By Steve Parrish BBC motorbikes commentator

It always seems to me that summer has arrived when the North West 200 comes round.

I come across more and more people who are finding the North West easier to go to than the TT Steve Parrish on the North West 200

I always looked forward to the event when I was racing and now I am glad to be back working at the event as part of the BBC commentary team.

It is a pretty serious event now, probably more so than when I was riding, but it is still so much fun, with a great atmosphere surrounding the whole week.

I think it is a big plus that the practice and race days are well spread out, with rest days in between, so the thing does not feel too cramped.

The North West has grown and grown enormously since my first visit there in 1976 and I really noticed the difference when I returned there in 2000, having not been at the meeting since the late 1980s.

I noticed a huge jump in the size of the event and the nice thing is that everyone in the community really gets involved and the whole area is buzzing, so it really is more than just a road race.

Everyone is so welcoming and you see things like the kids from the schools going round the paddock getting their autographs.

In my day, there was not so much of a paddock so a lot of the local families would lend their garages to the riders to work on their bikes.

In racing terms, the North West is a very tactical race and it is all about slipstreaming and judging where to be coming down to the Metropole section on the last lap.

When I was racing, there was no chicane at Magherabuoy so we were flat out from Mather's but you still have to make the brain work, as well as the right hand.

These days, wherever I mention the North West 200 everyone knows what I am talking about, whereas years ago everyone would ask 'where are you going to?'.

It has become well known globally. Even on the MotoGP scene, everyone knows about it, and that has a lot to do with the BBC coverage on network television and on the internet.

I also come across more and more people who are finding the North West easier to go to than the TT.

They can make a long weekend of their visit and many prefer the more gladiatorial nature of the mass starting racing, as opposed to the stopwatch nature of the TT.

There are more laps of a shorter distance so you get to see the riders a lot more and it is relatively easy to get to.

The TT obviously has a lot of heritage and tradition that goes back a long way and I think it will always be the capital of road racing.

As for this year's racing, Michael Rutter is bang on form in British Superbikes and has the extra incentive of being on the North West 200 bike.

He has really got the hang of the bike and loves riding it.

Steve Plater will be hard to beat, John McGuinness always goes well at the North West and Bruce Anstey is very strong round the Triangle circuit.

Ian Hutchinson, Guy Martin and Ryan Farquhar should be among the other contenders, so there is a right bunch of top men out there.

It is good to see the 250s getting their own race this year too, as everyone knows how strong they are at MotoGP level, and they are proper racing bikes.

Steve Parrish was talking to BBC Sport NI's Richard Petrie

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