It’s time to address a glaring ommission in our Cake section. For some unaccountable reason we’ve so far never got round to including Peaslake Stores in our list of pit stops in the local area. It’s not as if we haven’t used it regularly after all.

Situated in the village of Peaslake (you guessed that, right?) opposite the bus stop and near the Hurtwood Inn pub it has the added advantage of being less than a few hundred yards from the end of Barry Knows Best. Something of an ideal location for riders to refuel after hammering the singletrack then.

One key feature of the place is that it really is the local village store (and Post Office), so you can always pick up more than the odd snack with your mug of tea. Mountain bikers rub muddy shoulders with pensioners and other locals just popping in. They (the locals) have my sympathy really because on a weekend the place is stuffed to the walls with riders!

Food wise, most things are covered with all the home made MTB favourites such as flapjack and some great cheese straws, plus there’s a very tempting deli counter with all sorts of exotic goodness like vegetable samosas. Yum! I’m always a bit careful how much I consume though as either route out of Peaslake is a real slog and I don’t want to be leaving my snack at the side of the trail!

The real selling point for the Stores is that tea and coffee is served in nice china mugs. This is a surprisingly popular choice and when, for a while the switch was made to paper cups the experience just wasn’t the same. Kudos to Head for the Hills in Dorking for stepping in and sponsoring the Stores to switch back to mugs again. Smart move.

All in all a great location (see Peaslake Village Stores on Google maps) that clearly welcomes mountain bikers with open arms and another one on the A list of food stops around the Surrey Hills.