The Maverick Series was created to give ‘mountain bikers exactly what they need – a great series featuring key established events conducted over a manageable race calendar’.
The inaugural Maverick Series unified four established marathon events across 2 states and a territory, spanning a nine-month time period from March to November. The events incorporated into the series are varied in their location, race format and terrain ensuing riders are challenged in all facets of marathon racing… PLUS…The events are all established events with great organisational teams behind them.
The 2014 Capital Punishment women’s podium
I fell into the series purely by chance when I attended the first race (Capital Punishment) back in March and placed second. The second race was the infamous Otway Odyssey (April) and with Jenny Fay (the series leader following Capital Punishment) unable to attend I was adorned in the yellow jersey for the series, an honuor I managed to maintain right through to the Highland Fling (November), the last race in the series.
Otway Odyssey 2014; Naomi Hansen with the Yellow leader Jersey for the Maverick Mountain Bike Series. Photo Rapid Ascent
On the morning of the Highland Fling and I suspected Rebecca Locke would continue her super form and take the yellow jersey off me. But as my final race I was proud to wear the jersey for my team (Subaru-MarathonMTB.com) and the Maverick Series regardless of the outcome.
Seeing off Naomi. Photo: Peta Stewart
To qualify for the Maverick series riders had to attend three of the four races and the final results are based on the best three results plus some challenging looking calculation relating to the time gap between riders. There are overall and age group category rankings in both the 100km and 50km events ensuring the series caters for all riders. A complete breakdown of events and rules pertaining to scoring can be located on the Maverick Series website: www.maverickseries.com.au.
The Maverick Series is a great initiative and I would invite any rider that is interested to try and qualify… you only need to do three of the four events. It is accessible to riders in all states and spread over nine months, which ensures family harmony and does not consume too many weekends over a short time frame. I believe the same races will be supported in 2015 so if you are planning next years race calendar keep the Maverick Series in mind.
The final rider rankings are available on the Maverick Series Website www.mavericseries.com.au.
Shaun Lewis wore the Maverick Leaders jersey from Otway through to the Fling, and won the series.
Breaking News.. the dates for the 2015 Maverick Series…
Capital Punishment (ACT) 7th March 2015
Giant Odyssey (VIC) 21st March 2015
Kowalski Classic (ACT) 20th Sept 2015
Highland Fling (NSW) 8th November 2015