I've been riding the same bike for sixteen years now and it has carried me safely through several multi-day tours, about a dozen states, and many very challenging mountain bike trails. I know exactly what you mean when you describe "thanking" your bike and the feeling you get when you gaze at it across the room. I often wonder if the over-worked, under-paid Chinese kid who built it has any idea how much pleasure this bicycle has brought to my life. I'd like to thank him or her personally, but instead, I thank the bike...just because it is right here in front of me.