Shenae Barker to ride Lake Taupō Cycle Challenge for Mid North Women’s Refuge

Northland elite athlete Shenae Barker is raising funds for Mid North Women's Refuge by cycling the 160km Shimano Round the Lake event around Lake Taupo.

Northland mum and elite athlete Shenae Barker is taking on New Zealand’s premier cycling event to raise funds and give back to Mid North Women’s Refuge.

Previously a competitive bodybuilder, the Kerikeri athlete turned to triathlons and cycling after being in an abusive relationship for several years.

The 36-year-old is now gearing up to compete in the Lake Taupō Cycle Challenge to raise funds for Mid North Women’s Refuge, a branch of New Zealand’s organisation that supports women and children experiencing family violence.

The 160km Shimano Round the Lake event on November 28 circumnavigates Lake Taupō featuring between 1779m and 2200m of climbing, starting in Taupō and passing through Tūrangi and Hatepe Hill.

“This ride is my way of giving something back and helping ensure other women and families can access the support they need, when they need it most,” Barker said.

“Cycling and training have become an important part of my journey, helping me find strength, resilience, and a positive focus through life’s ongoing challenges.”

Barker – AKA Fit Mum 007 – qualified as a personal trainer in 2011 and soon after became a competitive bodybuilder.

Within a couple of years, she gained her professional bodybuilder’s licence with the International Natural Bodybuilding Association (INBA) and was competing in New Zealand, Germany and Spain.

Barker featured in the Northern Advocate in 2017 before leaving New Zealand for the Natural Olympia bodybuilding competition in Las Vegas, where she placed second in the women’s bodybuilding and fit model categories.

Years later, she entered the Kumara Kai Iwi Lakes Triathlon “on a whim”.

“I turned to triathlon and cycling ... it channelled what I was carrying.

“I couldn’t swim, I’d never ridden a road bicycle – I took my old shitty Warehouse mountain bike that was two sizes too small for me.

“I won it, I won a bag of kūmara, and at that moment I was like ‘well I’m a triathlete now’.”

The first thing Barker did was get swimming lessons – as she almost drowned during her debut race.

When she was a confident swimmer, she bought a proper triathlon bike and entered another event.

Sponsors jumped on board; first Merida Bikes New Zealand then Solushin Australia.

“It snowballed into this huge thing.

“At every event I’m either getting the chocolate fish award for fourth place or I’m on the podium somewhere.”

Barker has competed in three world triathlon championships; in Spain and Wollongong, Australia in 2025 and more recently in France, where she fell ill with a chest infection but still made up over 200 places and finished the race.

Last year she won the Lake Taupō Cycle Challenge “Great Lake 100″ race – becoming the first woman in New Zealand to win it.

Barker, who won this year’s Community Impact Award from Athletics Northland, said her plan “has always been to do the 160”.

Now she has an even greater purpose.

“I’ve always wondered how to give back to Women’s Refuge and so I guess I’ve used that as an excuse.

“Mid North Women’s Refuge has made a meaningful difference in my life, providing support, guidance, and practical assistance when it was needed most.

“For that, I will always be incredibly grateful.”

Visit Givealittle to donate.

Jenny Ling is a senior journalist at the Northern Advocate. She has a special interest in covering human interest stories, along with finance, roading, and social issues.