Every year about this time, the little South Dakota town of Sturgis sees its population swell from 6,700 to more than 500,000.

The Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, held this year Aug. 6-12, draws cycle enthusiasts and riders from around the nation and around the world, including a few from Butler County.

For Al Worsley of Butler Township, president of the Legion Riders Motorcycle Club and a Butler Realtor, this will mark his sixth trip to the rally.

“I counted my T-shirts the other day. I've been to Sturgis five times. This will make my sixth,” he said. He planned to ride his 2004 Harley-Davidson Road Glide.

He and his friend, Bob Kaylor of Butler, left last week for Sturgis.

They were to take three days to ride the 1,399 miles to South Dakota, Worsley said.

Worsley said he and Kaylor planned to spend two days in Sturgis, Thursday and today.

“It's before the official start of the rally,” Worsley said, “but there are people there a week early and a week late.”

“What happens is the Main Street, it's probably the length of Hansen Avenue, all the shops move upstairs and the storefronts are filled with biker-related items: leather, T-shirts, jewelry,” said Worsley. “Numerous bars expand.”

“I'm a people watcher and there are a lot of different sorts of people out there,” he said. “It's pretty much a carnival atmosphere, that would be the best description.”

Worsley said that one campground, the Buffalo Chip, was “where a majority of what I'll call the wild stuff happens.”

He said it is the site of concerts by musical acts such as Aerosmith and Neil Young.

“Sturgis itself is not that bad. There are people mingling around, looking in the shops, having a beer or two,” Worsley said.

His riding companion, who's making his second trip to Sturgis, isn't quite as taken with the rally.

“I will be very honest with you, it's not my preference for a vacation destination,” said Kaylor. “There's too many people, there's too much traffic and it's too hot.”

“The crowds don't bother me in Sturgis” Worsley said. “I like to look at the other motorcycles, their customizations, their paint jobs.”

After the rally, Worsley said he and Kaylor would continue west to Billings, Mont., to meet their wives who were flying there.

They would then travel by motorcycle across the West.

Paula Worsley, who's also a Realtor, isn't sorry to miss the rally.

“Once was enough for me only because I don't like all the crowds, I don't get the enjoyment he does,” Paula Worsley said.

Someone who did get enjoyment out of a trip to Sturgis was Paul Lombardo of Renfrew, owner of the Animal Clinic of Butler in Renfrew.

“I believe it was in 1999. Dr. Joseph Gribik and I rode out in three days and rode back in two,” said Lombardo. “It was hard riding. That was a lot of riding; start early in the morning and end late at night.”

“We both had Harley-Davidson Ultras. I sold mine recently,” Lombardo said.

“I was only there once,” Lombardo said of Sturgis. “Well, it was lot of fun. It was one of those things that I wanted to experience one time.”

“We went to the Black Hills. We went up to Wyoming. We did a lot of sightseeing,” he said.

“There were thousands and thousands of people there. I met people that I hadn't seen for years and years from other states and my hometown in New Jersey. You never thought you would see them again,” he said.

Lombardo added, “It's always better to have more time, take in the sights, not have to ride so hard.”

He said he might buy a motorcycle again when he retires “hopefully not too far in the future.”