Here's one of those "they never told me" things I learned last night: Getting dropped seems to be more of a rookie mistake, a mental lapse, not necessarily blowing up physically. Sure it may FEEL like you blew up because even falling a handful of seconds off the back takes agonizing effort to close.
Fight to stay right on someone's wheel in the pack, but make sure they are doing the same. If they're letting a gap open, find a way around them, pronto, now, immediately.
Whew, thanks, I feel much better now about getting dropped.