Carlos Espinoza is the Otter Cycle Center Assistant. He is a coordinator, and manages all the cycle center operations, fleet maintenance, two student staff mechanics, approximately 83 bikes, front desk operations and he leads rides.
Carlos has been biking since he was a kid. Between eighth and ninth grade, he was racing bike motocross (BMX) for a bit.
When he transferred to California State University, Monterey Bay (CSUMB) in 2011, he got involved with the Otter Cycle Center. Carlos enjoyed an event put on by Otter Be Involved where they collaborated with Associated Students and had a barbecue. When Carlos found out the Otter Cycle Center offered Friday mountain bike rides, he knew the community was for him.
During his second to last year as a student at CSUMB, Carlos transitioned into the mechanic role when the previous mechanic left. Carlos graduated from CSUMB in 2015, and a position opened, so he stayed at CSUMB as the Otter Cycle Center Assistant.
“This job is awesome. I get to work with students and help make them better, help them develop skills, take people on rides that maybe have never been out mountain biking, and continue to live the mission and vision of recreation,” Espinoza said.
Carlos Espinoza leads spin classes in the Otter Cycle Center every Tuesday from 7:30a.m. to 8:30a.m., every Wednesday from 5:30p.m. to 6:30p.m. and 7:00p.m. to 8:00p.m. There is no registration.
The class has three steps. The first step is a five to eight-minute warm-up. The second step is the high-intensity portion of the class, which can be scaled up or down. He usually asks his class from a scale of 1-10 how hard they want the workout to be. He wants to make it as open and non-intimidating as possible. The third and last step of the class is where the cyclers will do about a five-minute cool-down, stretching, and some yoga.
He encourages people to come out and try the spin class because you might enjoy the workout, and if not, you might meet some friends.
“We want to ride bikes, enjoy it, and feel comfortable entering the space,” Espinoza said.
The Otter Cycle Center has monthly Saturday Mountain Bike (MTB) rides March 3rd and March 31st from noon to 4 p.m. They have regular Friday MTB rides every Friday from noon to 3 p.m. They will have their last monthly bike ride of the spring semester on April 21st from noon to 4 p.m. They also have long Friday rides that will take place on March 16th and April 27th from noon to 6 p.m. All rides listed above are free.
To find out more information about the Otter Cycle Center, visit the recreation desk in the East Lounge of the Student Center, or go to csumb.edu/bike.