Star Smashers of the Galaxy Rangers

Blurb

Star Smashers of the Galaxy Rangers is a comic science fiction novel by Harry Harrison. It is a parody of the space opera genre and in particular, the Lensman and Skylark series of E. E. "Doc" Smith. It also includes an homage to Larry Niven's Ringworld.
It is about two college students, Chuck van Chider and his friend Jerry Courtenay, who accidentally invent a device that can transport them through space, powered by a substance called "Cheddite", which is created by irradiating Cheddar cheese.
Through a bizarre chain of events, Chuck and Jerry, their apparent mutual love interest Sally Goodfellow and their janitor-turned-KGB spy Old John find themselves flung into the far reaches of the galaxy, where they become involved in an intergalactic war that could change the universe forever.