Skipped around the full length video and yes much better quality. Made my day to see you walk that boulder. Iām local to that course and that spot drives me crazy. Despite 100ās of laps out there I still canāt get it right.
I made that boulder three times last year! That skill has now left me.
Watched the whole race tonight. Thanks so much for posting it. Even without commentary I found it really helpful.
My main takeaway for myself is I seriously need to relax when it comes to line choice. I know the placement of every rock and root out there and Iām crazy picky about how I ride it. Watching you just go for it regardless of line was really eye opening. It didnāt always work out, but overall you carried far more momentum out there then I do trying to only ride the smoothest line.
Canāt wait for the next video.
What would be your recommendation if the race starts strong for the lead group to separate but the single track begins 3 hours into the race?
This is the case in the 135k challenge Iāve made my A event this year. The first 50k are pretty flat and so the lead group looks for separation just to be left alone as they work together in the front.
Is there a lot of drafting benefit on gravel flat and rollers roads? Would it make sense to push pretty hard during those 2 hours to get some of that benefit? Or is it better to go with a chase/slower group and just accept that we will go much slower (taking approx 30 minutes more than the elite/front group but riding at a more forgiving paceā¦?
After those 2-2.5 hours, the real climbing beginsā¦ To be in the podium you will need to make this race in the 6 hours or less range. I am shooting for a top 10 in my category, making it (hopefully) about 6.5 hours.
I think I might be able to stay with the elite group for those 2 hours, but I am not sure if I will have any decent leg strength for the climb 
Yup, me too. Never wouldāve thought, pretty clever idea!
If you can hang and not blow up later in the race than itās beneficial to stay with the front group. However, this is a call only you can make. If you go out too hard for the first 2 hours then the last 4 hours you will struggle heavily.
Drafting benefit generally depends on speed (and headwind). I believe around 12-15 mph is the point where drafting benefits diminish. There are still benefits of being in the draft at slower speeds, but it becomes less and less relevant. So if the speed will be high for the first 2 hours then thereās plenty of reason to stay with that front group. But again, if that speed leaves you smoked when it comes to the climbs and the remaining race, itās not worth it to just barely hang on.
There is no harm in testing the front group to see if itās doable. If you find it too fast in the first 20-30 minutes (or anytime really) then you can always drop back to the chase group.
Just watched the last part of the full video
My favourite bit is somebody shouting " go Nate, more carbs " at you 
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i did a lot better controlling my momentum in the next one. The muddy one sketched me out.
I still have a long ways to go though, but thatās part of the fun!
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Haha
Great advise again @MI-XC
The front group will average about 16-18 mph. And more than likely not more than that. (I looked at the Strava segments from last yearā¦).
And as you mentioned, going too hard might jeopardize my performance thereafterā¦ Would be nice to test it for the first 20-30 minutes, but I hate the idea of experimenting on the only A race I have lined up, and the one Iāve been training so hard forā¦ How much damage do you think I could cause if say by minute 10 I feel I wonāt keep up?
Also, on the video, Johnathan mentioned that heād look at his NP during those initial 10 minutes to ensure heās not blowing up early on, but he doesnāt clarify what number (percentage of FTP) heās cross-referencing when making the decision to whether or not pull the plugā¦ Would you happen to know?
A couple of things, firstly this:
rider up
Please donāt do that. Especially at the start but throughout, thereās nothing worse than NOT knowing which side a rider is coming through or wants to come through especially in technically terrain, it can put one or both riders in a ditch. Please use āPass where I can please?ā and then āOn the left/rightā or whichever is indicated by the rider in front. Unless that rider is being obstinate then show the wheel carefully as @Jonathan states. Remember that a lot of riders will be mentally distracted and tired - as a passing rider you donāt want them bringing you down, and as a rider about to be passed you donāt want that either.
Secondly re pacing. After the all out rush for the singletrack / position your pacing should reflect the duration of the race. For me at XCM its (power) targetted at upper Z3 throughout and Z4/5 on climbs albeit thats always microscopically dictated by terrain. For 12 hours Iām in Z2 and I use gearing on flats & DH to spin up some speed with lower energy/effort. Nothing wrong with 34/10 at 55RPM speeding along a flat if yourāre only pushing out low/mid Z2 power.
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Just the watched the full vid, awesome. @Nate_Pearson was the guy you caught at 28 mins wearing JEANS!!??
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I have gotten through about half of the video. But check your time ā the entire thing is only 18 minutes long.
Yes 
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Even for 12 hour races, youād still want to charge that hard? That seems counterintuitive to me. I would think youād want to try and steady pace as much as possible, especially if youāre going solo and start with teams/rest of the field.
I just signed up for my first 12 hour solo race so Iām looking to determine my strategy. Would you really want to go full gas XCO start for an event that long? Or still go hard but scale it back a bit for the added duration?
Not really āchargeā. But depending on the number of participants - my annual 12hr has about 400 riders across categories starting at the same time for example - I like to be at the front as thereās a fair few minutes between the first 20 riders and the last 20, even more so as it gets into the singletrack.
@Nate_Pearson I donāt know whether to congratulate the sport for being so inclusive and open to all or spit my dummy in outrage at the thought of the extra weight and friction of wet denim jeansā¦ lol.
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I think there was research discussed in ātraining and racing with a power meterā 1st edition that fully supported going out hard in long races(3 + hours to 24 hours) and then a steady decline based on fatigue. If you held back early overall performance was less than going out strong. Of course I am sure there is a ātoo strongā early and how strong depends on the person.
What about a 6-7 hour XCM race? What would be a good zone to pace that duration on the flats as well as (and probably more importantly) on the climbs?
Thatās what Iām thinking. It seems like going out like itās an XCO race would be going too hard for a long event. Granted you wouldnāt want to sit at 50% FTP from the get go but you shouldnāt be pushing out 1000 watts like Nate in the video to start either.