Hot pancakes, fresh eggs and local country music will be on the menu Wednesday morning in downtown Colorado Springs at the 51st annual Colorado Springs Street Breakfast.

As a tradition celebrating the city’s western heritage, about 300 Fort Carson soldiers will prepare and serve breakfast at the corner of Tejon Street and Pikes Peak Avenue from 5:30 a.m. to 9 a.m. The event kicks off the Pikes Peak or Bust Rodeo Days in July.  

Participants will get the chance to relax on hay bales, listen to the featured band the Durango Drifters, and of course, cheer on 168 Pikes Peak Range Riders as they begin their annual ride at 8 a.m.

This will be the 63rd Range Riders trek from downtown, and the horseback ride will take them south of Victor for three days, and they will also be featured at Donkey Derby Days in Cripple Creek.

Brett Axton, a Pikes Peak Sertoma club Range Rider, said families can expect kid-friendly fun, old fashioned wagon displays and quality food in support of a good cause.

“This is definitely a family event,” Axton said. “It’s to get the families down and eat pancakes prepared by our fine folks at Fort Carson. A lot of these guys are fresh back from Afghanistan and Iraq, and without their help it couldn’t happen.”

A breakfast including pancakes, eggs, milk, coffee and juice can be purchased for $5 and is free for children under 5 years old. All proceeds will benefit military charities.

Several blocks in the downtown area will be closed to traffic for the event.