Something crazy like ... skateboarding to New York?

Mike Kosciesza woke up one morning feeling inspired.

Before he even got out of bed, he called his friend, Arthur Swidzinski.

"Hey, Arthur," he said, "let's do something crazy."

Then the two 20-year-old aspiring filmmakers came up with an idea: Skateboard from Chicago to New York City -- 850 miles -- and videotape the trip for a documentary film called "Shred America."

More Coverage Video Why New York? California's too far

Here's the plan: They'll ride seven to eight hours a day (approximately 30 to 40 miles), eat fast food and then sleep on strangers' couches along the way (courtesy of one of their sponsors, www.couchsurfing.com).

"And if we have to sleep under the stars some nights, oh well," Swidzinski says.

Kosciesza and Swidzinski, who are more fanatical about movie-making than skateboarding, believe this trip will make a great documentary with all the adventure and drama of a reality TV show: physical pain, unexpected obstacles, followers (think of the running scenes in "Forrest Gump"), strange encounters and emotional ups and downs.

"There'll be drama. That's for sure," Swidzinski says. "(When we get to New York), I might cry. It's possible. There might be hugging, but we'll turn off the camera for that."

"No we won't," pipes in cameraman, James Lagen, 19, of Des Plaines, who will film them while following along -- on a bicycle.

They are still looking for a second cameraman to accompany them.

As Swidzinski prepared to demonstrate his skateboarding prowess for our photographer, he hopped on his new skateboard but abruptly stopped after rolling just 5 feet down his driveway.

Something was wrong.

"Ooooh," he said, examining the skateboard and laughing. "Hey Mike, I think we put the longboard trucks on backward."

(Translation: They put the wheels on backward.)

"This is embarrassing," Swidzinski said, walking back toward the toolbox.

Swidzinski and Kosciesza both have good senses of humor, which will come in handy on their monthlong adventure, which begins June 2.

"We're just going to be four guys with a lot of video equipment out on the road," Kosciesza said, counting in two cameramen. "A lot can happen."

'No stopping them'

While sixth-graders at Nelson School in Niles, Swidzinski and Kosciesza made their first movie together -- a short, homemade Batman film.

Since then, they've made numerous films with classmates at Maine East High School. A few have won awards. Kosciesza now studies film at Columbia College, and Swidzinski at Oakton Community College.

There's little doubt they can make a creative, compelling film. But can they skateboard 850 miles? Over the Appalachian Mountains?

Aware of the intense physical challenge, they've begun to run laps at the gym and ride their skateboards for hours at a time along bike paths and skate parks when weather permits.

Lagen, too, has started training for his camera-carrying, bicycle-riding journey.

"The more I get involved in this trip, the crazier it sounds. But the more I wanna go," Lagen said.

Swidzinski and Kosciesza are still mapping out their exact route, and plan to carry a GPS device with them. They want to ride on as many bike paths, sidewalks and side streets as possible.

Skateboarding along certain streets is dangerous if not illegal, and while they plan to avoid busy roads, they don't seem fearful of a police encounter.

"That'll be good for the documentary," Swidzinski said.

The duo's already lined up a half-dozen sponsors to provide them with clothes, skateboards and a little cash. They're still hunting for a few more.

The trip itself isn't very expensive because they don't have to buy gas or hotel rooms -- just food and a plane ticket home.

They plan to donate a portion of their proceeds to the Tribune Foundation's Neediest Children's Fund.

More crazy aspects to their plan: They refuse to have a car follow them because that'd be "cheating," and they don't plan to wear helmets or knee pads.

"I'll definitely consider (a helmet) when I'm going 30 miles per hour on a skateboard down the Appalachian mountains," Swidzinski said, laughing.

At one point, they considered trying to live on nothing but tortillas and beans for their whole trip, partly because Kosciesza is a vegetarian and they're on a budget. But they decided against it.

"We'll just live on fast food. I'll eat salad and fries," Kosciesza said. "I think we're going to live like bums, mostly."

Not surprisingly, their parents aren't thrilled with this skateboard-to-New York idea.

Maria Swidzinski, Arthur's mother and a kindergarten teacher at Apollo School in Des Plaines, says the boys are smart, responsible young men but she worries about their safety.

"I'm not excited about this at all," she said.

Maria asked if she could follow behind them in her car, but her son said no.

"He said he won't be himself if his mom is following behind him," Maria Swidzinski said. "I'm just going to be calling them all the time, then. I hope something good will come of it #8230; because there's no stopping them now."

Others have done it

Their trip won't be one for the record books. A Brit named Dave Cornthwaite holds the world record for distance skateboarding, having rolled 3,618 miles across Australia in 2006, according to the Guinness Book of World Records.

New Zealand's Rob Thomson is currently skateboarding (and bicycling and boating) around the world and blogging about it (www.14degrees.org/en). More than 6,200 miles of his trip will be on his four-wheeled board.

Swidzinski wouldn't even be the first one in his family to take a crazy adventure. Last summer, his cousin rode an electric scooter, which maxed out at 29 mph, from California to Chicago and made the trip into a YouTube blog.

However, the Chicago-to-New York skateboard trip will be unique.

"No one's ever done anything like this on video," Kosciesza says. "This is the opportunity of a lifetime."

For more about their trip, visit www.shredamericafilm.com