John Howard was a pioneer in American cycling, representing the U.S. in the 1968, 72 and 76 Olympic Games. As a four-time U.S. Road Racing National Champion, he was one of the first Americans to race in Europe. He also stood atop the podium at the 1971 PanAmerican Games. After his days road racing, he turned to triathlon, winning the fourth edition of the Ironman World Championships in 1981 and followed that in 1982 by taking second in the first edition of RAAM, The Race Across America, And in 1985, on a very specially built bicycle, tucked in behind a rocket car on the Bonneville salt flats he set a cycling speed record of 152.2 miles per hour!

Still riding, coaching and writing, he has recently released his latest book about an early American Hero: Marshall, Major, Taylor, the first American cycling superstar! His book: The Black Cyclone ...