Alright then, here goes...

My (and my twin brother's) first TT was in 1964 - we were 4 years old. Before that my old man went to the first MGP after the war in 1946 and then the TT in 1947. My late mother did her first TT in 1956 and apart from a short break due to me and our kid (he's 15 mins younger than me!) went until just before we lost her in 2002. The old man still goes and did both the TT and MGP this year.

The only TT I've missed since '64 was the year of the seaman's strike in 1966 and I've also got about 15 MGPs under my belt as well. I started covering motor sport for my local paper in 1997 and have been an accredited photographer/scribbler ever since.

How keen am I? In 1976 my French and Economics O levels were in TT week. I managed to get the exams arranged for the Tuesday, got the boat to Liverpool Monday morning, train home to Cheltenham, sat the exams, evening train back to Liverpool and took the 1am wednesday sailing and was back in the digs for breakfast

I rode my trusty Morini 3 1/2 Sport to the TT between 1979 & 1998 until another bike did a Volvo manouvre in front of me and ended my riding days, so these days I'm reduced to a c*r. Mind you, be a bit tricky carrying half a ton of camera gear and a set of Callaways on the bike now :wink: