BLOOMINGTON - Josh King became known as "Red Top" in the McLean County Wheelers cycling club after the full-time student and bartender was awarded a bike in the group's annual "Bike Change Lives" give-away earlier this year.

The program is designed to show how pedaling can yield lasting health benefits by giving free bikes to people who want to make positive changes in their lives. Winners were awarded two-wheelers in April based on essays they submitted. They agreed to be interviewed by the Pantagraph for this story to see how they fared.

King's label stuck after he called cabs to take him home when three of his many rides went sour. Getting picked up in the country "is not easy," said King, 25 of Normal, whose bike provides his sole transportation.

"I give them the best directions as possible, but one time it took six calls for them to find us," he said, laughing.

The Red Top nickname isn't the only thing the affable King has earned. The journalism major at Illinois State University has gained a reputation as a never-say-die rider who has logged about 4,600 miles so far this year, an amazing feat on a less-than-fast hybrid bike. He rides about 50 to 60 miles a day four times a week. He's lost more than 50 pounds. His pack-and-a-half cigarette habit ended when he had his last smoke an hour before he picked up his bike.

"It seriously has changed my way of life," said King, who credited support from friends and his boss at Logan's Roadhouse Restaurant in Normal. He was allowed to work his schedule around training rides the Wheelers offered to help newcomers get started. "Honestly, since I was introduced to this opportunity, everything, my attitude, everything has changed. I'm more positive. I cut out all negativity. I don't talk to negative people anymore.

"The idea of biking, it's all I think about anymore."

New granddad

Carlos Diaz, 53, an inspector with the Bloomington Housing Authority, rode a bike years ago, but had to quit when he became very ill. He waited for a new liver for 10 years.

After a transplant operation in 2000, diabetes was a side effect of his medication. His blood sugar level was way too high, and he had trouble controlling it with insulin.

Diaz decided to enter the Wheelers contest after reading stories in the Pantagraph about the health benefits other people got from bike riding. His family was expecting the addition of his first grandchild, and he wanted to be around for a long time.

Four, six, 10 miles were difficult when he started riding on the training rides that stretched over ever-longer distances. Now, he can ride 50 miles at a time. He takes his bike out three or four times a week both on group rides with the club and on his own.

"I thought those were crazy (mileage) numbers," Diaz said. "But those guys really get you ready for it. They are great and very patient."

As a result of his hard work, the regular cycling controls his blood sugar. His doctor took him completely off insulin. Diaz lost more than 30 pounds. He plans to lose 20 more.

"I'm just surprised how my health has improved. I feel so much better. I'm surprised how far I can go," he said.

His wife, Sheila, is riding with him, too. And, Diaz already is making plans for his grandson, who was born June 11.

"I'm sizing him up for a helmet," Diaz said, smiling. "I'd like to thank all the Wheelers. I'm so happy."

Going to the dogs

People who exercise regularly on Constitution Trail probably recognize Marge Ehlers, 58, of Normal. Before writing her essay to the "Bike Change Lives Giveaway," she rode an old bicycle with her dog, Macy, perched in the basket on the front.

Ehlers, the office manager for the superintendent of Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley School District 5, wrote the bike club after a technician at a bike shop told her the bike she had wasn't worth repairing. A "dabbler" with the Lake Run Club, she wanted a new bike as a way to continue her cross training while avoiding injury to a tendon she hurt years ago. Bicycling seemed to be an answer.

"Biking is something I can really do anytime. I don't have to be in the mood to go bike," she said. "I like the spontaneity of biking, and of course, Macy loves it."

Ehlers has exceeded her own expectations. After completing a challenging, hilly 65 miles on a charity ride known as Pedaling for Kicks through the Mackinaw River Valley one hot July day, she ran 5 kilometers with the Lake Run Club that same afternoon.

"I had no idea it (cycling) was like it is. It was so much fun to get together with people and go, and the scenery out in the country is so fantastic," she said. "I've made a wonderful world of new friends who like to do the same thing I like to do."

Pausing, she chuckled.

"Some of the people I run around with now are younger than I am because they don't realize I'm as old as I am," she said.

Cycling is addictive, Ehlers said. She's already replaced her hybrid bike from the contest with a sleeker, faster road bike.

She's also learned cycling is contagious. One of her sons, who is a marathon runner, has gotten more into mountain biking since she began spending more time on her bike. Co-workers are always interested in hearing about her latest adventures on the asphalt, and at least one of them bought a bike.

The postman always rings twice

Pam Hansen, 48, Normal, was recently divorced and saw both her parents die from lymphoma within a year when she decided to write the bike club.

A full-time student majoring in family and consumer science teacher education and mother of two boys, Hansen wanted to continue her effort at weight loss. She'd lost 60 pounds and wanted to lose more. She was taking pills to control her diabetes. Her blood pressure was sky high.

She has ridden three times a week since getting her bike. Her weight loss totals more than 100 pounds. She's reduced her diabetes medication and she's been able to cut her blood-pressure medication in half.

"My doctor is totally amazed," she said.

Hansen is training to do a century ride - a ride of 100 miles in one day - in Tucson, Ariz., to raise $5,000 for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society on Nov. 17.

"I never anticipated the absolute joy it brings me. I feel like a teenager again, like I'm free. And, apparently to all my friends, it shows," she said.

Others have noticed, too. Her postman, who delivered mail to her home for five years, recently knocked on the door and told her how good she looked, she said. Then, he asked her out.

Contribute to Hansen's efforts on behalf of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society at www.active.com/donate/tntil/tntilPHansen.

Family affair

Amy Fanelli, 35, Bloomington, who never owned a new two-wheeler in her life, wrote the bike club about how she often ran to keep up with her three boys, ages 5, 7 and 8, as they rode bikes their grandparents gave them. Fanelli wanted a chance to ride herself and to improve her overall fitness level, especially her cardio workout. She also hoped her husband would start riding again, too, after a hiatus from cycling that stretched several years.

She's achieved all her goals. She and the boys ride once or twice a week and dad joins in when he can. The couple hopes to take longer rides now that the school year is here.

"It's been a lot of fun. I was the only one in the family without a bike and now I have it," she said. "I love it. I like the feel, I like the freedom. Some people say they feel that in the water. But on the bike, I feel so free. But I might have been thinking that while I was going downhill."