Is it common to start a LD event in the evening instead of the morning?

I've got a 400 km brevet coming up next weekend, and I'm considering starting Friday evening instead of Saturday morning (our club is flexible on start times). Based on past results, I'm estimating my total time will be around 20 hours, weather and terrain depending. Starting at 9:00 pm would have me finish at 5:00 pm the next day, whereas starting at 6:00 am would have me finishing at 2:00 am.

My rationale for an evening start are:
(1) 24-hour services on the route are sparse, and I'd rather deal with that on the first half of the ride than at the end.
(2) Get the night riding done first, finish in daylight, and
(3) I have trouble sleeping before events like this, and figure I might as well ride instead of lying awake in bed all night. (Before my last 300 km brevet, I maybe got 1 hour of sleep).

Is my rationale sound? Any thoughts from personal experience that can either reinforce or dissuade me? Perhaps I should mention that this will be my first 400 km ride.