COLCHESTER Rovers riders enjoyed some excellent results at the latest instalment of the Mud Sweat and Gears mountain bike series.

The event at Hadleigh Park, the 2012 Olympic venue, was the fifth round in the series and also formed the East and South East Regional Championships.

Matilda Challinor and Daisy Emerson continued their domination of the under-nine girls' category.

The pair battled hard, with Emerson finally emerging as regional champion and Challinor a close second.

Fellow Rover Phoebe Ollett finished in seventh place.

Following a start from the back of the pack, William Smith rode to a strong 15th place finish in a large field with some technical climbs, in the boys' under-nine race.

In the boys' under-12 race, local Lee Valley Youth rider Max Rethman finished third ahead of Rovers' Jack Emerson (eighth) and Jack Letch (14th).

The course included the lung-busting final climb from the adults' course.

Chloe Ollett was second in the under-12s girls' race over the same tough terrain.

The youth Rovers had a good showing, with Aeddan Seaward riding the full adult course that was used for the 2012 Olympic Games to claim 16th in the juvenile race.

Robert Mercer and Oliver Davey-Smith were14th and 17th respectively, in the youth category.

Colchester was represented by two teams in the adults' open male race.

James Rethman crossed the line as top Rovers finisher in 17th place, closely followed by John Letch (19th), Chris English (21st), Martin Smith (25th) and Paul Fisher (55th).

The Colchester Clunkers team produced some great rides too.

Christopher Seaward finished 35th, ahead of Paul Smith (50th) and Kevin Ollett (53rd).

Smith had a great ride after being reduced to three gears by a mechanical, just before the race was gridded.

The series now moves on to the single-track, ditches and the tank mounds of Carver Barracks for round six, on July 3.

Rovers duo Roy Cuppleditch and Anna Dearing competed in the ECCA Open 100 mile time trial on the E2/100 course near Newmarket.

There was a slight tailwind for the riders as they made their break of dawn starts as the sun came up.

The outward half of the route saw good, dry road surfaces, though on the return a slight headwind made it difficult for some of the riders.

Both Rovers riders had very good outings, with Dearing finishing in four hours 17 minutes 42 seconds, just four seconds behind Cuppleditch’s personal best time of 4h 17m 38s.