With great support from sponsors and volunteers, Mathews County successfully hosted nearly 400 bicyclists taking part in Saturday’s Tour de Chesapeake.

Event director Lynda Smith Greve said that a total of 377 bikers participated, including 285 who registered in advance and 92 who registered on Saturday. This was the first year Mathews County sponsored the major bike event, which had been coordinated by Bike Virginia for 13 years.

"It was great," Greve said of the response from the biking community. She said bikers came from as far away as Pennsylvania and Florida.

"I think the number is perfect," Greve said, noting that perhaps "we could get a few more" participants in future events, but much larger numbers would be hard for Mathews to accommodate comfortably. Greve said she expects another Tour de Chesapeake will be held in 2013, following this year’s good response.

This year’s event was retooled a bit, Greve said, with four r...