Wichita to council grove?

Highway 177 would be a cool ride but no shoulders and with a lot of turns it might be dangerous. Going up 77 it has large shoulders but is heavily traveled. Sounds like fun.

Hhmmmm. Tough choice. Any idea about either highway 50 or 56 heading east from 77?

I'll come back and report on the ride--assuming I make it. lol

I would strongly advise against riding Hwy 50. Truck traffic is very high.

I agree with staying off of 50. There are enough accidents on there that I would be scared of riding it.

Thanks, everyone for the advice.

I took Andover Rd, north to 254, east to 77, north to 56, and then east until the dirt road turn-in for Council Grove City Lake, where my wife met me. 105.9 miles, in 5h38 minutes. Stopped twice for water--once at a little diner along 77 in Florence, and once at the liquor store in Herington. I wasn't sure if there was going to be another place to stop in Herington, but if I had held out for another mile, I would've made it to the Dairy Queen (probably better that I didn't go in there; not sure I could've come out without a blizzard!). After an afternoon at the lake, we drove home (in the pouring rain) on 177, and I was glad I hadn't biked that route--lots of hills, no shoulder.

77 north of El Dorado was very recently repaved until about 5 miles past Florence (parts still didn't have lane lines painted), and the surface felt really fast. About 5 miles south of Herington (at the county line), 77 was turned into rough chip seal, but 56, heading east out of Herington, was also newly repaved, but mostly with no shoulder. I encountered very little traffic on any of the roads.

Other than a bee sting, the first 85 miles (to Herington) were great; essentially flat until Florence, then a few hills into Herington. It helped to have a nice tailwind from the SE. The last 20 miles almost killed me, though! Rolling hills, the SE winds in my face, rising tempartures, inability to sit in aero position any longer, and just general fatigue were getting to me (my previous long ride was about 70 miles). I was also struggling mentally because I was riding blind at that point--my powertap for some reason stopped working when I restarted from Herington, and I had no speed, watts, distance, or time data (my LYC shuts off when there is no power reading). Fortunately, I had put my Garmin watch around the seat post as a backup data recording device, so at least I captured some of the data, but it doesn't record power, and I couldn't see it while I was riding. I didn't dare stop to put the watch on my arm, because I'm not sure I could've got back on!

But, I'm glad I did it--first >100 mile ride. My legs feel great today, but I'm a little saddle sore. I'd definitely recommend the route for any looking for a long, one-way ride out of Wichita.

Wow nice ride! I think if I had rode that far I probably would have spent the afternoon sleeping.