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In its second year, 'Mud, sweat and gears' is designed to capitalise on the 2012 Olympic mountain biking competition which is coming to Essex.听

The Essex Outdoors Danbury Activity Centre will hold the first competition on Sunday, 19, July.

The next meeting is Codham Park, Beazley End just outside of Braintree on Sunday, 9, August.

With the final race planned for Sunday, 20, September at Langdon Hills in Basildon.

There is different age groupings for youngsters to take part in the events and it is hoped people will start to get into the sport, even though we have a flat county!

Billy Whenman is a professional cyclist and does road racing as well as mountain biking.

He's 20-years-old and comes from Gravesend, in Kent and is a possible contender for the London Olympics in 2012.

Billy is a professional cyclist

"Mud, sweat and gears are enduro-races, which mean the most set of laps you can do on a course in a set time," he explains.

And he should know as he's the national under-23 75km enduro champion.

The events are open to all levels of rider from young to old and Billy says it's about choosing what's right for you.

Danbury presents a good challenge for mountain bike riders says Billy: "The course is well made, the bits on grass are hard to ride on. The bits in the woods are nice and flowing, as long as it is dry it'll be a fast flowing course."

The flatness of Essex and lack of a mountain range are not a problem according to Billy.

"A lot of the courses I ride on the World Cup scene are flat and it has to have different types of terrain. Not necessarily up the side of a mountain," he says.

Billy took part in the Tour Series in Colchester and will also be in action in Southend this Thursday, both road races and likes to switch between the two disciplines.

He will also be taking part in some of the Essex mountain biking challenges and is looking forward to getting on the courses.

Alistair Russell is from Sport Essex

Sport Essex are the organizers behind the events in partnership with Chelmsford Borough Council, Essex Outdoors, Danbury, Trailnet and British Cycling.

Alistair Russell, the Sport Essex Events Manager, says: "It's aimed at the average rider and also the more advanced rider who wants to take on someone like Billy Whenman."

There is bike hire at the events and Alistair believes the number of entries will be strong: "We'd like people to pre-register on our website, as we're expecting large numbers of people. It should be a great day out."