Mt. Lebanon Cycling and Caffeine Club could be the jolt your weekend needs

If you love coffee and cycling, the Mt. Lebanon Cycling and Caffeine Club could be a good fit for you.
The group has been bicycling the roads and trails of Pittsburgh and beyond since 1988.
“We always welcome new members who enjoy active road cycling and, of course, a lot of coffee,” said Dave Bodnar, a founding member of the group.
Bodnar said the group is very informal, meaning no meetings, officers or dues.
“Just show up and ride,” said Bodnar. “We are very punctual. Some people come early, some come one minute to 7 a.m. and some people have to catch up to us because they are late.”
The rides start at the Mt. Lebanon Coffee Tree Roasters, located at 151 Bakery Square, every Saturday and Sunday morning promptly at 7 a.m., rain or shine. They also stop at one of the coffee shops downtown while on the ride to have a beverage mid-ride.
“I have been with the club since 2002,” said Jeffrey Ramaley. “I joined the club to ride with other cyclists. I enjoy the exercise, the friends I have made and being outdoors. Saturday is my favorite day to ride. We climb Mt. Washington and see the sunrise, cycle through city neighborhoods and enjoy a coffee stop at places like Espresso A Mano in Lawrenceville or La Prima Espresso Company in the Strip District.”
Bodnar said that sometimes the group splits up and goes to both coffee shops so as not to overwhelm one shop with all the riders at once. And some days, they don’t stop for coffee at all if the riders have a tight schedule that day.
The Saturday ride is about three hours long.
“Every Saturday, we leave the Mt. Lebanon Coffee Tree at 7 a.m. sharp to ride into Pittsburgh for the ‘Zoo ride’ with a stop in the Strip District for coffee,” said Bodnar. “This is a social ride that will regroup at the top of hills.”
Bodnar said that riders are expected to have a fitness level to average 15 mph. He said a side group often peels off after the stadium for a more spirited extension to Observatory Hill. The short route of the ride is 30 miles and 2,000 feet. The longer route adds an extension, increasing the ride to 42 miles and 2,600 feet.
The Sunday ride takes about 2-and-a-half to 4 hours, depending on which route the riders follow. The ride leaves from Mt. Lebanon, out to Cecil and Midway, with options to return or extend on a longer route.
“Every Sunday, we leave the Mt. Lebanon Coffee Tree at 7 a.m. sharp to ride out west into Washington County towards Cecil and Midway,” said Bodnar. “The group typically breaks off at Midway for those returning home and those riding longer. This is a more spirited group ride that averages 18 mph and will not necessarily regroup on hills.”
The short route is around 40 miles and 2,600 feet, and the longer ride after Midway usually extends to around 50 miles.
Most riders ride both days, but some only come on one of the days. Weather is obviously a factor as to how many participate. Their number of people varies dramatically from day to day and weekend to weekend, depending on the season. The smallest number of riders they will have is one or two if the weather is particularly cold or wet. Sometimes, they will have 15-20 riders.
The group doesn’t keep track of members, but there are about 20 active riders and over 200 on their email list.
“We have people who come in from out of town that have been riding with us for over 20 years,” said Bodnar. “They just know when they are in town to visit family, if they show up to the coffee shop for a 7 a.m. ride, we will be there.”
Chadi Hage is a physician at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and an avid rider with the club.
“I moved to Pittsburgh from Indiana in July 2022 and met the MtLCCC group on my first weekend in Pittsburgh at a coffee shop in Lawrenceville,” said Hage. “I was having morning coffee with my wife and saw this group of cyclists stop by to have a quick coffee. I approached them, and they were very nice and invited me to join them. One rider suggested I take a shot of his jersey and go to the website, so I did. I watched the video and loved it. I emailed David, and he gave me the instructions on where and what time. Sure enough, I was on the ride with them the following Saturday.”
Hage said the group immediately welcomed him and made him feel like he was a member right away.
In Indiana, the roads are flat and straight in contrast to Pittsburgh’s windy, hilly roads, which Hage fell in love with.
Safety is very important to the group, and everyone looks out for each other on the rides. They also have some rules the riders need to follow to keep everyone safe.
Those rules are:
All riders are expected to wear helmets during the group rides.
All riders are expected to obey traffic laws.
The Saturday and Sunday 7 a.m. rides leave at exactly 7 a.m.
Because of the early hour and low light, all riders are expected to have a bright front white light and bright rear red light on their bikes to increase individual and group visibility.
There is no follow car or neutral support. You are expected to have your bike in good working condition before you arrive and to have the tools and skills to change your own flat.
All riders are expected to dress appropriately for the weather.
Another suggestion Bodnar gives to new riders is to have cleats and clipless pedals.
“It is the combination of a pedal and cleat on your shoe that locks the shoe into the pedal,” said Bodnar. “It does two things. It aligns your foot properly and keeps it from falling off the pedal, but it also allows you to pedal on the upstroke. When you ride a bike, you usually only have power when you are pushing down, but if you are connected to the pedal and latched onto it, you can pedal both ways.”
Though falling might be a concern since riders are clipped into the pedal, Bodnar said new riders that are clipped in will fall and usually at the most embarrassing possible times, but eventually, they will learn how to unclip easily, and all will be well.
They try to explain how to ride in a group to riders not used to riding with others. They typically ride two by two so they can chat with the person beside them, but if they are riding and there is a car behind them, someone will yell out “car back,” and it is an instruction for everyone to get in single file and far to the right so the car can pass.
“That is one thing that is nice about the city ride on Saturday,” said Bodnar. “It really hones your driving skills in traffic. We ride right into the city, and there are a lot of cars.”
He said it also helps riders be more sensitive to cyclists when driving their own cars.
“I ride with the group every weekend when I am not on call or out of town,” said Hage. “They are very experienced and safe riders. Their goal is to ride, have fun as a group and watch out for each other. I am always very impressed by how much they take care of each other on these rides. I feel like they are personally responsible for each other’s safety. Despite their varying levels of fitness, oftentimes, they wait at the hilltop and sometimes even ride back to ensure whoever is behind is okay and able to rejoin the group. It is everyone’s responsibility that every rider makes it back safely after the ride.”
Hage said they are very consistent, respectful and skilled riders, which is very important to the safety of these rides.
“I have been a road cyclist for 15-plus years and have ridden with groups all over the U.S. and abroad,” said Hage. “I can safely say the MtLCCC is one of the most fun groups to ride with. Funny enough, I am Lebanese American, so that was extra special for me.”
The group was formed in 1988 after Bodnar and his friend decided cycling was a better option for them than running.
“I started running in 1976 with a buddy of mine, Dan Carroll,” said Bodnar. “We ran for 10-12 years. Coincidently, he was an attorney who was deposing an orthopedic surgeon who told him he was going to be replacing his knees before too long. That scared him, and it scared me too. So, we dug out bicycles and decided to bicycle instead. We have been riding ever since.”
They started biking together, and just by word of mouth, the group grew over the years.
“My wife, Mona, worked with Dave Bodnar at Mt. Lebanon School District,” said John Rice, a member of the MtLCCC. “I met Dave when she threw a retirement party for him around 2004. Dave invited me to ride with the group and was gracious enough to wait for me on a few hills because I wasn’t as fit as the other riders and was riding a much heavier bike.”
Rice said another rider in the group, Tony Delitto, offered him one of his road bikes to try out on the next ride. He then bought the bike from Tony and never looked back.
“Those two guys literally changed my life,” said Rice. “Rides with the club are great for a number of reasons. Group rides are great motivators to get me out of the house and ride. I had previously not ridden when the temps dropped below 60 degrees but was drawn into a crowd that rode year-round. I’ve made a number of friends over the years that I enjoy riding with. It’s great exercise with a social component.”
Though the group’s motto is “Mostly old guys in tight pants,” women and younger men are more than welcome to ride with the group.
“My daughter rides with us occasionally,” said Bodnar. “Although she typically rides trails later in the day. We have young ladies that do ride, but it is mostly guys. There are just not that many women road cyclists in Pittsburgh. There are just not that many female regular riders.”
The age range that attends the rides is between 20 and 70.
“The regular riders are, for the most part, in their 50s and 60s,” said Bodnar. “The one nice thing about cycling is that as long as you are in shape, it’s kind of a leveling experience. It’s not like running, where someone can just kill you if you are running with a youngster. Cycling is a lot more civilized. We wait at the top of hills for some people if we need to.”
The group is also involved in fundraising with the Bike MS 150 event, a two-day event sponsored by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, raising over $100,000 since 2000. MtLCCC participates in other cycling-related fundraisers and has traveled to the roads of Italy, Colorado and the backroads of Pennsylvania for cycling trips.
“The last trip we did, it was about 10 of us who traveled to Italy,” said Bodnar. “My daughter was working for a bicycle hotel in Bellagio on Lake Como, and she organized the trip, and we rode for two weeks. It was spectacular.”
Another thing Bodnar suggested that can help riders tackle the hilly roads of Pittsburg is riding an e-bike.
“Right now, only about three of four of us have e-bikes,” said Bodnar. “Mostly, it is people who are in their 70s. When you turn 70, you get a little addendum on your birth certificate that says you can do anything you want. The e-bike also keeps my cardiologist happy because I have some heart issues, and it allows me to continue to ride.”
For more information, visit mtlccc.org.