“Why on Earth would anybody want to do that?” - These words from Kate as we stood together gazing up at 16 people about to be plunged from a great height into a hole in the ground. I shrugged my shoulders and muttered “I have no idea” but in truth I knew exactly why.

We were standing at the base of a ride called ‘Oblivion’ at Alton Towers theme park in Staffordshire. It is a brief ride consisting of a slow climb to about 60 meters (196 ft) followed by an 110kph (70 mph) drop into a hole in the ground. Riders emerge from a tunnel and end up back where they started, all in under a minute.

It sounds scary, it looks terrifying but that is what all these rides are about. Experience has shown me that the most frightening thing is watching, the anticipation and the uncertainty is what raises the heart rate. If you can overcome the initial fear and have that first go, each subsequent turn becomes a bit easier. Eventually it becomes like boarding a train.

That’s not to say it loses anything, far from it. I found that for me the fear factor spoils the ride, once it’s out of the way the experience becomes even more thrilling. However, there is an itch to try something a bit different, to get back the twinge caused by the unknown and that is why those 16 people wanted to be thrown at speed into an open pit.

My first encounter with the modern coaster was the Kraken (Sea World, Florida). It’s a pretty ordinary ride by today’s standards but it still takes some courage if it’s your first time. Strange as it may seem, I was finally tempted by the sight of one rider screaming as he hurtled by, not out of fear but pure elation – I wanted some of that. So I mustered up Simon and James (I thought if I talked them into it there was no way I would be able to back out), and we joined the queue.

Now the queue, I’ve decided, can be considered part of the ride. It gives you the opportunity to ponder the foolishness of what you are about to do. Usually you have a good view of the ride and time to allow the anticipation to build. Then, when you near the front, time seems to speed up and before you know it you’re strapped or clamped in place and your options have run out (shout and scream if you like, it will do you no good – that’s what you are supposed to do). Your restraints are checked by the operators and their thumbs go up. On the hanging coasters, the floor drops away leaving your legs dangling. It’s impossible to put into words how much I love that bit.

The Kraken affected the three of us in different ways. I felt like my bowels had been tied in a knot for several hours afterwards. James (12 at the time) was pretty frightened but with a grim determination to overcome it. Simon (14), well he has rarely spoken of the experience since.

Not all rides have the same objective; some are designed to be challenging, these tend to be the shorter ones with a novelty factor (like a steep drop head first). While others are designed to be comfortable but exhilarating and these tend to be longer with loops, fast turns and the like. Oblivion is one of the former and I have to reluctantly admit that I didn’t manage to pluck up the courage to go on it (Of course I told everyone the queue was too long).

There was a program on TV a few nights ago ‘Ultimate Thrill Rides’ about the biggest and best coasters around the world. I got quite animated just watching it - I think I’m hooked. Whether I would have the courage to get on all of them though is debatable (I’m thinking of ‘X’ in Texas). But just in case I have a technique to beat that nasty fear thing; to get me through the gate I think about how the coaster is one million times safer than the car ride to the park. In the queue I imagine the sensations I will experience. On the initial long slow climb to the top I distract myself with the view. After that, I shout and yell all the way (I can’t scream – I’m a grown man!). It’s never as scary as you imagine it will be.

So, since our first ride in Sea World, James and I have become ‘coaster buddies’ leaning on each other to bolster our nerve. We’ll have a go at most things, neither one of us wanting to be the one to chicken out. I have an uncomfortable feeling though that he is sometimes a little too enthusiastic; I think I’m going to have to come up with some convincing excuses sometime in the future. Still, in the meantime I’ve convinced myself that we need to revisit Alton Towers – we have some unfinished business with Oblivion.