ANGELES NATIONAL FOREST — Rescuers rushed a bicyclist to a trauma center with serious injuries Sunday after he took a bad fall while riding down a hill on San Gabriel Canyon Road north of Azusa, authorities said.

The bicyclist, a La Puente man in his late 50s, was flown by helicopter to Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center with “moderate to major” injuries following the 10:30 p.m. accident on the winding mountain road, just north of Old San Gabriel Canyon Road, California Highway Patrol Officer B. Curtiss said.

“He was coming down the hill, lost control of the bicycle and ran off the roadway,” the officer said. “He was ejected from the bicycle (and) the rider collided with the mountainside.”

The rider’s injuries likely would have been far worse had he not been wearing a bicycle helmet, Curtiss added.