Before she knew it, the former Taradale High School pupil was chilling out with enthusiasts in Australia.
That sense of belonging has now yielded her the title of female conqueror after she returned from the Australasian Scootering Championship in Melbourne this month.
Consistency, style, difficulty of tricks and the way riders used Bunker State Park were what judges were looking for.
It was Madsen's third attempt at the champs - she had competed in the Australasian champs in Sydney, where she finished fourth, and then in Brisbane where she had finished runner-up.
She feels the flips and spins in her bag of complex tricks, including a backfoot 180 manoeuvre, was the mark of distinction from the field of 14.
But then there were also the psychological variables to factor in.
"I think it was my attitude to things, like I really wanted to win so I tried hard out to get myself first place."
Madsen practised just about four hours every day before jetting off to the champs, gravitating to any skate parks within proximity of her Napier home.
That includes the new skate park at Marine Parade but she prefers the Anderson Park one in Greenmeadows.
"I pretty much always wanted to win an Australasian title ever since I started scootering so it's a big win for me but now I'm looking at the worlds in Barcelona."
Regrettably the worlds don't cater for females.
"For the girls it's probably going to be a few more years before they'll get it up and running," she says, although optimistic the organisers will deliver in another year.
Madsen suspects the delay is down to the assumption that there aren't enough quality female competitors but the teenager believes that isn't the case.
"I think there are enough girls out there but they [the organisers] just haven't bought into it too much."
She bases that argument around competitors at the Australasian champs, a United States contingent and in Europe.
The boys tend to have about 50 entrants at the world championship, something Madsen believes girls can match.
For now she will compete again at the NZ nationals and the Australasian one.
An avid skateboarder, Madsen hopped on a scooter in 2012 at the now defunct Sk8 Zone Park along Marine Parade, Napier, and loved everything about it.
Scootering, she says, is relatively new compared with skateboarding and takes longer to master.
"I find there's a bigger variety of tricks you can do on a scooter than on a skateboard."
However, she acknowledges both the codes offer difficulties in tricks in their own right.
Her sponsors, Madd Gear, an Australian apparel company, help her with funds to travel and compete.
In Melbourne, Madsen lived with nine other sponsored athletes, including three other females. They stay in touch with each other via social media and share trade secrets.
Her ultimate dream is to be paid for something she absolutely loves.
All the boys in the Madd Gear team are paid athletes and two girls also are on the payroll as well as a Spaniard.
In a fortnight, Madsen also is expecting to sign a contract with the team that will acknowledge her ascendancy.
"It'll make quite a big impact. At the moment I'm doing a few orchard jobs.
"It's great because getting money for riding a scooter is something I've always wanted to happen."
Madsen will remain in the country for the rest of this year before making a move to an Australia city to tap into more opportunities.
"I'll probably go to Melbourne or Sydney."
