According to rally organizers and my naked eyeball, some 52,000 motorcyclists rode into AZ Bike Week this year, rolling around the event’s epicenter, Cyclefest, and assorted Harley-Davidson dealerships, eateries, western saloons and various questionable joints about town.

If you had stood on the right corner long enough, say the main service road entrance to WestWorld, the home of Cyclefest, you would have seen pretty much every year, make and model of motorcycle known to man and biker, and a few not yet known.

An intrepid photographer, however, took that particular spot. He endured the frying sun, exhaust fumes and relentless roar of unmuffled pipes all day every day to shoot bikers and their brethren as they crossed the threshold from the civilian world.

A sea of Harleys and all other manner of two- or three-wheeled contraption filled Cyclefest’s colossal parking lot. This was a good place for bike and biker watching, especially since the unseasonably warm temperatures were melting off clothes.

Other prime bike watching vantage points included:

• Babe’s Sports Bar & Grill (www.babessportsbar.com)
• Bar 350 Scottsdale (www.bar350.com)
• Cheetahs Gentleman Club (www.cheetahsaz.com)
• Christie’s Cabaret (www.christiescabaret.com),
• Dirty Dogg Saloon (www.dirtydoggsaloon.com)
• Fort McDowell Casino (www.fortmcdowellcasino.com)
• Greasewood Flat Western Bar (www.greasewoodflat.net)
• Hideaway Grill (www.hideaway-usa.com)
• Knockout Motorcycles Annual Goodbye to Bike Week Bash (www.ralphrandolph.com)
• Paul Yaffe’s mega Dry Heat Charity Poker Run (www.paulyaffeoriginals.com)
• Red Onion Lounge (www.redonionlounge.com)
• Steel Horse Saloon (www.steelhorsesaloon.com)
• Smokehouse (www.cavecreeksmokehouse.net)
• Tailgaters (www.tailgatersaz.com)

If you dare to look for adventure beyond the edge of town and somehow find yourself in Jerome, Arizona, like most motorcyclists do sooner or later, check out the view at the Spirit Room (www.spiritroom.com), the coolest haunt in northern Arizona.