Just an FYI most cycling clubs don't have "no drop" rides. In other words, you ride at your pace and hopefully the pace of some other riders, but someone, unless its a friend or you have some agreement, won't be riding with you. As a new rider that means you may be riding alone until you can maintain a normal pace or at least the pace of a group of riders. There are some plus and minuses with this. Unless you are comfortable riding with a pack, it's best to start out alone or in small group until you learn to hold a line and maintain a steady consistant pace. Most experienced riders, seeing you be all squirrelly on the road, will take off and leave you because its dangerous to ride with someone like that.

I would definitely look for a club that offers "newbie" rides or slow paced rides to just get the hang of riding with a group and then when you are comfortable, try hanging with the pack. That's usually the goal for me - to get strong and fast enough to ride with certain groups and folks within the club. At first I rode alone alot, now I'm usually in the main pack.