London stages second round of Lime e-bike jousting
Hundreds in medieval dress watch rematch at London Fields raise over £1,000 for charity, rental firm says its bikes are not for jousting while Royal Armouries captain calls the format legitimate
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Lime bike jousting
standard.co.uk
standard.co.uk
The joust took place on e-bikes
standard.co.uk
standard.co.uk
standard.co.uk
Hundreds of Londoners turned out in medieval dress at London Fields on Halloween for a rematch of Lime e-bike jousting, the viral format in which two riders charge at each other on the company's bright green rental bikes wielding striped poles. The Standard reports that the duel — between artist Jack Carden and actor Camtholomew, real name Cameron Carnegie-Brown, who first sparred on the bikes earlier in the month — raised more than £1,000 for causes including a mental health charity, a women's charity and children's charities. Carnegie-Brown was declared the winner.
The first duel sparked a frenzy on social media, prompting Lime to release a statement: while the company appreciated the medieval spirit, safety must always come first, and its bikes were not for jousting. Organizers went ahead anyway, describing the bouts as a return to the days of knights and public competitions.
A steward named Sonny, 20, said the phenomenon "kind of exploded just overnight" — from nobody being interested to everybody wanting a piece of it — and that London had needed something like this for a long time, but nobody had ever had the funds or the courage to do it themselves. Andy Deane, captain of the Royal Armouries jousting team in Leeds, called it a joy to see the bike jousting capture the spectacle of the medieval sport, and absolutely a legitimate form of jousting for those who cannot afford a horse.
The riders wore helmets, chainmail and cloaks; spectators chanted "joust, joust, joust"; many came dressed for Halloween. Supporters described the gathering as escapism from the pressures of 21st-century life. Carden told the crowd through a megaphone it was "the most viewed joust of the modern era" — a title nobody in the medieval sport ever had to compete for.
Lime's disclaimer was read by no one who mattered: the company that owns the bikes says they are not for jousting, and the crowd that owns the spectacle says otherwise.