What are the consequences of riding a bicycle tire backwards? When putting a new tire on a bicycle, there is usually a note somewhere on the sidewall showing the direction the tire is supposed to rotate when you are on the bicycle.  However, the last time I changed my tire I already had the tire mounted on the rim and inflated before I remembered to check for this marking, and it turned out I had it backwards.  Rather than take the tire off and do the whole thing over again - or leave the tire to rotate "backwards", I opted simply to put the wheel on backwards, as it was the front tire and there did not seem to be anything dictating which side of the bike the quick release had to be on.

I have ridden about 20 miles so far without any issues, but I am wondering, what, if any, are the long term consequences of either this approach (riding with the tire backwards from the standpoint of the rim being backwards with respect to the quick release being on the opposite side from the back tire), or simply riding the tire in the opposite direction as labelled on the tire.  For the latter, I am wondering if it really makes any difference, because in my case I had to really search for the direction indicator as it was barely discernable.

I'm riding a road bike (touring geometry) and the tire itself is a long-life, hard casing type, as opposed to soft "performance tire" types which get flats more easily but are supposed to handle better.
If it's a road tire, i.e. a slick, it makes no difference. The tire direction marks are usually printed on road tires because mechanics are so used to looking for them, that the makers may as well put them on there so as not to confuse or waste the time of the installer.

http://sheldonbrown.com/tires.html#direction