The Black Hills Fat Tire Festival was recently named one of South Dakota’s “Great Events of 2010″ by the state tourism office. This year 19 different South Dakota communities applied for the title of a Great Event, but only the Fat Tire Festival and three others were given the distinction.

The Fat Tire Festival, headed into only its 4th year, is quickly becoming one of the best mountain biking events in the country. The festival is a combo effort between the Rapid City Parks and Recreation department and the Black Hills Cycling Club.

Held during Memorial Day weekend, the 2010 Fat Tire Festival will run May 28-31 in and around Rapid City’s Hansen-Larsen Memorial Park, otherwise known as Cowboy Hill. There will be competitive and non-competitive events for mountain bikers of all skill levels.

The weekend will include everything from leisurely rides on the Mickelson Trail to all-out sprint climbs up Cowboy Hill. There will be group rides on some of the best singletrack trails in the Black Hills and even a Super-D race, which is sort of a hybrid between a cross-country and a downhill race on a mountain bike.

Some of the races award cash and prizes to the winners. Last year, more than $8,000 was awarded. This year, the Fat Tire organizers are hoping to up the stakes to more than $10,000 in prize money.

I spoke with festival director Jerry Cole this morning and he said that the 2010 Fat Tire Festival is shaping up to be their best year yet. He’s excited about a new competition slated for the 2010 festival and described it as a running, mountain biking and kayaking triathlon. I’ve personally done all three of these things, but never together as a race – it should definitely be a fun event to check out!

The Black Hills have long been home to some of the best mountain biking trails in the country, but have just started to gain more attention over the past few years. The 2009 Fat Tire Festival attracted more than 1,200 people with around 250 registered participants from almost 20 different states.

With the new competitions, larger prize amounts and increasing publicity, the 2010 festival will be a “must see” event. I’ll see you there!