Next, Adrienne and I took up cycling under Hemingway's tuition and influence; not that we did and cycling ourselves, but we attended with our professor the "Six-Jours," that six day merry-go-round at the Ve´l d'Hiv, easily the most popular even in the Paris season, Fans went and lived there for the duration, watching more and more listlessly the little monkey-men, hunched over on their bikes, slowly circling the rung or suddenly sprinting, night and day, in an atmosphere of smoke and dust and theatrical stars, and amid the blare of loudspeakers. We did our best to follow what the professor was saying to us, but rarely could we distinguish words above the din. Unfortunately, Adrienne and I could spare only one night for this sport, engrossing though we found it. But what wouldn't have been engrossing in Hemingway's company?
Sylvia Beach, Shakespeare and Company
