Maybe it is. I don't really know, but today I was once aware of my counting as I ride. I almost always count the number of cyclist I see. (Today it was 146 because there was some kind of group ride on the route I was taking.) I count the number of traffic light I get through while green andI don't have to stop (9 today). Many days, I count pedal strokes until something distracts me and I forget what number I was on (this rarely gets about 800 or 900 revolutions.) Some days I count the number of people wearing helmets and the number without them. Things is, when I'm riding (and not really at other times) I seem to compulsively count. My wife thinks it's just my way of emptying my mind of things. She could be right, becasue I do quickly shift into a zone where I'm not planning, reviewing, problem solving, etc. But then again she could be just being kind.

It's a habit, at least it is for me... When I catch myself doing something like that I say you don't really need to count whatever I was counting and I consciously stop myself. So far so good, as I do stop counting. Now if you can't stop, then...

There's drugs for that. Or counseling. Or.........................just keep counting. How are you at memorizing license plate numbers. That could come in handy.

Let's see today:

GDF3925
AAR1472
IAMGUD
GFR1952
JAAN42
KRGR41
POSTID
FLRCHLD

If I count more than 5 it gets dangerous. Means I have to take both hands off the bars.

I guess this is better than replaying the theme to "The Love Boat" over and over again in your head.

DAMHIKT

Ha! For some reason Feliz Navidad was was stuck in my brain the other day during a ride.

I count the strokes while swimming, but mostly to try and decrease the number. While bicycling, I am too busy solving the world's problems. By the time I get home I have forgotten the solutions!

I just got off the phone with my youngest son. He was telling me about a book he was reading on cycle racing. He said that the one description he liked the best was that riding was like a very smooth ball bearing going around and around in your head. So, for him it explained why he thought about weird subjects, ran old song lyrics through his head over and over, and sometimes just counted pedal strokes, or got into counting a rhythm of strokes (1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8, - 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8, - 1,2,3,....). So, now I'm thinking - the poor kid. He didn't fall quite far enough away from the tree.

WOW! I'm thinking that between the two of us we must define average. If my dispatcher tells me to take bus 33, I have to write it down or I'll forget by the time that I walk out to the bus lot.

I'm thinking that you are asking a serious question about something that bothers you. So, I'll try, from my experience in mental health to give a serious answer:

Who the heck cares????

No, I don't mean who cares about YOU -- but who cares about the counting?

Even in the DSM (the bible of mental diagnostics in the US) nearly every condition they describe is qualified where the symptoms of the disease must cause some kind of serious problem: that the symptoms of the disease impair your ability to work or function in society...

And, even in those people with very severe mental illness, the goal is not to cure the disease (which can almost never be done anyway) but to manage it so the person has a higher quality of life. A wonderful example of that is "The Aviator" about Howard Hughes who had severe OCD -- but he managed to manage it and, by most people's standards lived a very productive life (until he let it get out of control).

So, if it doesn't hurt anything and if you enjoy doing it (or feel less uncomfortable doing it), it probably is not a question worth asking...

But, since you brought it up: Based on what you said, I seriously doubt that you have OCD. A therapist would go into a lot more depth and detail, but from the little you have told us, it probably doesn't qualify as OCD...

But, speaking of counting: we lost a great one a couple weeks ago: The Count von Count of Sesame St passed away...
... Now HE was somebody you could count on!
(sorry)

It bothers me when it is identified as OCD ... the letters are out of order, it should be CDO ,,,

I can count to 21 if I take my clothes off, but it's difficult to do while riding.

Do you think about other things as you count, or just count to the exclusion of other mental activity? It may just be the neutral position for your brain, or it may be your brain's attempt to avoid thinking about things it doesn't want to think about.

A little of both. I've found, however, that if there is serious stuff lurking in the background, counting is not a distraction that will keep it there long. I've always kind of thought that most people did some version of this. My wife for example read highway signs, billboards, etc. When we're traveling. Then she'll comment on one of them and I have no idea what she's talking about. A speech pathologist I ride with occassionally, counts the number of times people say, "umm" or "and ah".

Your wife is correct.

Without a doubt. Well, at least that's the safe position.

[quote]I thought you were going to say, "...or so she tells me."

Oh come on. With a little imagination and some flexibility you can do better than that.

It sounds like counting is your brain's neutral position. Music is just more common but math and music are similar, so it makes sense. I think the brain just constantly is looking for a task, and when the mechanics of riding (or driving) become routine, the brain wanders in search of stimulation to keep the neurons firing.

I believe mental illnesses can be cured. I got rid of Tourettes. Perhaps it was a mild case - but it took a lot of mental strength.

Which of those plates were associated with 4-door sedans? 5-door wagons/SUV's? 2-door roadsters? etc.

I'd rather tell you which had more than one passenger, which is what I tend to see next.

Counting the other bikes would put me to sleep. THREE in the last 1,000 + miles. I bike in the middle of nowhere, TX. Counting cadence keeps me awake

Interesting what goes through people's heads while riding. I find it best for me if I have no thoughts of that kind, or music or counting. Instead I notice the traffic, the feel of the wind, the sound of my tires on the road, the angle of the sun, my feelings of exertion or thirst, tired or strong legs, my speed and distance so far, the smell of fresh cut grass, a new coat of paint on a familiar barn, the need to get up out of the saddle for 30 seconds, and so on. I try just to let my mind be open to what's going on with the ride, and there seems to be plenty to keep me occupied.