Gearing Up for the Granite Bay Grinder

On April 8 and 9 more than a thousand high school mountain bikers will be riding the course around Folsom Lake in Granite Bay for their fourth official race of the season, first of the year in Placer Valley. Dubbed the Granite Bay Grinder, this race course is known for having it all: scores of singletrack, several technical sections, mud, sand, big beautiful oak trees, tall grass and a gorgeous view of the now full Folsom Lake.

Placer Valley Tourism in conjunction with the NorCal High School Cycling League are thrilled to be teaming up to bring this race back to Placer Valley where the riders and spectators alike always have a blast.

Executive Director for the NorCal League Vanessa Hauswald elaborated, “We are really excited to get back to Granite Bay for our annual high school mountain bike race; the community here is incredibly supportive of youth cycling and in so many ways it feels like we are coming home when we are at Granite Bay for our event.

They are expecting 1,100 student-athletes to race over the course of this two-day event. With numbers that large they have the races broken down into 11 categories of competition which include freshman girls, sophomore girls, JV girls, varsity girls, freshman D1 and D2 boys, sophomore D1 and D2 boys, JV D1 and D2 boys and varsity boys. 

Come check out these fearless high school mountain bikers as they rip through the course in hopes of making it to the podium. Folsom Lake State Recreation area does charge a $12 fee per vehicle at the gate; however admission to the race is free. There will be food trucks and merchandise booths on site.