Hmm...I don't know exactly when I first discovered UF/etc. (or even what I first read), but it couldn't have been long after I first got internet access (which was in '93 or '94). I had just discovered anime and manga (which is bizarre, since I spent a fair portion of my childhood years in Hawaii), so I was searching for related topics...and I found UF.

Obviously, when I first read UF, I didn't get all of the references, but it was still a good read; good enough that I've been reading Eyrie works pretty steadily since then.