Although the promoters really promote the race aspect of it, anyone who has done a century before will have plenty of company, and more casual riders are very welcome - so much so that they even have a 50-mile option to the turn-around point where you get to take a bus back to the finish. There is an associated charity, and some prestige sponsors, and because it's very much the promoters' livelihood, it's professionally run in every respect. It's very costly to put on, and expensive to participate in. The course is reasonably challenging and has some interesting segments, but a great deal of it is ordinary and not the least bit scenic. Let me put it this way: you could definitely enjoy it without approaching it as a race, but you'd have to see it as a race, or at least get into it the hype, for it to be a ride you'd want to do every year.