S.C. cities in the international spotlight twice this summer

South Carolina cities and towns will be drawing international attention twice this summer with the international BMX cycling championship coming to Rock Hill in late July and the "once-in-99-years eclipse" passing over more than 140 cities and towns on August 21. 

International cycling championship in Rock Hill

First, the week of July 25 – 29, the City of Rock Hill is hosting the UCI BMX World Cycling Championship. The event is just shy of the Olympics in terms of prestige and prominence in the cycling world. Organizers anticipate more than 20,000 spectators will be in Rock Hill to watch 3,300 riders from more than 40 countries.

This BMX event is anticipated to be the largest international sporting event in South Carolina history, according to Rock Hill officials.

Rock Hill was selected to host this event in 2014, two months before the track, modeled after the 2008 Beijing Olympic track, even opened. The last time the BMX world cycling championship was held in the U.S. was 2001 when Louisville, KY hosted it. The last two championships took place in Zolder, Belgium, and Medellin, Colombia.

Rock Hill has invested heavily in sports tourism in the past decade, and the results are showing. The Rock Hill Parks Recreation and Tourism Department estimates that sports tourism has had a $157.3 million direct economic impact on the city since 2006.

In recent years, Rock Hill’s reputation as a competitive cycling center has skyrocketed with the opening of the Giordana Velodrome (track cycling) in 2012, and the Novant Health BMX Supercross Track in 2014. Rock Hill’s cycling focus also extends to Cyclocross trails, a mountain bike course and Criterium course.

The City of Rock Hill recently held a media day “race event” for local reporters to experience the thrill of the BMX track personally. Read here about one of the participant’s race down the starting ramp that stands two stories tall and drops 40 feet down before looping about 1200 feet around the track of intensely rolling hills.

S.C. cities uniquely positioned for eclipse

Then, on August 21, more than 140 South Carolina cities and towns will fall into the swath of the first total solar eclipse in North America in 99 years. There’s a lot of economic impact packed into those two minutes and 41 seconds.

While Columbia is the largest South Carolina city to experience the “full totality” of the eclipse, many smaller towns in the “path of totality" are using the once-in-a-lifetime event to showcase their distinctive appeal.

As early as last August, officials in Newberry began thinking about their eclipse plans. A photographer from New York called to say Newberry’s location in the swath of the eclipse would provide him with the shot of a lifetime, and that's where he wanted to be. 

The Town of Blythewood and its local chamber of commerce are making the most of the week leading up to the eclipse. 

“When a ‘once-in-99-years’ event rolls through your town complete with NASA-predicted, overwhelming quantities of visitors, your town better be prepared to show itself off,” said Mike Switzer, executive director of the Greater Blythewood Chamber of Commerce.

The town and chamber are partnering with the local branch of the Richland Library to host eclipse-related seminars. There are sessions for both children and adults about eclipse photography, local history of eclipses and crafts related to the eclipse.

"Moondoggled: An Eclipsing Battle of the Bands" will take place the afternoon of the  eclipse before, during and after the totality at the town's new Palmetto Citizens Amphitheater in the 24-acre Doko Meadows park. Local bands will compete for a $500 prize. Their playlists must include at least one sun or moon-themed song.

“Plus there will be a shred truck at the park during that time so people can destroy those highly-classified, super-secret documents during the two minutes of darkness,” Switzer said. 

This Uptown article showcases what Newberry, Santee and Columbia have planned. Learn what other cities are planning here.


BMX photo credits: Wendy Waddle, City of Rock Hill