Has anyone done this...

[drystonepaul]

I'm a professional film-maker and I think that it's a pretty good idea from both a technical and aesthetic angle.
In my opinion, your best bet would probably be stop-frame animation. That is a series of stills edited together to give the impression of movement. This would not only compress the relative time, but would also be a hell of a lot easier logistically than filming in real time and then editing down a years worth of footage.

Recently a mate of mine used a compact digital stills camera to record about five days worth of cycling across part of Australia. He attached the camera to his top-tube facing forwards across the bars and set it to take a frame automatically every 5 minutes.
I've previewed the results by manually scrolling through the several thousand images on his camera. It looks very good indeed, especially as the sun rises and sets and captures the movement of shadows etc.
Neither he or I have got round to editing it down into a playable movie format yet but it will turn out nicely I reckon.

Digital technology means that projects like the one you've mentioned are much more accessible than ever. I learned my trade shooting,cutting and splicing very traditional 8mm and 16mm film-stock alongside old fashioned VHS tape and linear editing suites.
Digital equipment has become very user friendly and the real skill now is coming up with good ideas and learning about good lighting, composition, sound recording and narrative construction.
Unfortunately about 99.9% of the stuff created using this technology is downright awful. Still a case of user error.
But I digress...

As dyna-ti mentioned; one thing to look out for with any time lapse project is continuity. Keep your composition and framing identical, and wear the same clothes if they are in frame. Could get smelly but try it out on a smaller scale first then go for it.

And if you do happen to need the services of a film-maker, I charge out at a very reasonable rate with a discount for retrobikers...

 

[Tad]

Brings back memories of days spent messing with my Beaulieu super8. Go for it.

 

[Rocker9455]

this idea reminds me so much of notting hill - where he walks through the market and it changes season

 

[BarneyRubble]

this idea reminds me so much of notting hill - where he walks through the market and it changes season

Me too actually, although my Sister lived there at the time and they actually dressed the streets to look like the different seasons as he walked through. I'm not sure I have the budget for that.

Thanks for the support on this one, I feel quite inspired now and will look into it more seriously.

 

[The Ken]

I really like this idea - especially as a helmet cam and your own time would be your only outlay. Getting that first spark is always the hard part, you have that.

Now all you have to do is do the same route once a week keeping the same speeds for each section.

If you edit as you go along it it won't feel like a mammoth task.

 

[Tad]

Now all you have to do is do the same route once a week keeping the same speeds for each section.

I'm with drystonepaul on this one, stop frame animation is the way to go. Take lots of photographs, LOTS! As a guide 25 images will give 1 second of footage. Super 8 (silent) runs at 18 frames per second.

A cheap digital camera will give good enough quality. Ride every day for a year and take a pic every day 10 meters (or however far you work it out to be) further on than you did the day before. Stopping and holding the bike still would be an idea. You don't have to stick to the same route, just every day you have to pass the pont where you took your pic the day before.