About 300 motorcycles roared into Onset for the 11th Annual Rick Graham Diabetes Awareness Memorial Ride on Sunday. And it was a beautiful day for a bike ride.

Every year, motorcyclists meet in Boston to take a trip down the back roads of Massachusetts and pack their bikes into the parking lot at the Dudley L. Brown VFW in Onset.

The event "is one way of bring the community together," said Michael Mattos, who was volunteering at the event. "Every year, it gets bigger and bigger."

The Rick Graham Ride, which is held with the American Diabetes Association, used to be hosted entirely in Boston, but has been ending in Onset for the past five years.

Graham died July 21, 2001, after suffering a diabetic coma while riding his motorcycle. He was a 24-year veteran of the Boston Fire Department. This year, the ride kicked off from the Boston Firefighters Union Hall.

"I knew him. He was a local bike rider who had diabetes and unfortunately passed away," said Mark Andrews, who was working at the gigantic grill and two smokers at the VFW, where he cooked up food for the hungry crowd.