I totally understand Wulff... it's a commitment.. but there's waaay more to it than drinking. In fact - there's almost two completely diffrent rides - the "morning" crowd (beautiful scenery, great food, laid-back) and the "afternoon" crowd - usually the younger crowd who can ride hard, party hard and do it all on the same day.
Actually a bit like fly fishing when you think about it.
One thing that always amazed me.. I did it in its entirety 11 times and parts of it several others. I saw *0ne* fight in all that time and it was between two locals. Great folks.
anyway... it was finally just the crowds - and everyone trying to gouge you for a buck (or ten) that finally took the fun out of it for me.