Some 250 motorcycle riders kicked off a ride from Gainesville to Asheville, N.C., Saturday morning. Thunder on the Parkway, an almost 300-mile round-trip ride, began in the Wild Wing Cafe parking lot on Jesse Jewell Parkway for the trip up the scenic Blue Ridge Parkway for a final destination in Maggie Valley. Riders from as far away as California, Indiana, Michigan and Virginia took part.