Ok, so I need to be able to do fast sections of riding then going back to a slower pace. I can work on that. Right now I'm just riding around with my uncle. Hes a fairly good rider and what we do is just go on longer rides. I'll try doing this:

let him get a 30sec head start on me. Then I'll start sprinting to catch up to him. Would that work or do you recommend something else?

I'll try and find a club I can ride with, im in Southern Cali. San diego to be exact, do you know of any websites that I can use to find a group to ride with?