P-47

I rode the 50 mile route. Weather was about perfect. The descent from Lake Tapps was a blast at 40 mph, and a reasonable reward for climbing the 10% grade up out of the valley to get there. Pretty nice scenery along parts of the southern loop, including nice river crossings. The end of the route got a little long, but I think I was just tired. The last 15 miles are a long, flat route along the Foothills Trail (MUP).
I used gmap-ped to see the elevation profile of the route before I rode it. This isn't exact, but it's reasonably close:
http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=3830888

I mapped the 30 and 12 mile routes on Gmap-Ped as well.
30 mi: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=3830915
12 mi: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=3830924
I was planning all along to ride the 50, but wasn't sure how I'd do. I'm a bike commuter (14 mi RT), and this was by far the longest ride I've ever made. I chose this ride for my first because I knew there were lots of opportunities to bail and take a shortcut back to the start. I'd do it again, but I'd probably recruit some friends to go along. And it's not the kind of ride I'd "travel" for unless it were to be with friends. In my case, the starting point is only 13 miles from my house. Got a ride to the fairgrounds and rode the bus and my bike home.

Talked to a couple of non-tour roadies near the end of the route. One of them bad-mouthed the ride a bit with regard to support and cost. Heck, it's a $12 registration (unless you want to buy a T-shirt), and it runs a circuit such that one of the two rest stops serves both out and back. For a community ride, I thought it was just fine. Reasonable snacks and plenty of fluids available. Don't know about mobile support, but there was a BikeTech repair unit set up at the rest stop.