MOUNTAIN CENTER, Calif. -- A motorcyclist collided with a car on Sunday, leaving the rider critically injured and two people in the car with minor injuries, authorities said.

The accident was reported at 1:03 p.m. at the junction of winding routes 243 and 74 in Mountain Center, according to the California Highway Patrol.

The motorcyclist was flown by helicopter to a hospital and the other two patients were taken for treatment by ground ambulance, according to CalFire-Riverside County spokeswoman Jody Hagemann.

The CHP was conducting a crash investigation.

The roads intersect in the mountains about midway between Indio and Temecula.