Disappointing First Race

I came in to today's race expecting to do quite well, top 5 or better based on how my fitness was coming along the last 2 weeks. I was feeling good all week and I could tell as I warmed up that my legs were feeling good and I was ready to race hard. The rain held out for our race and the course was dry for the most part although the roads were a bit narrow but not too treacherous I guess. The race started and my mistake right at the start line might have cost me the race but who knows if it would've made a difference. I kicked my right pedal as I tried to put my foot in and it started to spin so I tried to stop it to get my foot in and had trouble getting it top-side up to kick in. By the time I got my foot in the pack was already rounding the first turn and I could see 3 guys off the front. That was the race. First lap, first turn and they stayed away the whole rest of the race. I didn't think much of it as I frantically went to the front going down the backside of the course on the first lap. I thought for sure we would chase them down and I wasn't too worried that the race had gone away from me. I can't help but think that if I had my foot clipped in right away that I would've been at the front where I lined up and that I would've gone with the attack. Who knows, maybe I still would've played it safe and waited for the break to get reeled in, I can't really say now looking back. It was a mistake though and it won't happen again. I took as many pulls at the front as I could and it didn't seem that more than one or two other guys wanted too, or could, do any of the work. Later on my wife said that it seemed that I was towing the pack around the course almost the entire race and that the rest of them were out for a joy ride. Mike from LAPT and a couple of other guys from team I hadn't seen before seemed to be the only ones interested in making it a race instead of a training ride. I wish now that I would've just left the group and tried to go it on my own or just attacked them in the last lap or two but I was just so mad at that point that nobody else was doing anything that my mind was a little clouded. In bike racing you hedge your bets during the race, you have a split second to decide to go with an attack or let it go and if you make the wrong choice your race is over. I put my odds against the break and lost so that's racing I guess. Anyways, I ended up in 10th place in the sprint up the hill to the finish, better than my first race last year so it's an improvement anyways. I've got two weeks now until the next race and I'm really excited to get back out there and this time there won't be a breakaway that stays away in the first part of the race, I'll make sure of that. Well, tomorrow I'll write more about what I've got scheduled for training this week but for now here are a couple of pictures of the race today.