Memorial for Fresno bicyclist vandalized near Woodward Park

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- A Fresno family is remembering their late brother, father, and husband after a memorial honoring his life was destroyed earlier this month.

Paul Moore was an avid cyclist and a beloved local high school teacher.

But tragedy struck in January 2022 when a truck hit and killed the 61-year-old while he rode a recumbent-style bike near Woodward Park.

"He was a very avid cyclist and kind of an adventurer," Moore's sister, Diana Moore Durham, told Action News.

This March, Moore's family erected a "ghost bike" on the corner of East Audubon Drive and North Friant Road in his honor.

Ghost bikes are often painted white and serve as roadside memorials, marking where a cyclist lost their life.

Moore's ghost bike had a special meaning: It was a gift from his late friend, Don.

"His wife gave Paul that old bike that they rode cross-country in," Durham said. "And that is actually the bike we used for the ghost bike."

But on the morning of October 3, the family says a man high on drugs vandalized the bike. Pictures posted by a passerby on Facebook show somebody ripping it up and dragging it away.

Diana Moore Durham says the vandal wanted to sell it for scrap, and the Fresno Police Department told Action News that a male suspect was not arrested but was taken for treatment by ambulance.

Moore's family told Action News they hope to return his bike here to Woodward Park not as a memorial but as a reminder to cyclists, pedestrians, and drivers.

They hope the Fresno City Council will adopt a policy allowing them to do that.

Fresno's Active Transportation Advisory Committee chair, Laura Gromis, says she is working with city leaders to develop such a policy.

Even before the vandalism, Gromis says there were complaints from the Fresno City Council about Moore's ghost bike because, without a formal policy on the books, such memorials can only stay up for 90 days.

"Unfortunately, we have too many victims on our streets. Our streets are not safe," Gromis said. "We have to create safer streets and safer infrastructure. We have to invest in education. And we have to remember those who were victims of our streets."

As the family works to return Moore's bike to Woodward Park, two other area memorials pay tribute to the late teacher's life.

There is a park bench in his honor along the Clovis Old Town Trail and a bicycle repair station near the Art of Life Healing Garden.

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