Originally Posted by
Lively or Not
I've not ridden the Flint Hills Trail, but have heard great things about it. When I rode across KS, I was going from west to east right along the northern border. The most important things for you to know about Kansas riding are: 1) Kansas is NOT flat, especially the eastern third of the state containing the Flint Hills region; and 2) the wind in Kansas can be ferocious and from multiple directions nearly every day during spring and summer.
Despite the hills, wind, and heat, I love cycling in Kansas! For your non-trail riding, the Kansas Department of Transportation has a good bicycle map that shows traffic volume for all the state highways.
I went to college in central Kansas, so I certainly remember the wind. Yes, ferocious is the word. While there, I worked weekends for a year not far from the Flint Hills, so that's also a known. I've used the ksdot map to plot a route, but I'm more than happy to hear from someone with actual experience from Council Grove area to the SW corner.