I would not recommend the Rose Bowl Tue/Thur ride for a first group ride. It is very fast (race pace) with a large group and limited space, with the requirement to be constantly aware and ready to act. Part of this is due to the heavy foot and other rider traffic, and part is from the race actions going on.

One step down from that would be the Montrose Ride Saturday mornings, which is still fast, but not blazing fast. Still not an ideal group ride, but much more mellow than the Rose Bowl.

For your first group ride, I highly recommend finding a club that has more social rides at a modest pace. Hopefully, someone can recommend some in this area, because I'm sorry to say the only group I have done social rides with is the San Fernando Valley Bicycle Club. If anyone knows if the Montrose Lite ride is still going on, it's a mellow tempo version of the Montrose ride starting at Mission and Grand (So. Pas) at 8:00am.