By J. JOSHUA PLACA {phocagallery view=categories|categoryid=882|imagecategories=0|}
![Arizona HOG Rally 2011 Part 2: Retro Rules Route 66 Arizona HOG Rally 2011 Part 2: Retro Rules Route 66](images/DailyArticles/2011-july/2011-arizona-bike-week-pt2/2011-arizona-bike-week-pt2-017.jpg)
There were by unofficial count, some one thousand or more proud participants of the Harley-Davidson lifestyle rumbled into Williams, Arizona, to suckle at the tar teat of the Mother Road.
The town sits smack on a holdout piece of Route 66. Williams was the last town in America to submit to the interstate bypass. It stubbornly fought the highway, relenting only when the feds agreed to provide no less than three exits to the tiny town, population now 3,200. Seems like there’s no better place to hold a biker rally than this rebel outpost.
Spanning decades, from Knuckleheads to CVO Twin Cams, chromed, buffed and polished Harleys slouched over their kickstands up and down the Mother Road in a united show of classic cool. Most every H-D model of Sportster, Low Rider, Softail, bagger and trike was represented. Men and women, many riding two-up, thundered into the old logging camp, now the “Gateway to the Grand Canyon,” and a jumping off spot for mountain and desert rides into otherworldly countryside that can change dramatically from mile to mile.
Founded in 1881, the small city looks much like it did more than a century ago. Old brick, stone and wood buildings share the road with Milwaukee’s timeless machines. Harley’s classically styled motorcycles couldn’t be more at home. Many rode in not just from the four corners of Arizona, but California, Utah, Nevada, Colorado and as far away as Oregon and parts of Canada to enjoy a long, summery weekend full of music, dance, western barbecue, and the main attraction to any rally, bike and people watching.
Clear skies, fair winds and mild temps, a genuine bikers-welcome attitude, and occasional town weirdoes and scruffy saddle tramps and rat bikes added the usual color and character. For the ninth time and counting, HOG held its annual Arizona state rally in a wooly town none other than Wild Bill Hickok himself would have felt right at home in, thrown down his bedroll, played a little faro, and maybe sought a more charmed end.