Santa Clarita / Antelope Valley : Motorcyclist Is Killed After Leaving Love Ride : Accident: La Puente man dies in a crash on a Val Verde road after the charity convoy. His wife is critically injured.

A man leaving a fund-raising event that attracted more than 21,000 motorcyclists was killed and his wife critically injured in a motorcycle accident Sunday afternoon, authorities said.

The accident was one of three serious collisions involving participants in the Love Ride, the country’s largest motorcycle charity ride. Two men were hospitalized with injuries during the ride from Glendale to Castaic and later a semitrailer truck overturned in Castaic while swerving to avoid some cyclists.

Participation in the ride, which raised more than $1 million this year for the Los Angeles chapter of the Muscular Dystrophy Assn., has grown steadily during its 11-year existence, said Walter Moore, a promoter of the event. But he said there have generally been no serious traffic accidents as a result.

“As the ride gets bigger and bigger I guess the potential increases,” he said.

The fatal accident occurred about 4:10 p.m. when Michael Mendez, 37, of La Puente lost control of his motorcycle on Del Valle Road in Val Verde, said Officer Michelle Esposito of the California Highway Patrol. Mendez’s wife, Irene Alarcon, 35, was a passenger.

“He was driving at an unknown, unsafe speed while entering a left-hand curve in the roadway,” Esposito said.

“He failed to negotiate the curve and ran off the road.”

Mendez and Alarcon were thrown off the motorcycle, which landed in a ditch, Esposito said. Mendez, who was wearing a helmet that Esposito said did not meet federal Department of Transportation standards, was pronounced dead at the scene of massive head trauma and a broken neck.

Alarcon, who was wearing an approved helmet, was brought by helicopter to Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital in Valencia with a broken back and numerous other injuries, and was listed in critical condition Sunday night, Esposito said. Hospital officials said Monday that Alarcon does not want any further information about her condition released.

The ride started about 9:30 a.m., proceeding north along the Golden State Freeway to Castaic Lake. Two motorcycles crashed about 10 a.m. near Balboa Boulevard when traffic slowed due to an accident unrelated to the ride.

Gary Sconyers, 42, of Pomona hit his brakes and swerved to the right, causing his cycle and another ridden by Peter May, 33, of Sherman Oaks to crash, Esposito said. Sconyers was taken to Henry Mayo with moderate injuries.

May was taken to Holy Cross Hospital in Mission Hills with serious head injuries. He was upgraded Monday from critical to serious condition.

Shortly afterward, a semitrailer truck overturned on the northbound side of the freeway near Lake Hughes Road in Castaic while trying to avoid motorcycles, Esposito said. No injuries were reported, but already congested traffic was further backed up as officials closed the three right lanes of the freeway for about 30 minutes.

Participants in the Love Ride, most riding Harley-Davidsons, were told to ride slowly and stay in the second-from-the-left lane while on the freeway, in order to minimize the possibility of accidents, Moore said.

“There’s always a few hot-rodders” when 21,000 cyclists hit the road, but most people he saw were riding safely, he said.

“The guys I saw were going pretty slow, around 50 or 55 m.p.h.,” Moore said. “Harleys are not race bikes.”

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