They are a lot more fun - and dynamic - than what you see on TV, I know that much. On TV (TdF and such) it seems like they have these lulls where everyone takes a piss, gets food, chats and ****.

In real life/amateur races it's more like a longer crit, in my experience. Attacks etc, tons of almost-crashes, real crashes, no real time to soft-pedal. No pee breaks (people pee, but I haven't needed to yet)

Just bring enough water/"food" to keep you going until the end, and be aware of positioning.