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Cyclists are competitive. Careering about the capital on your bike you are pitted against hulking trucks and cars, but you’re also — if you’re honest — competing with other cyclists. Broadly, you identify as a group — the vehicles are your shared enemy — but as you sit in the peloton at the traffic lights you aim to break away, and are thrilled as you overtake someone else using cleats. That hi-vis rucksack twinkling in front of you is your next objective.

But for most city cyclists this competition will always be like this: unofficial and unspoken, the rivalry subjective. You think you’re racing someone home until they signal left and the illusion falls away: it was never really a race — you’re just commuting. As you slow down a car gently overtakes.

So if you’re really chasing thrills, consider a cycling club. Races are encouraged — not to mention real — and it’s far safer than slipping through as the lights turn because that Ridgeback isn’t beating you to Highbury Corner after the day you’ve had. Furthermore, it’s sociable, you’ll improve your fitness and finesse and you can talk about cogsets with a group of people who won’t groan and start doing earnest impressions of you.

“Riding with others who have a common interest in cycle sport provides social, training and racing opportunities way beyond what is possible outside a club,” says Paul Harknett, a member of London Dynamo, which has been hosting a weekend morning ride in Richmond Park for more than 20 years. “Finding a group of riders of similar pace outside a club can be difficult. Also, you can learn so much about cycling from helpful club-mates.”

Certainly expertise is one of the crucial resources a cycle club can provide. Many clubs run official workshops, teaching the sort of simple maintenance tricks that can transform a breakdown from disaster to straightforward inconvenience. Plus, learning about your bike’s mechanics calms you down: you won’t be spooked by the occasional squall of the gears if you know they’re simply reacting crossly to an ill-timed squeeze. And even if you continue to use your bike primarily for commuting, it would be satisfying to close down the superior twerps in the bike shop with some trivia next time they ask you, insincerely, whether you know how to pump up your tyres.

Chatting with other urban cyclists can help you discover new cycle paths or short cuts, and clubs, including London Dynamo, also organise rides in the counties surrounding the capital if you feel like stretching your legs and testing your tyres.

Of course, to ride with the pack you will need a certain level of skill and fitness, and many clubs also insist you have certain pieces of kit: normally a bike with clip-in pedals and shoes to pair with them. But the community is not po-faced: London Dynamo runs one weekly ride called the “shirkers’ ride”, which includes a cake stop, and London Phoenix, which has an introductory ride around Regent’s Park, promises “riding, racing and eating cake”.

Indeed, calories are a theme: one of the lessons you’ll also learn at a club is how to refuel while you’re in the saddle. Inclusiveness is, too: Islington Cycling Club has nine weekly club rides, training rides and open events — so you should be able to find one for your level. It has more than 600 members, and newcomers are very much encouraged.

Who knows, you might turn out to be an urban Wiggins or Froome and get called up for bigger things? Or perhaps you’ll just enjoy being a speed demon and riding and competing with members of your club. Either way, you’ll undeniably improve your fitness and balance, and feel more confident about handling London’s anarchic traffic.

And if your New Year resolution was simply to start cycling it is — obviously — not too late. “Treat every ride as an adventure,” advises Kier Apperley, a member of Hackney Cycling Club. “Plan your route and seek out car-free areas as places to practise your control skills and build fitness. Respect your vehicle, learn how it works — including how to fix a puncture and change a tube.”

Harknett suggests working on your “confidence riding on the road and in small groups” before attending a newcomers’ ride. London Dynamo sends marshals along to advise and teach road skills.

Once you’ve learned to ride a bike, novelty is hard won — but cycling clubs are reinventing the wheel.

Follow Phoebe Luckhurst on Twitter: @phoebeluckhurst