'Lime bike jousting is a form of performance art'

The organisers of two Lime bike jousting events in east London have said they wanted to bring people together in a free experience to help them "feel alive".

On Saturday, actor Cameron Carnegie-Brown, who jousts as Camtholomew the First, and artist Jack Carden met in London Fields Park, Hackney for a second duel on the hire e-bikes, with the match raising funds for five charities.

On Friday, a professional jouster from Leeds said that jousting on the Lime bikes was "absolutely a legitimate form" of the medieval sport.

Lime previously said its bikes were "not for jousting", and added: "While we appreciate the medieval spirit, safety must always come first".

Both Carden and Carnegie-Brown said that crowd safety was their "biggest priority".

Carnegie-Brown told BBC London that after the large turnout at their first duel, the pair had planned a bigger space for the joust, with an action zone, a dead zone and a spectator area.

They said they had stewards to help with crowd control, and health professionals were on hand.

Describing the joust, Carnegie-Brown said: "You have this moment where you put the visor down and you're suddenly very alone.

You're suddenly, it's you, the helmet, and all you can see through this little slit is another guy who's probably feeling the exact same way."

"You can kind of hear the crowd, but you can also hear your breath," he said.

"It's quite exhilarating because your heart starts to beat and you do get nervous.

"Your adrenaline just like pumps through your veins. The second you start pedalling, you forget it all - just ram and hope for the best.

"It makes you feel alive, and I think the audience feel that as well."

Tommy Moore, a 28-year-old content creator from London who is involved in the event, said: "Horses are quite hard to source in London, so we thought we'd go for lime bikes and bring it into the 21st Century.

"It's a bit of fun and an opportunity to get dressed up and have a nice time. It's community-building. Everyone is very respectful and are all here in good spirit. I feel I'm in good company."

Carnegie-Brown said it was an "amazing feeling" to bring "so many people together" in London.

To manage the crowd, they released the event location two hours beforehand to those who had submitted an RSVP to the event, which was capped at online at 5,000 people.

Hackney Council said it had not given permission for the event to be held in the borough.

Reflecting on the first duel's turnout, Carnegie-Brown said: "I expected a crowd. But as big as it was, no way.

"People probably made friends there that they'll remember forever, because you don't forget something like that."

He described the joust as a British "performance art", and said that nationally, there was a love of watching "a crazy sport".

"I like to consider myself a bit of a showman.

"We do think it's pretty British. The bikes, they're very London. The armour is extremely British."

He told BBC London ahead of Saturday's duel: "I think Jack wants to win, I think I want to win, but we never did it for a competition.

"We did it because it was a fun thing to do. We're not trying to sell tickets.

"I think that's what makes it art. We kind of just wanted to give people a free experience.

"And they deserve it just as much as we deserve that feeling of being a bit wild and free on the bikes."

The pair launched an online charity fundraiser as part of the event, with any donations being split between five charities.

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