Well, my recent quest to find a Cheetos bike jersey hit
paydirt. After seeing one on another rider stopping for a rest, I saw the
telltale orange “Cheesy Riders” jersey, and, being a lifelong Cheetos lover,
knew immediately, I wanted one. The guy said his was given to him for loaning
his bike to a guy in Texas who worked for Frito Lay. After some searches on the
internets, I came upon the Cheesy Riders.org. It is Frito Lay’s national
cycling team made up of cyclist employees, spouses and friends. Cheesy Rider
bike groups are in Dallas, Portland, Ore., Cincinnati, Chicago, Mountaintop,
Pa. and Purchase, NY. They do organized rides to raise money for charity and
partner up with Enable Network at PepsiCo to promote active cycling and support
charities like the National MS Society. So I sent in an email and asked about
how to get a jersey. Not long later, Vince Hicks responded, saying the way to
get a jersey is to raise $300 for one of the Cheesy Rider fundraisers such as
the Dallas Bike MS, to get a free jersey. Or, you can buy one for 50 bucks. So
I sent in my check to Denise Chochrek, senior research analyst at Frito Lay in
Plano, Texas, and I anxiously await its arrival. Definitely will pass on a
photo of it in an upcoming blog. This thing rocks!
By the way CheesyRiders, I have no doubt you have no small
number of Cheetos eating cyclists in the Sacramento area. This should be your
next chapter. I’ll help! And I’m sure there are a lot more potential CR cycling
groups around the country.
Among the activities they tout for CR riders are:
• The Jersey
• Raising money for good community causes
• CR Happy Hours
• CR training schedules and rides year round
• Cycling experts available for training and equipment
questions
• Bike shop discounts in some areas
• And overall, it’s a fun fest.
Yes, validation is
nice
I was resting at the halfway point of my regular 51 miler
the other day, when an older couple and their protective Pomeranian walked up.
“How far you ride?” asked the friendly man.
“About 25 miles,” I said.
The smallish gray haired woman, probably his wife, looked me
up and down as her jaw dropped.
“You just rode 25 miles?” she asked, absolutely dumbstruck.
“Yes,” I said. “I’m only halfway home.”
She kept her gaze on me, trying to process the information
I’d just given her.
“You must be in pretty good shape,” she said, still trying
to wrap her head around the idea of biking 25 miles.
“I ride a lot,” I said.
Then the man grabs the bottom of his beer belly with both
hands and pulls up.
“Be pretty hard with this,” he laughed.
“Get on a bike, you’ll lose it faster then you’d think,” I
said, as the Pomeranian started an unsolicited barkfest at me.
They waved goodbye and walked on, really friendly nice folks.
For several years I had a belly that I didn’t have much luck
with losing until I started cycling regularly. But putting in regular time in
the saddle I shed it in fairly short order, and was amazed.
But I have to keep cycling, or my big belly will return, no
problem. So that’s a nice motivator to stay in the saddle!
That’s why I tell people I know who lament the difficulties
of losing weight: Get a bike and ride it regularly. Magic will happen. It’s
absolutely true.
Til next time, make sure and put on a helmet every time you
get on the bike, then keep the rubber side down at all costs. Ride safe and
fun.
-- Mark Eric Larson
Mark Eric Larson has written two books of essays, "The NERVE...of Some People's Kids," and "Don't Force it, Get a Bigger Hammer. To read, visit:
http://www.scribd.com/Mark%20Eric%20Larson/shelf
His blog of personal essays is at: http://marksmuzings.blogspot.com/
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