There was a time when you didn't need a mountain bike to go off road or more than three gears to get up a hill.

This is me on top of Holcombe Hill near my home in Lancashire with my brother and sister. I remember this bike well. It had been my uncles and it wasn't new when he had it so I don't know how old it was. I loved it though, not so much for what it was but for where it could get me. Bikes were just part of growing up; it was how you got to your friends house, the sweet shop, the park, to school or just away from it all. It gave you independence and it's a childhood memory that many of us have in common.

Times have changed though and while some of us haven't stopped cycling and others are now rediscovering it, fewer children cycle now and many adults haven't cycled since they were a child. We thought therefore it might be nice to remind everybody what it was like for us growing up with the freedom, the fun and the health benefits that cycling gave you.

If you have a photograph of yourself with your bike from when you were a child please email it to us with a bit of background information (something about the bike and where the photograph was taken for example) and we'll post the image on our website and Facebook page.

If you don't have a digial version and you don't have a scanner you can just photograph the print with a digital camera or mobile phone (outside on a cloudy day works great).

Click here to see more photographs from other cyclists.