I started road racing motorcycles when I was 9 years old, a Yamaha YSR50. Stayed competitive for about 7 or 8 years, and then my natural size and weight started hurting me, and the skill level of some of the riders was just beyond my ability. So I never made it pro or anything, just got to REALLY enjoy my childhood at the tracks with my dad.
I stopped riding altogether about 2 years ago, decided I didn't want to risk getting hurt again (or worse) and not being able to support my wife and future children.
Here's a picture from one of my last rides, this was on a 2001 Yamaha R1 that I got in pretty bad shape for nearly free, and restored it myself.
Before the rebuild:
My little 2-stroke Aprilia RS250 I had in Italy:
and my Ducati 996 that I bought shortly after that:
Throughout my life I've owned about 15 motorcycles, some street only, some track only, some did double duty. I've been privileged enough to ride on some of the same tracks that the absolute greatest riders in the world (Mugello Italy was my favorite) and been to some track school and got to learn from some of the best. If I ever get back into riding, it will be track only, as I like to ride hard, and riding as hard as I do just isn't safe on the streets, so there's no point for me to have another street bike.