With track time at the Manchester velodrome at a premium , Team Royal London 360 Isle of Man made the long journey down to Newport in Wales recently for their latest off-island track coaching trip. The club hired the Welsh venue for two days, giving the 23 strong squad of riders a total of 12 hours on the track. The Dolan track bikes used on the trip have all been purchased with financial assistance from the Manx Public Lottery Trust, which in recent years has helped the club to build up a substantial stock of road and track bikes (54 in total) for its members to use. Top coach Steve Bonnici was in charge of the proceedings and he spent the first day's session bringing the Manx youngsters up to speed on their track skills. On the second day the riders tested themselves in a series of individual and team races, where the younger and relatively inexperienced riders were paired with the more accomplished competitors. Josh Knights Jamie Dudley, Matthew Bostock, Sophie Black, Anna Christian, Michael Moss and Matthew Davies put in good all-round performances in the "expert" ranks, while Tyler Cain, Conor Gelling, Adam Scarffe, Adam Kelly, Tosh Teare, Nathan Draper, Phoebe & Tara Ferguson and Matthew Draper shone in the novice and team disciplines. Following their two days of intensive coaching, the riders were hoping to put their training into practice in the 2011 North West Track championships. Unfortunately, this year's event has been cancelled, but the organisers are hoping to reinstate the championships in 2012 on the new 400m outdoor tarmac track at Knowsley on Merseyside. Meanwhile, there are the northern area rounds of the national youth omnium series and the national championships to consider. Ends