When John Merrifield and his 14-year-old daughter, Brielle, set off to go on a bike ride, they set their sights high.

The father and daughter team have just set out from their home on Reserve Street on a trek of about 1,000 miles that will take them down the eastern seaboard to Virginia Beach.

And they’ll have to do it together the whole way. The Merrifields are going to ride their tandem bicycle through major cities and long stretches of open road, all in the name of their son and brother who tragically took his own life in March of 2004.

Calling their trip the East Coast Bicycle Ride, John and Brielle Merrifield are riding to raise money for a scholarship fund for Westbrook High School seniors they have established in Joshua Merrifield’s name, as well as the American Lung Association, the Multiple Sclerosis Society and the Center for Grieving Children.

John Merrifield said they decided to do the long bike ride to honor Joshua’s memory and try to help out some good causes at the same time. “We wanted to turn this negative situation into something positive,” he said.

Bike riding has long been a tradition to the Merrifields. Merrifield said Brielle has been riding since she was 6 years old, and they have been tandem riding since she was 9.

Brielle Merrifield said she is looking forward to riding all the way to Virginia and added she really enjoys riding the tandem bike with her dad. “It’s great,” she said.

While she has some butterflies about the long trip, for the most part, Merrifield said she is not nervous about it. “A little bit here and there,” she said. “But not really.”

John Merrifield said he and Brielle plan to ride about 50 to 80 miles per day on their journey. Their route will take them south from Maine heading to their first major stop, New York City.

While New York City seems to be the last place one would go on a bike ride, Merrifield said the city is surprisingly friendly to bikers. “Once you come over the Brooklyn Bridge, Manhattan is all mapped out for cyclists,” he said.

From New York, the Merrifields plan to travel through New Jersey, taking a ferry ride to Delaware. After getting off the ferry, they will cross Delaware into Maryland and into Washington, D.C.

While they plan to take in as much as they can along the way, Merrifield said they have big plans for Washington. He said he and Brielle would be meeting with Maine’s congressional delegation and Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins.

While that may be enough for most people, Merrifield said Snowe’s office has arranged for he and Brielle to go to the White House while they are in Washington. Merrifield said he was not sure whether they would get to meet the president. He said it would depend on whether the president had some time in his schedule while they were at the White House.

“If he has time, you get the tap,” said Merrifield.

From Washington, the pair will continue to press on south until they finally hit Virginia Beach. While the road ahead of them is long, both father and daughter said they would work as a team to make it.

Good teamwork is vital while riding a tandem bike. Both riders must work together, and the rider on the back of the bike can’t just sit back there and enjoy the scenery.

Merrifield said the rider on the front of the bike has to do a bit more upper body work steering the heavier bike. Since Brielle is in the back and doesn’t have to worry about steering, Merrifield said she is able to pedal harder on some stretches, giving him the opportunity to concentrate on steering or just take it a little easier if he’s getting tired.

“We pedal together,” said Merrifield. “But if I tell her I’m hurting, she certainly can kick in.”

Also, because she is on the back of the bike and doesn’t have to worry about steering, Brielle is also responsible for their overall safety, warning her father about any potential hazards on the road. Merrifield said if they come to a stretch where they have four or five miles of open road, he will go into a sprinting position where his head is down and he can only see about 10 feet in front of the bike. At that time, Brielle is responsible for looking around to make sure the road is safe.

Sitting on the back of the bike in Riverbank Park this week, Brielle Merrifield said she was looking forward to starting the trip, and her last-minute thoughts were pretty much the same thoughts of anybody taking a long trip. “I hope nothing goes wrong,” she said with a grin. “I hope we remember to pack everything.”

John Merrifield said packing is a concern, but one that is easily handled. Because they have to carry all of their things on the bike, they are limited to what they can bring. He said they have a series of packs that can be attached to the bike that can carry a total of 120 pounds of clothes and equipment, which includes their maps, a laptop computer that they are carrying with them and other electronic equipment to help guide them during their ride.

The Merrifields have set up a Web site at www.eastcoastbicycleride.com to help chronicle their trip, and John Merrifield said he would keep it updated as they head down the East Coast.

Before setting out on their trek, John and Brielle Merrifield have raised about $12,000, John Merrifield said donations for the scholarship fund and the other charities can be sent to the Joshua Merrifield Memorial Foundation, c/o John and Brielle Merrifield, 9 Reserve St., Westbrook, Maine 04092.

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