From his first ride with training wheels, bike safety has been top of mind for Justin Bristol

The first time Justin Bristol rode a bike without training wheels, he split his eyebrow open.

“That put me off bikes for a while,” says Bristol, who healed up just fine and eventually found his way back onto a two-wheeler.

While there’s no discernible scar above his eye, that childhood crash left a mark. The Columbia, S.C., native now works full-time as the Safety Education Programs Manager for Georgia Bikes, helping to prevent minor bicycle-related scrapes and major disasters, like the recent accident on Highway 80 that seriously injured his friend, local cyclist and musician Maggie Evans.

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“Maggie was doing everything in her power to keep herself safe, including wearing a helmet and having a blinking red light attached to the back of her bike in the middle of the day,” he says, clarifying that Georgia state law only requires a rear reflector at night.

A statewide organization that supports bicycling safety and expanded infrastructure, Georgia Bikes partners with local advocacy groups, including the Atlanta Bicycle Coalition, Bike Athens and Bike Walk Savannah on Lincoln Street, where he shares an office with executive director Caila Brown.

“There’s a lot that can be done, whether it’s protected bicycle lanes or other physical infrastructure,” he explains of the multi-pronged approach to bicycle advocacy.

“For me, personally, the way I can make an impact in my role is through education.”

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Among the organization’s offerings is a Smart Cycling course that teaches basic cycling skills, or as Bristol puts it, “how to behave as a person in traffic without the advantage of two thousand pounds of steel and airbags.”

Partially sponsored by the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety and the Georgia Department of Transportation and boosted with proceeds from the fee-based “Share the Road” license plates, Georgia Bikes also administers League of American Bicyclists Bicycle-Friendly Driver program, which Bristol recently led for an Atlanta-based commercial trucking company.

Bristol also met this month with Tybee Island Police Dept. to keep local officers up-to-date on state laws for cyclists and drivers and their effective enforcement.

“We’re working with as many drivers as we can, working with police departments to ensure that laws are being enforced the way they should, and working with cyclists to make sure they're doing everything they can to be safe, just like Maggie was — and still found herself the victim of a collision.”

Related: Live music staple Maggie Evans in stable, but critical condition after being hit by car

Can't escape the bike passion

In spite of that first kindergarten smash-up, Bristol developed an avid passion for cycling after receiving a road bike for his high school graduation. Riding to his job at a movie theater turned into exploring Harbison State Park’s miles of trails on the weekends, which quickly snowballed into racing every weekend and participating in two collegiate national championships with the University of South Carolina.

“If I have the choice, I will ride my bike every single day,” he says, adding with a laugh, “I probably have a chemical dependency on it at this point.”

After moving to Savannah to pursue a Master’s degree in Public History from Georgia Southern’s Armstrong campus, he found Savannah’s cycling scene, well, a little flatter compared to the varying elevations of the popular routes and trails of his hometown.

“If you live in town, you have to go east towards the islands, which means riding on the shoulder of Highway 80, or west out 17 into the more rural parts of the county, which are rapidly developing,” Bristol says of local long-distance options.

Either way, he points out, “you’re navigating a four-lane, fifty-five mile and hour highway in order to get out to where there is decent riding.”

While Savannah didn’t have much to offer in the way of dazzling bicycle culture, it did introduce him to his wife, Jen. The couple now lives in midtown with their three-year-old son, who Bristol takes to preschool in a bright red, flag-festooned bike trailer.

The city also gave opportunity to put his education to work in some of the city’s historically-minded non-profits, first at the Coastal Heritage Society and more recently with the Historic Savannah Foundation. Along the way there was a stint as a middle school Social Studies teacher, the majority of which was spent on Zoom during the pandemic.

While his role with Georgia Bikes may not be directly related to history, he acknowledges it’s a great fit that marries his non-profit experience with his passion.

“I get to do the teaching and the public programming, and that’s really important,” he muses. “And if I can make the streets a little bit safer for everyone else, this is the right calling.”

He touches his eyebrow and smiles. “Also, I sure do love bikes.”

Jessica Leigh Lebos is a writer, adopted southerner, anti-socialite, and camellia thief. She delivers fresh content every week at savannahsideways.com, and her book "Savannah Sideways" is available at your favorite local independent bookstore.

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Georgia Bikes' Justin Bristol brings bike safety education to Savannah