Two locals have cycled thousands of kilometres around the Peace Region this summer, all in the name of randonneuring – long distance cycling.

Wim Kok and Erik Snucins won the Super Randonneur Award, a medal issued by Audax Parisien in France, by completing the 200-kilometre, 300-kilometre, 400-kilometre and 600-kilometre qualifying rides.

This was Kok’s sixth Super Randonneur Award and Snucins' second. The two did their Peace Region rides together, slowly building momentum throughout the summer.

Their 600-kilometre ride took the pair from Fort St. John to Prespatou, to Buick Creek and up to Pink Mountain.

“That one keeps going up, up and up, with a lot of rolling hills, much tougher than I thought it would have been,” said Kok.

Cyclers qualify by for the Super Randonneur Award by completing the 200-kilometre ride in 13.5 hours, the 300 in 20 hours, the 400 kilometres in 27 and the 600 in 40 hours.

Though is takes a lot of physical capacity and training, it’s a very mental sports, said Snucins.

“The biggest part of it is the mental challenge and just knowing that you can do it and just not giving up. It’s definitely more of a mental issue than a physical one, although that does come into play because everything still has to work right,” he said. “Your equipment has to work right, the weather is usually a big issue as well, if you run into tough weather conditions, that’s where the mental aspect really comes into it.”

In addition to winning yet another Super Randonneur Award, Kok also completed the 1,000-kilometre Brevet in Washington State in 64 hours 50 minutes on Aug. 19 to 21.

“It was a very interesting ride,” said Kok. He only slept a few hours on each night and got lost on the first day, getting out of Seattle.

“Day 1 was tough and frustrating at times, to me Day 2 was maintenance and Day 3 was an absolute blast," he said. "

On Day 1 there were times when I was ready to throw in the towel and I think I would have done so if I had been by myself and lost because that city is so big and extensive, you barely know where you are and cycling with other people gets you through.”

Though 1,000 kilometres may seem like a ridiculous task to some, Kok said the race wasn’t bad because he didn’t think of it all at once.

“You go from control to control, you don’t think about 1,000 kilometres, you think about the next control is 110 or the next one is 40 kilometres away so they’re spaced.”

With the Super Randonneur Award and completing the 1,000-kilometre Brevet, Kok has earned the right to be in the first wave of registration for the 1,200-kilometre Paris-Brest-Paris randonneur next summer. Snucins' Super Randonneur Award will allow him to register two weeks after Kok.

Snucins isn’t sure if he will compete in the Paris-Brest-Paris next year.

“1,200 is a huge step up. It’s more than just putting two 600s back to back, it’s a huge step up. So that one’s considerably more daunting,” he said, adding that he’s content riding in the region.

“It was a good season, I did more kilometres this year than I did last year. I’m quite pleased with how it went."

Longtime randonneur ride Kok introduced Snucins to the sport.

"I’m just lucky to have Wim to ride with because he’s showed me quite a bit, given me quite a guidance....it’s knowing how to pace yourself, when to take a break and make sure finish it, he’s been good to ride with. If it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t be doing it.”

Kok hopes to bring more locals into the sport.

“I think the biggest challenge is mental too. To get over that idea of 1,000 kilometres, or even 100 or say 50 a lot of people say you can’t do it, well you can....All I can say is come and join us because the longer you wait, the older you get. It might be tougher to get started,” he said, adding that training for an Ironman seems harder.

“There’s quite a few people that do the Ironman, that’s 180 kilometres on the bicycle, so 20 kilometres more under less challenging conditions give you the 200, so you have to put in perspective.”