At its most basic level, the American Diabetes Association’s Tour de Cure is a great bicycle ride through the countryside. For that reason alone, Suffolk makes a perfect location for the event, which organizers recently announced would return to the city for the second year in a row this spring.

Suffolk has much to offer cyclists looking for a good place to ride, and the 900 or so participants in last year’s Tour had high praise for the scenery, the safety and the challenge they encountered on each of the four different routes set up for the event. And those good reports were a big part of the reason the event will be held in Suffolk again this year, organizers said last week.

As important, though, was the fact that the Tour was welcomed with open arms by city officials, police officers, neighbors along the routes and the volunteers who came out to offer everything from encouragement to water stations to safety patrols. Suffolk turned out to be nearly as excited to get the Tour as the Tour was about coming to Suffolk.

This year’s event is set for April 20, and it will take hundreds of riders on looped courses throughout the city, ranging from a relaxing 10-mile jaunt to a challenging 100-mile excursion. Each of those loops will begin and end at King’s Fork High School. Riders pay a registration fee and collect donations for the opportunity to participate. Organizers say they expect as many as 1,100 riders to take part in the fundraising initiative this year.

Suffolk should be proud to have been asked to host the Tour de Cure again this year. It speaks well of the city that so many visitors had such nice things to say about both its landscape and its people.

To register for this year’s Tour de Cure or for more information, visit www.diabetes.org/hamptonroadsvatour.