A small entourage of skateboarders and cyclists made its way through downtown Lancaster this week.

The college-aged crew is en route to New York on a mission to complete an 830-mile ride that started June 2 in Chicago, their hometown.

"People around here have been really friendly to us," skateboarder Mike Kosciesza, 20, said. He is joined by skateboarder Arthur Swidzinski, 20, and bicyclists James Lagan, 20, and Tony Michal, 21.

They made a pit stop in Lancaster late Wednesday, talking with curious onlookers at Penn Square before checking into the Hotel Brunswick.

Film students Kosciesza, of Columbia College, and Swidzinski, of Oakton Community College, founded Motion in Stills, a video production company based in Chicago.

They will document their cross-country experience in a film titled "Shred America." Lagan and Michal serve as the cameramen.

"When I told them I'd film, I thought, 'Why am I agreeing to do this?' " said Lagan, an Oakton alum pursuing medical school. "I'm here for the experience."

The crew is following BicyclePA Route S, the longest BicyclePA path that extends 435 miles from Washington County to Bucks County, and borders metropolitan areas of Pittsburgh, York, Lancaster and Philadelphia.

The Shred America team left Lancaster Thursday afternoon and will arrive in New York by July 6.

There have been plenty of obstacles along the way.

"We could do an entire documentary about flat tires," Michal, of Columbia College, said. Pennsylvania terrain has been especially challenging.

"We've had some rough falls along the way," Swidzinski said. Both boarders and bikers sported numerous scabs and scars from on-the-road mishaps.

"The worst was the Allegheny mountains," Lagan said. "We couldn't even push our bikes up." The bikes are equipped with small trailers carrying food, clothes and film equipment.

"They're the toddler trailers that mom and dad would take the kids around the block on," Kosciesza said. "They're carrying 60 or 70 extra pounds."

The crew rides about 8 hours a day and covers anywhere from 25 to 50 miles.

"It's different every day," Kosciesza said. "We're on the road by 9, 10, maybe 11 o'clock. We'll eat breakfast and push through the whole day. With mountains, things move a little slower," he said.

The group has stayed in hotels, camped out and lodged with strangers along the way.

"We've met a lot of interesting people. Mostly everyone has been nice with us. You run into a few who kind of avoid us," Kosciesza said.

Meals, he said, consist of "a lot of fast food and a lot of pizza. When we camp out, it's peanut butter and jelly."

It's been an unpredictable journey, but the guys aren't backing out. They plan to donate a portion of film proceeds to the Neediest Kids Fund, a Chicago-based charity. When they reach New York, all four are slated to appear on Good Morning America and CNN.

"We're not famous; we're not rich. We're all nobodies, but we did it," Kosciesza said.

For more information, visit www.shredamericafilm.com.

E-mail: kobrien@lnpnews.com