Try to find an unofficial (non-club) group. I've lived in a bunch of places and ridden with a lot of groups. The best one I ever rode with was in the 90's. Not a club, the leader was an ex cat1 and worked at a bike shop. Those were the coolest rides I ever went on and we didn't have club dues, meetings or club jerseys to buy. We just met up at 9am every Saturday and hammered for a few hours with one 10 minute stop at a store. No organised ride routes, we just did whatever. One day the leader asked if anyone was in a hurry to get home and nobody was so we did a century. And I have never seen a club jersey that didn't look gaudy and hideous. But if you're a member of a club and don't buy one you feel bad. Club rides always make too many stops for me as well. One group I rode with stopped every 30 minutes, then we would sit there forever because nobody would stop talking.