UHC cycling team training in South Lake Tahoe before Amgen TOC

The Amgen Tour of California is just a week away, and since both the women's and men's races come through South Lake Tahoe this year, many cyclists can be seen training on area roads.

On Wednesday, four members of the United Heath Care (UNC) cycling team joined local comedian and radio personality Howie Nave on a bike ride to Round Hill Pines.

Howie participates in the annual America's Most Beautiful Bike Ride around Lake Tahoe, so he can ride, and the ladies of Amgen today treated him kindly on the roads, not leaving him in the dust as he joked about.

UHC Team Captain Lauren Hall, Katie Hall, Leah Thomas and Diane Penuela met Howie at Clyde's Coffee Roasting Company on Kingsbury Grade for coffee, then headed down the hill to the the Rabe Meadows Bike Trail "Lam Watah" which they took to Nevada Beach and Round Hill Pines Resort.

"Good times and they weren't threatened by how fast I cycled on my mountain bike either," joked Nave on Facebook after the ride.

The four UHC cyclists are staying in a vacation rental on Pioneer as they prepare for Amgen Tour of California Women's Race empowered with SRAM which starts May 17. The women like staying at homes while racing because they can cook meals, store bikes, bring in sports massage therapists and hang out as friends, plus it is a good value for their sponsors.

Some races have them stay in host homes or motels, but with the movement the Amgen takes through different communities they find the rental home the easiest option for them.

The four came into South Lake Tahoe Tuesday, and have already enjoyed meals at Sushi Pier and Azul Latin Kitchen, as well as the coffee today at Clyde'. Diane came from Argentina where she raced in the Pan-American Road Cycling Championships that just wrapped up May 7. She placed 14 in a field of 63. The others came up from Mammoth Mountain.

Two Californians make up the UHC team in SLT this week. Katie Hall from Saratoga and Leah Thomas from Boulder Creek. Lauren Hall is from Mississippi and Diane Penuela from Columbia.

Competitive cycling is a serious business, but the women showed they can have fun too, but that is usually saved for the off season.

As they cycle in that off season (October - January) you can find UHC join others riding the roads with a goal of fun jerseys for the winners of the theme. Those jerseys can be the "Jittery Jersey" for the one who drinks the most coffee, "Sugar Mama" and "Sugar Papa" for the riders who buy food for the others, or the "Mooching Jersey" for the one who mooches the most pastries off the others. One route you'll find them on makes Tomales, Calif., a stop. Their famous bakery is one of four in a 30 mile tour, and they'll stop at all four.

The season isn't always about cycling as rest and recovery is important, according to Katie. She said it improves the quality of their training.

"You have to take care of yourself," said Katie.

Katie, who won Stage 2 in South Lake Tahoe during last year's Amgen, will be focusing on Kingsbury Grade and altitude while training this week, the climb that clinched it for her last year.

"The lap around the lake is beautiful, but not aggressive," said Katie. "Kingsbury is exciting."

Then men's tour will also take their cyclists over Kingsbury on a day that starts in Folsom, a climb they appreciate as well.

Both also go along SR-88, a great route according to Katie, one that has a French feel (referring to racing in Europe).

The forecast at this time for Amgen through Lake Tahoe shows sunshine and clear skies, with a mild temperature of 64, but that has been changing almost daily as rain was peaking in a day ago.

May 1 in Big Bear, the Redlands Bicycle Classic Time Trials were canceled due to snow, a scene familiar to South Lake Tahoe when the initial Men's Amgen race through town was called due to snow and ice.

For those wanting to catch the Amgen stages in South Lake Tahoe:

Both men's and women's races will be in South Lake Tahoe on Friday, May 18.

The women's 70-mile stage will start at Heavenly Mountain Resort in South Lake Tahoe, head out Pioneer Trail to State Route 89, over Luther Pass, down State Route 88 to Woodfords, a circle through Diamond Valley, up, and down, Kingsbury Grade and back to the starting point. Uber climber Katie Hall is expected to return to defend her SLT stage title. In the past the women racers stayed on the South Shore for a few days, but their TOC race has them starting in Long Beach. They start their race at 11:00 a.m. and estimated finish is 2:21 p.m.

For the men, stage 6 starts in Folsom May 18 on the new Johnny Cash Trail, then they head up Highway 50 through Placerville and then turn onto the Mormon Immigrant Trail to State Route 88, over the Carson Pass, down into Woodfords, over to Kingsbury Grade, down into Lake Tahoe and over to Heavenly. Estimated finish time for the men is 3:41 p.m.