For some, Lime bikes are a convenient, eco-friendly way to get around cities.
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bikes → get → cities
For others, they are a hindrance that block pavements and are ridden dangerously by their users – putting pedestrians and traffic alike at risk.
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that → block → risk
But for one artist, the neon green e-bikes are noble steeds, transformed into mounts to be used for a 'joust'.
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bikes → transform → joust
Jack Carden, an artist, and actor Camtholomew the First, donned shining armour and rode the rental bicycles at each other with lances in a London park on Saturday.
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Carden → don → Saturday
Each attempted to knock their opponent from his saddle in front of a crowd of hundreds.
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Each → attempt → hundreds
The event took place despite Lime previously warning that their bikes are 'designed for getting around the city, not for jousting'.
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bikes → take → jousting
Mr Carden said: 'We created this event to spark some joy into the lives of Londoners.
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We → say → Londoners
I feel like I've established my presence here in London.
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I → feel → London
I hope people will know what to expect from future public performance artworks, though we are not currently planning a third joust.'
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we → hope → joust
The two jousters staged their first duel last month in London Fields, east London – to great fanfare online.
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jousters → stag → fanfare
Jack Carden, an artist, and actor Camtholomew the First donned shining armour and rode the rental bicycles at each other with lances in a London park on Saturday
The performance art, by local artist Jack Carden and filmmaker Camtholomew, creates a modern version of jousting with Lime rental e-bikes instead of horses
'Ring maidens' in medieval dress set out the various rounds
A second event on Saturday was organised – defying Lime's warnings – and was called Lime bike Jousting 2: No Horses, No Mercy.
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event → don → warnings
More than 5,000 people had registered interest for the event and hundreds descended on the east London park to catch a glimpse of the medieval action.
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hundreds → register → action
The exact location was only revealed an hour and a half before the joust began.
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joust → reveal → ?
The 'knights' were helped into their armour before mounting their electric steeds that were decorated for the duel.
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that → help → duel
'Ring maidens' in medieval dress set out the various rounds before the two men charged towards each other on two-wheels.
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men → set → wheels
After five gruelling rounds of electric-jousting, Camtholomew the First, real name Cameron Carnegie-Brown, was pronounced winner.
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Camtholomew → pronounce → jousting
Describing the joust, Mr Carnegie-Brown told the BBC: 'You have this moment where you put the visor down and you're suddenly very alone.
'
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you → describe → visor
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.
'
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who → see → way
The second you start pedalling, you forget it all - just ram and hope for the best.
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you → start → best
It makes you feel alive, and I think the audience feel that as well.'
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audience → make → that
Mr Carden told the Mail that the safety of the crowds was their priority.
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safety → tell → crowds
He said: 'We informed the council it was going ahead.
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it → say → council
We had a full safety team with first aiders, safety stewards, and a clean-up crew, and spoke with the police before proceeding to ensure everything was safe.
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everything → have → police
We have been in touch with Lime since the first joust, and they have at no point told us not to go ahead—merely to reinforce safety messages.
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they → tell → messages
But the local council, Hackney, has claimed that it did not give permission for the event in London Fields.
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it → claim → Fields
More than 5,000 people had registered interest for the event and hundreds descended on the east London park to catch a glimpse of the medieval action
Each attempted to knock their opponent from his saddle in front of a crowd of hundreds
After five gruelling rounds of electric-jousting, Camtholomew the First, real name Cameron Carnegie-Brown, was pronounced winner
The original event received so much attention online that the organisers decided to organise brand deals for their armour.
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organisers → register → armour
A 'full event sponsorship' was advertised on Mr Carden's website for £1million.
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sponsorship → advertise → 1million
Mr Carden said: 'Regarding sponsorship, we initially believed the media coverage around the joust was so immense that it was worth £1 million, and almost every brand you can think of tried to get involved.
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you → say → joust
However, due to the short timeframe, legal issues prevented most offers from going through.
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issues → prevent → offers
We were actually offered life-changing money to brand the entire event, but we ultimately turned it down because we realized commercialisation could ruin the beauty of the event - definitely some tough decisions to make.'
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commercialisation → offer → decisions
The event was even given a seal of approval from the world of traditional jousting.
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event → give → jousting
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.
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jousting → say → sport
Punters climbed trees to get a glimpse of the medieval action on Saturday
'This is absolutely a legitimate form of jousting,' he said.
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he → climb → jousting
The event raised more than £1,200 for charity.
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event → raise → charity
They included The Bike Project, which fixes second-hand bikes and gives them to refugees, Honour Thy Woman Group, a domestic abuse charity and the Mental Health Foundation.
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which → include → refugees
Lime, Hackney council and the Metropolitan Police were contacted for comment.
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Lime → contact → comment
The Aporia
