Yeah it's not a great start but it really is an excellent way to thin out the field. Kinda.
We went SLOOOOOW to start last year. We were literally the last 2 riders out of the gate since they let solos go last. And we still had a huge glut of people once the first log crossing hit. So I'm considering either just rolling out at 12:10 this year or actually trying to pace my way past some of the slow rollers. The problem is that they let teams go 4-5 minutes early and you're not going to catch many of them before the singletrack starts.