Last season I was a couple lbs into the clyde range and I really struggled with the start. Just couldn't get up-to-speed in the opening sprint like the light weights in my class. Spent the first lap or two just regaining the ground I lost on the start. What helped me overcome was that our local race series is 8 races, and your best six count. So I kept showing up at every race and got enough pts mid-season to start getting called up. At least I was starting at the front of the pack. In the off season I'm using my commute to work to practice sprinting and getting up to speed from red lights.
Also realized that at my weight there are some sections I could run 'em faster than I could ride it. One early race had a couple hundred foot off camber section on the side of a levee. It had rained the days before and it was very slick and muddy and really tough for a bigger guy to grind through. Made up a lot of ground and gained positions by running it while other racers attempted to stay in the saddle. After that, in the pre-ride warm up before the races I looked for those stretches, like when a course took us through a volleyball pit and threw in a curve in the middle, where it would be quicker for me to run.
Second the comment about working on barriers. My wife came to one race and her only comment was "you might want to watch some of the other guys on the barriers, they are really smooth". Thanks Hon for the helpful advice!
The architects of our courses like to take us down through ditches. Had the tire pressure too low and pinch flatted with a bang when I hit the bottom. Race over? Not really, I ran the rest of the course and avoided DFL.