Near-perfect weather on Saturday provided the perfect backdrop for this year’s 17th annual Tour de Chesapeake cycling tour through Mathews County.

A total of 421 bicyclists registered for the tour, according to event director Lynda Smith Greve, considerably more than last year’s 304 riders. It was “a wonderful day to show off Mathews County,” Greve said.

Swelling the ranks of cyclists this year were a large number of first-timers who hadn’t taken part in the Tour de Chesapeake before, which bodes well for next year and beyond. “I feel like once we get them here, we can keep them” coming back, Greve said.

Part of what keeps them coming back to Mathews, she said, is the friendly, congenial attitude of the volunteers, riders and county residents along the tour’s 100+ miles of routes.

If they spotted a rider who looked like they needed help or directions, residents would often stop and make sure they were okay, Greve said. Drivers were al...