John Kennedy Howard (born August 16, 1947 in Springfield

Springfield, Missouri

Springfield is the third largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and the county seat of Greene County. According to the 2010 census data, the population was 159,498, an increase of 5.2% since the 2000 census. The Springfield Metropolitan Area, population 436,712, includes the counties of...

, Missouri

Missouri

Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...

) is an Olympic

Olympic Games

The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...

 cyclist from the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, who set a land speed record of 152.2 miles per hour (245 km/h) while motor-pacing on a pedal bicycle

Bicycle

A bicycle, also known as a bike, pushbike or cycle, is a human-powered, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A person who rides a bicycle is called a cyclist, or bicyclist....

 on July 20, 1985 on Utah

Utah

Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...

's Bonneville Salt Flats. This record was beaten in 1995 by Fred Rompelberg

Fred Rompelberg

Fred Rompelberg is a Dutch cyclist who has set several world cycling records. He is mainly known for his eleven world records cycling behind heavy engines, and for taking several attempts to break the Absolute World Speed Record Cycling...

.

A competitor at the 1968

1968 Summer Olympics

The 1968 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Mexico City, Mexico in October 1968. The 1968 Games were the first Olympic Games hosted by a developing country, and the first Games hosted by a Spanish-speaking country...

, 1972

1972 Summer Olympics

The 1972 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from August 26 to September 11, 1972....

 and 1976 Summer Olympics

1976 Summer Olympics

The 1976 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXI Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event celebrated in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, in 1976. Montreal was awarded the rights to the 1976 Games on May 12, 1970, at the 69th IOC Session in Amsterdam, over the bids of Moscow and...

, Howard won the gold medal in the 1971 Pan American Games

1971 Pan American Games

The 6th Pan American Games were held in Cali, Colombia, from July 30 to August 13, 1971. The then called "Salsa World Capital", located at the foot of the Andes Mountains, hosted a total of 2,935 athletes from 32 countries, who participated in seventeen sports...

 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

Ironman World Championship

The Ironman World Championship has been held annually in Hawaii since 1978, with an additional race in 1982. It is owned and organised by the World Triathlon Corporation and is currently sponsored by Ford...

 in Hawaii. Howard won the first two editions of the Red Zinger Bicycle Classic

Red Zinger Bicycle Classic

The Red Zinger Bicycle Classic was a road bicycle racing stage race.-History:In 1975, Mo Siegel and John and Wyck Hay, founders of the Celestial Seasonings herbal tea company, launched the Red Zinger Bicycle Classic race to promote alternative transportation in the Greater Boulder area,...

 stage race in Colorado in 1975 and 1976.

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

Jeff Pierce

Jeff Pierce is a retired American professional road bicycle racer. At the 1987 Tour de France, Pierce gained fame by becoming the third American to win a stage in the Tour de France, winning the final stage on the Champs-Élysées while riding for Team 7-Eleven.In 1991 Jeff Pierce appeared in a...

, Marianne Berglund, Martin Graf, Paula Newby-Fraser

Paula Newby-Fraser

Paula Newby-Fraser is an Ironman triathlete and duathlete. She was born in Southern Rhodesia and raised in South Africa, where she was a nationally-ranked swimmer as a child....

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.

External links

• 152 MPH Pedal Bicycle
• Ultracycling: Hall of Fame - John Howard
• Wielersite Profile
• sports-reference
• http://vimeo.com/11909842 John Howard Appears on Mountain Bike Helmet Cam Clip in Southern California]