We had no problems on the referenced stretch, but then the wheat harvest hadn't gotten that far west when we rode through. The road was pretty much straight, if not quite level, with good sight lines. We hit the bow wave of the frentic week that makes or breaks the Kansas plains -- and rode like the dickens to get out of there! I suspect the OP (hereinafter PBSC) has been emotionally traumatized on this section, but I don't see his suggestion (get the hell off the road when you see a truck) is constructive. For one thing, such an action will reinforce the bad driving habit of ignoring cyclists among the bad apples among commercial truckers. I'd like to toss out a few suggestions that may be more helpful.
First, PBSC may want to take a day off. Hole up in a motel, stay in one town, hit the swimming p9ool and relax. Things may not seem so bad after a day's relaxation.
Second, if that doesn't work, PBSC might rent a car or van, or hitch a ride, at least to Hutcheson or Wichita. Get past the wheat harvest. There's still going to be narrow roads without a shoulder for most of the rest of the trip, but without the one-week-per-year traffic of the wheat harvest, it may be (or become) tolerable.
If that doesn't work, well, it's time for PBSC to get a directory of rail tralis and start sight-seeing.
On the Adventure Cycling side, there's a couple things that might be useful down the road (so to speak). The first is simply to get the word out. I suspect most sheriffs and district attorneys are quite satisfied to write off a cyclist being killed by a local motorist as simply an accident. If you're thinking about re-routing because of traffic and ad accidents, well, let the local newspapers and chambers of commerce know ahead of time, from Tribune through Leoti, Ness City, Larned, to Hutcheson. It might be a good idea to make sure the on-again, off-again blog is updated with some item about how much bicycle tourism benefits the local economy. Let the county officials and businessmen know continuing to ignore the problem may cost them real money (and perhaps real votes!).
Second, and closely related to the first, most of the "bike tourism affects local economy" articles I've seen have been centered around Missoula. You've got one case study waiting to be studies with the rerouting around Williston. Is it possible to look up sales tax receipts for the towns and counties that the Northern Tier re-route go through, and compare those for the year before and after the change. I doubt you'll be able to see the effect of bike tourists in comparison to the oil patch, but if it's as great as you suspect, there should be dramatic increases in the small towns that became part of the route.
