A friend of mine went for a number of years to the same camp/s in CA. I think his assessment is virtually identical to EDR's friend. He had an absolute blast.
I can't recall him saying anything negative about his coach. I know he rode with Carmichael, Katie Compton, some others, and he knew two of the mechanics (one based in RI, one in Gainesville FL). They all tell really good stories, all the time. He followed some basic schedule each week/camp - go hard to test yourself, do some training, try and get some recovery in, go hard to test again. Group rides, supported, with some "at your pace" stuff (climbing mainly). Classroom stuff too, meaning indoor lectures.
My friend immersed himself in racing for about 10 years (age 40-ish to 50-ish) and quit cold turkey two years ago. Only started riding this summer. Cat 3 I think (hm I don't know), good friend, helped me at Bethel for half those years. No aspirations for anything except having fun and challenging himself. I think for that it was well worth it. Now he's doing the same in yoga, and he laughs at how he can barely sustain 160 bpm for a minute.
cdr