I love this sport.
Once you ride the gondola up the hill with your bike on the back and get your first track under the belt and remove any anxiety about your physical wellbeing at the end of the day, you have a blast.
The Queenstown Bike Park was in great nick for opening weekend and over 600 rides were taken within five hours on Saturday.
Nathan Greenwood of Phat Lines for Queenstown Bike Park had clearly been doing his work over the winter as there were corners I didn't remember from last year and several jumps I passed up as not for the amateurs.
The good thing about the place is amateurs are welcome. I had no kneepads, no cool gear and a hard-tail bike but I was welcome, nonetheless.
That said, I certainly wasn't the most conspicuous rookie on the trails as coming down Hammy's I spotted a Queensland woman wearing attire better suited to the shopping mall.
Tina Lattimore had developed FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) while watching her husband and son on the tracks all morning and decided it was her turn.
I set her the challenge of meeting me at the bottom with not a spot of dirt on her nice white pants and she met it with ease.
I opted to stick to the beginners' trails to start with, figuring I have the whole summer to build up the courage to tackle at least five of the 13 tracks on the mountain.
The Queenstown park's fame is growing around the country and even across the globe, as I found out chatting to Belgian, American, Canadian and Australian riders.
The park has become one of the country's most popular downhill mountain biking venues and last season between September and April saw more than 10,000 riders took the plunge.
• Queenstown Bike Park ride passes cost $55 for a half day and $75 for the whole day. Pass includes gondola rides.
Do it
Five reasons to take up downhill mountain biking
1. You don't feel like you're doing exercise
2. But you are and you will know it the next day
3. It's exciting, dangerous and satisfying
4. It's the cool option and there are no wimps involved
5. It's accessible and travel isn't an issue
