March 2, 2006 — Fox Sports Net Bay Area is set to run its segment featuring Scott Thornton of the NHL’s San Jose Sharks riding the individual time trial course at the Amgen Tour of California in Health Net Pro Cycling Team Presented by Maxxis kit.

The first airing on the Sharks’ half-hour magazine show, SharkByte, will be tonight at 7 p.m. on FSN Bay Area (cable channel 40). The segment will air four more times in the next two weeks.

Air dates and times

-Thursday, 3/2/06 7:00 PM
-Saturday, 3/4/06 9:30 PM
-Tuesday, 3/7/06 7:00 PM
-Saturday, 3/11/06 3:30 PM
-Tuesday, 3/14/06 7:00 PM

Two hours before the pros started on Wednesday, February 22, Thornton took to the streets south of San Jose where the ITT was run, riding a team Cannondale time trial bike. He ripped through the undulating 17-mile course in 48 minutes flat.

Along the way, a crew from FSN Bay Area filmed the whole ride, as well as interviews afterward, including one with Health Net Presented by Maxxis rider Jeff Louder.

“I had a great time riding the course,” he said. “Thanks to everyone on Health Net Presented by Maxxis for inviting me to do the ride, and to Cannondale for building a great bike to do it on.”

“The event went really well,” added Health Net Presented by Maxxis communications director Jeff Sobul. “Scott enjoyed the ride, despite not having much time to warm up, and the feature on SharkByte gives us the opportunity to take professional cycling to a wider audience.”

Thornton became a serious cyclist during the NHL lock-out last season. He continues to use cycling for his training.