It’s a beautiful motorcycling world out there, you just have to get out and ride. If you’re anywhere in Arizona or plan to be, Winslow is a worthy biker destination. At the recent Rockn’ 66 Rally the “Standin’ on the Corner” town showed its biking appeal with a surprising number of show stopping Harleys that dazzled and disturbed the crowd.

Jackson Browne and Glenn Frey wrote “Take It Easy,” while Browne was passing through Winslow, according to local lore. The song was so popular the town erected a life-size bronze statue to stand on the northwest corner of Kinsley Avenue and Second Street in a small downtown park, complete with a flatbed Ford park on the curb and murals by artist John Pugh, famed for his three-dimensional, optical-illusion work adorning streets and buildings around the world.

The statue is neither of Browne nor Frey, according to officials, but it sure looks like a young 1970s’ rocker holding a guitar. The souvenir shop across the street continuously plays “Take It Easy” inside and out, which must have permeated the minds of each Winslow citizen and absorbed by every brick and lump of mortar by now.

The Standin’ on the Corner Park was the finish line of the rally’s impressive bike parade, where we got our first real look at the modified machines that highlighted this grassroots event. Some 200 motorcycles parked on the blocked off street for about 30 minutes for a “…stop, shop and photo-op,” said personable organizer, Tom McCauley.

Wild choppers, radical bobbers and mild mods stood kickstand to kickstand, representing most generations of Harleys from Panhead to Shovelhead to Evo and Twin Cam, as well as brightly painted and generously chromed baggers and metric cruisers.

Some bikes displayed elaborate fabrication, some running with no front or even rear fender, others muscled up with big-dollar body and chrome work and imaginative themes, looking more medieval beast than bike. At least one or two machines appeared like sinister lizards, rattlesnakes or hungry dragons.

The show didn’t stop on Second Street. After a long, scenic poker run around northern Arizona, participants settled into the Rockn’ 66 Rally’s main venue, PT’s Nightclub, and an open bike show, among other contests.

Prizes were awarded to Best Custom, Custom Chopper, Best Paint, Best Stock, Best Engine, Most Chrome, Best Old School and other categories. The event was aided and abetted by Winslow’s Just Cruisn’ Car Club, which held a “cruise-in” just across the street, showing off their classic cars, hotrods and dragsters. Testosterone was wafting through the cool night air.

For information on next year’s event, scheduled for August 24 through 26, contact PT’s Rock’n 66 Rally organizers at 928-289-0707; visit www.ptsbarwinslow.com; on Facebook, “PT’s Bar.” Organizer Tom McCauley can be reached at pts2@cableone.net. For Winslow visitor information, www.winslowarizona.org; 928-289-2434.