in California, 1991 A competitor at the
1968,
1972, and
1976 Summer Olympics, Howard won the gold medal in the
1971 Pan American Games road cycling race in
Cali, Colombia, as a member of the U.S. Army cycling team by beating
Luis Carlos Florez in a sprint finish. He is a former 4-time U.S. National Road Cycling champion (1968, 1972, 1973 and 1975) and won the 1981
Ironman Triathlon World Championship in Hawaii. Howard won the first two editions of the
Red Zinger Bicycle Classic stage race in Colorado in 1975 and 1976. In 1982, Howard was one of four competitors in the inaugural Race Across America
RAAM, eventually finishing second. On 1985-07-20, Howard set a motor-paced speed record just over 240 kph (over 150 MPH). During a run, the rear tire valve opened due to centrifugal force, causing a flat tire at speed, probably over 215 kph (135 MPH), as he had already gone that fast earlier in the day. In 1989, John Howard appeared in an instructional videotape produced by New & Unique Videos of San Diego, California, entitled "Ultimate Mountain Biking: Advanced Techniques & Winning Strategies" in which he demonstrated proper stretching and training techniques. In 1991 John Howard produced a video with
New & Unique Videos partners Mark Schulze and
Patty Mooney, entitled "John Howard's Lessons in Cycling." This instructional videotape featured
Jeff Pierce, Marianne Berglund, Martin Graf,
Paula Newby-Fraser and Sports Nutritionist Dr. Nick Martin. "Lessons in Cycling" earned a Bronze Telly and a Silver Medal at the International Film & TV Festival in New York. John Howard has trained several cyclists over the years including working with
Denise Mueller-Korenek, who set the
paced bicycle land speed record on Sept. 16, 2018, at the Bonneville Salt Flats. ==See also==