Lime bike jousting gets professional seal of approval

Lime bike jousting has gained a seal of approval from a professional jouster, who has labelled it a “legitimate” form of the sport.

Artist Jack Carden and actor Camtholomew the First have a second planned jousting duel on Lime bikes scheduled in for Saturday.

Footage went viral on social media earlier this month of hundreds of spectators in London Fields watching the two joust on the bright green bikes, which have become culturally synonymous with London.

In the video, Carden and Camtholomew are seen wearing chain mail, black and red cloaks and full armour - including helmets - as they ride towards each other armed with striped jousting poles.

They have since advertised a “rematch” on their social media pages, which is due to take place this weekend at a location yet to be announced.

After the first duel, Lime released a statement saying “while we appreciate the medieval spirit, safety must always come first”, adding that its bikes were “not for jousting”.

The company discouraged riders from “attempting similar events”. Andy Deane, captain of the Royal Armouries jousting team in Leeds, said it was a “joy” to see the bike jousting “capturing the spectacle” of the medieval sport.

“This is absolutely a legitimate form of jousting,” he said. “Historically, you had sort of piggyback jousting pictures in the 14th, 15th century, you had jousting on water where you have people rowing boats towards each other with people at the bow with their lances and shields.

“So bicycles – absolutely the way to go. Certainly if you can’t afford a horse.”

Mr Deane has been jousting for 33 years and travelled across Europe, Asia, Canada and the US performing and teaching the sport.

“Bringing the lance down and holding it firmly to hit a very specific target is difficult when you’ve got all the other things going on,” he said.

“So messing around on a bicycle in the middle of a park, you’ve got uneven surfaces, you’ve got an uneven speed. One might be going faster than the other, and so it’s all hand-eye co-ordination, and again, it sort of comes down to practice.

“What is a joy to see is that Lime bike jousting is capturing the spectacle of medieval jousting,” Mr Deane continued.

“You’ve got hundreds of people getting really enthusiastic, laughing their heads off and cheering on the knight they want to win.

“That’s what jousts are all about. They’re loud, rambunctious, brilliant places to perform. If I was 20 years younger, I’d already be on the train down there with my bike.”

He said the sport’s biggest danger was being flung from your horse or bike and “landing badly”.

“There’s definitely a risk involved, but that’s why you’re wearing the armour – to protect you and, for the most part, it does.” he said.