By JOSH FRIEDMAN

A San Luis Obispo man died Friday in a motorcycle crash on Highway 41 near Fresno, which was followed minutes later by another fatal motorcycle collision. [Tribune]

Christopher Ortega, 57 was riding a 2018 Kawasaki on southbound Highway 41 near Harlan Avenue east of Riverdale. At about 2 p.m. Ortega was illegally passing slower vehicles at a high speed in the center lane when he struck a concrete median wall, according to the CHP. The impact of the collision threw Ortega from the motorcycle, and he died at the scene of the crash.

A separate fatal motorcycle crash occurred about 20 minutes later a short distance away from where Ortega died. Clovis man Joe Madrid, 41, was speeding on a Yamaha and passing vehicles as traffic as traffic had slowed due to a detour from Ortega’s accident. 

Madrid struck a pickup towing a trailer that had come to a stop, according to the CHP. The Clovis man also died at the scene of his crash.