“Running doesn’t ask for much, but it can give a lot.”
Tracksmith Vs Javier Maya of Pavé, Barcelona
Javier Maya is building the world’s most beautiful sports store. This is why.
Cyclist, runner, retailer and a highlight of our Instagram feed: Javier Maya is sitting at the cash desk while his wife pulls his hair into a ponytail. Their dog, a distinctive-looking Chinese Shar Pei, quickly loses interest in our camera bag and wanders off into the expansive warehouse-turned-shop. “No more than 12km,” Maya states, throwing a cursory glance over his shoulder at us, before his wife firmly pulls his head back into place. With the morning sun waiting for us outside, we lace up, ready to head out for a run with someone who is redefining the notion of sports retailing.
At its most basic, Barcelona’s PAVÉ could simply be classified as a bike shop, albeit a large one that is ranked by the Guardian as one of the world’s top 10 stores of all kinds. But it’s not just the beautiful bikes, stylish kit and the eponymous cobbled entrance that make it so special; Maya has transformed this former warehouse into an elegantly-curated sports boutique that wouldn’t be out of place in the pages of a high-end design magazine. Above all, there’s a reverence for goods for on and off the bike, cherry-picked items that owner and founder Maya uses on an everyday basis himself, and as his own interest in running grows, so too does PAVÉ’s. For Maya, Tracksmith’s obvious love of running made him sit up and take note — there’s even talk of a custom singlet in the colours of the shop.
We’ve had his shop on our radar for several years but it wasn’t until January 2016 that we first met Maya in person. We were in town for a cycling-related interview but spotted METER on the cash desk. Maya immediately took us out on a 21 km run on the trails around Sitges.
The following week he would run a 1:13 half marathon, pacing a friend to the qualifying time for New York. He later jokes with us over email, explaining how he only travelled to the race on account of a special restaurant near the race venue (“A tasting menu with vegetables as protagonist. ¡BRUTAL!”). At the time he was still preparing for the Barcelona Marathon, and planning on splitting his year between running and cycling. His off-beat enthusiasm was contagious, his words considered and sentimental; we left Barcelona looking forward to our return in March, when we’d be able meet and run with Javier again.
So Javier, how did the marathon go?
Well, I stopped running a week before the marathon. It has now been two weeks since I ran, so I’m a little apprehensive for our run today. I chose not to run the marathon because of all the external input from people around me; I can’t abide the fixation on times. So I forgot the competition and put down the start numbers. Now I’m back on the bike six days a week. At least my customers are happy I’m on the bike again. They spend all winter telling me to ‘take the bike’ and I say ‘patience, just a few more weeks.’ Now that time has come.
Since you founded PAVÉ in 2011 it’s become one of the world’s most admired shops — across all sectors. How did you set these wheels into motion with no real retail experience?
In mid-2010 one of the warehouses owned by my family’s company became free, and this news sparked the concept for PAVÉ. I’d been toying with the idea of opening a bike shop for a while but it was really just a fantasy. Dreaming is free and having sweet dreams is very pleasant medicine, but this time it gave me a location where the dream of PAVÉ could be realised. One of the first things I did was to meet with architect Joan Sandoval. Together we saw the space and I explained the concept. He not only understood the idea, but managed to improve it and add another component of magic. He converted a rickety old warehouse into a place of worship for road cycling and sports fans. PAVÉ became what it is today precisely because of this huge gulf between my previous work in my family’s company and my new pursuit.
But you chose the added challenge of basing yourself outside of Barcelona near the airport, so how did PAVÉ.CC grow such a huge following? Isn’t it an uphill struggle to run a bike shop when you have to constantly compete with online retailers?
It’s not easy. You make money when you sell a bike. But my idea is to sell the sensation of sport. So we don’t talk about prices; we talk about your ride, your run, or your day. And when we talk, you buy. Small shops are crucial to capture the magic of sport, the intangible, the aroma of a perfume almost. That’s why PAVÉ isn’t just beautiful, it’s also gentle, quiet and family-like. Plus it’s good for people to explore, leave the comfort of the city from time to time and travel outside the city limits. We’re in the countryside immediately from here so it’s perfect for riding. And wait until you see the run we’re about to do.
But why the name PAVÉ? And why use French on the Instagram?
Seriously I couldn’t have had anything else! As a name it captures cycling. It’s where history has been written. If I translated the name into Catalan or Spanish, it just wouldn’t work. Plus, being here in Catalonia, if I chose a Spanish name, it would have to be written in Catalan too — and let’s be honest, ‘Llamborda’ doesn’t really capture the beauty of cobbles! Choosing French is therefore more neutral. I went to a French school so using it regularly keeps me in touch with the beautiful language — it’s not my problem if you don’t understand French.
Often cyclists and runners struggle to reach a common consensus, how are your cyclists reacting to the running market? Do you think these two sports can go hand in hand?
Why wouldn’t they? And what would stop these two strands from working in PAVÉ? It’s a new concept: bicycles, running, coffee. Look around you. I want running to have an identity like cycling does. Running has a history, but it has been neglected for too long and its past is more wonderful than its present. I feel that many clients are getting more and more curious, inspired by my images on Instagram, seeing the tracks, the trails, the forests and the beaches. Running doesn’t ask for much but it can give a lot.
When I ride from the shop it’s always about bikes, but running gives me time to myself and I love the monotony during the winter. I don’t need a marathon time, it’s irrelevant. I like the resistance of it, the idea of just running, without consideration for gadgets.
But we’ve heard you’ve set up a running group at a local school, which seems at odds with the search for solitude. What’s different here?
I make an exception on Wednesdays for a group at my old school. I noticed how all the parents dropped their kids off in cars at 8am. I saw them every day and it made me think. I proposed a running group to the head teacher with two objectives: firstly the liberating and fun aspect of running, and secondly to create new bonds for the current pupils with their teachers. So now we run together every Wednesday. It’s my one outing a week during the spring and summer; they’re a mixed bunch of students, parents and teachers — including one of my former ones. Some get really into it, and they run alongside me like little mice, red in the face.
So that’s six days of riding and one run for the upcoming months, which leads us to wonder how you’d classify yourself these days? We know that in the past you were pretty sharp on a bike.
I’m neither a runner nor a cyclist, I just do sports. Both running and riding have their pleasures and their challenges. There are certain contexts when I like to run — for a break from riding over the winter and when is time is tight, for example — but my relationship with running is quite contradictory. Just like my reasons for not doing the marathon I am critical when it comes to mass participation running. There’s an obsession with times. The guys around me in races only think of the clock. And they’re all dressed in finisher’s’ t-shirts. [Maya gives a wicked smile]. Everyone’s a finisher, parading their t-shirts. But we’re all amateurs at the end of the day.
This story originally featured in issue #01 of Meter magazine. Meter takes a long form look at the hidden side of running culture and at the athletes, heritage and events that continue to make running the greatest sport in the world. Subscribe to the print magazine at Tracksmith.com
