you don’t think you can do that, please enter the shorter Mini Majesty! The roads are bumpy in spots, but proper gravel the whole way.  The ride starts with a paved climb up North Cheyenne Canyon Road and then a short bit of singletrack as Gold Camp rides over collapsed tunnel #3.  After that the ride goes up Gold Camp to the intersection with Old Stage Road and rides toward Victor.  At the end of Gold Camp, the Mini Majesty 65-mile route will turn around and go back the same way.  The 135-mile Queen of the Canyons continues on pavement to Cripple Creek and then down Shelf Road to Canon City.  After that riders will head up Phantom Canyon Road back to Victor, and then back to Colorado Springs on Gold Camp Road.  See the map links below to see the courses on Ride with GPS. 

This is a “timed sections” race.  We will not time the event start to finish, rather we will have four timed sections (two for the Mini) and we will add the times up to create a finish time for ranking.  This format allows riders to NOT blow through stop signs or take left turns without the right of way.  These are open roads and we will only time the sections where we can create safe racing.  None of our aid stations will be inside the timed sections, which means you can stop, fill up your bottles, get a snack, and rest up for a few minutes.  Feel free to wait for friends, give them a hard time about how you dropped them on the climb, and continue on as a group so that you have a group to work with.  Keep in mind that there is a time-cut in Canon City, but you are NOT racing in between sections so you can go a bit easier.  

The first timed section will start at the start line and will end at the end of Gold Camp at the aid station (32-mile section).  The second timed section will be the downhill on Shelf Road down to the outskirts of Canon City.  The third timed section will be the entirety of Phantom Canyon Road starting just after the Landfill outside of Canon City and finishing right before the intersection on the edge of Victor.  The final timed section will be the end of Gold Camp Road down to collapsed tunnel #3 on Gold Camp.  Mini Majesty riders will just do the first and last timed sections.  After reaching the “end of timing” at tunnel #3 riders will just roll back to the finish line to gather awards, a meal, and a drink.

On the 135-mile Queen of the Canyons, there are four rest stops as well as two water spots, and the 65-mile ride will have one aid station and two water spots.  We will have water and Flow Formulas mix at the intersection of Gold Camp Road and Old Stage Road, mile 12.4.  The first full aid station is at the end of Gold Camp Road at mile 32.7.  At this point, the 65-mile Mini Majesty will turn back, hitting the water spot again before finishing at tunnel #3. The 135-mile ride will continue on to Cripple Creek where there will be a rest stop in town at mile 38.8.  After descending down Shelf Road, we will have another aid station in Canon City around mile 65—be sure to fill up there because it is a LONG climb up to Victor.  The 4^th aid station will be at the top of Phantom Canyon Road on the edge of Victor at mile 99.5.  The aid station at the end of Gold Camp WILL NOT be in place on the way back—but the water stop at the intersection of Gold Camp and Old Stage will be at mile 123, and the timing will end at mile 130.8.  Since this is a timed section race, you are also welcome to grab food/drinks at the convenience stores in Cripple Creek and Canon City since those are outside of those timed sections, but we should have enough provisions for you at the aid stations.  We will have Flow Formulas drink, bars, gels, and other snacks along with soft drinks.  We will have limited technical support at the aid stations—this may just consist of some tools and tubes, so please be prepared to fix your own bike!

For this year, we will only have prizes for the top three men and women for each of the courses, but we hope to expand upon that for 2026!