Some girls empowered by two wheels and a helmet

NEWARK, N.J. — The training wheels were off. The young woman with a bright smile and golden sunglasses told Kaneisha Marable she didn’t need them. The little girl believed her.

Kaneisha pedaled a wobbly path up the block beside Lincoln Park. House music thumped from the stage to her left, a festival underway, but the 8-yearold girl paid it no mind. Her eyes darted between the pavement ahead and Kala La Fortune Reed, the woman jogging by her side.

The bike tipped. Kaneisha teetered. Finally, the wheels begun to spin. La Fortune Reed let go, watching girl and bike move farther away. it!”“yes, she’s got it,” she exhaled. “You got

The victory came on a recent Sunday at a learn-to-ride clinic run by Girls on Bikes, a community group aiming to achieve pedal equality for a new generation of girls and women in Newark.

The effort began in 2016 when La Fortune Reed rediscovered her old bicycle and started riding everywhere: to classes at Rutgers University, thrift shops and parks throughout the city.

One day, a man called out to her. Keep it up, he said. There aren’t enough girls on bikes.

La Fortune Reed scanned the streets and realized he was right. Studies backed up what her eyes told her: By middle school, girls are riding less than boys; by the time they grow up, women make up just 24 percent of riders in the United States. Her solution was Girls on Bikes.

She recruited Maseera Subhani and Jenn Made, friends from Rutgers who shared her love of cycling and for Newark itself; the idea of using bicycles to spread empowerment resonated with each of them.

The trio juggled full-time classes and part-time jobs to get the group going. La Fortune Reed interned with a local bike