Bicycle Mechanics - Another Mysterious Noise Thread

I have a 2010 Trek Madone 5.9 frame with a smattering of all kinds of Shimano parts for the groupset. I had a pretty crappy frame before (comparatively, that is). It was a used Leader TT frame. Also, I'm a big guy: 200+, 6'4", but like 14% body fat.

The problem: When I get out of the saddle and dance on the pedals, there's a creaking sound. It occurs with the downward force of my pedal stroke bilaterally. Is it in my bottom bracket? I also had a sneaking suspicion that it is caused by over-tightened chain-ring bolts. Is this a possibility?

Thanks, BF.

It could be your BB or your cranks or your pedals . Check all for thighting . The cranks would be were I would start .

Could it be that I'm actually too big/heavy for my bike?

Try tightening the front QR. It sounds like it comes from the BB when you are pedaling hard. Discovered this by accident on a friends 5200.

No ,you are not to big for your bike . it just a adjustment you need to find and fix .

So it looks like a chain lubing and tightening the front QR (much to my surprise) got ri dof most of my noise. This has caused me to ask a few more questions:
I am riding Mavic Open Pros. How's the lateral stability on those? As frames go, is it true the Treks are highly laterally stiff? Also, I lube my chain infrequently with TriFlo. What's a better way to lube without the gunky buildup?

Thanks for the responses so far.

As the tension in the chain rises it's need for serious lubrication increases proportionately. Tri-flow and other teflon based lubed may be fine for 140# riders tooling around the park at 10mph, but as a heavy rider who mashes up hills you need something more serious. (consider the source here - I make chain lube).

The problem is that more viscous, higher film strength lubes attract dirt, so you have 2 basic choices. Use a lube/solvent lube and clean and lube often, or use a heavy mineral oil or grease that stays in pretty well and lube less frequently, but dry wipe the chain to keep it reasonably clean.

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Open Pros are fine for whatever you can dish out, but it depends on the build. 32 or 36 spokes, with a well executed build will be fine, but obviously you're more likely to bend or dent them than a ballerina. One thing you can do to help yourself is use larger section tires for the same reason that trucks have bigger tires than sports cars. A larger tire will increase rim/ground clearance reducing the chance of rim damage on sharp bumps and will be efficient at lower pressure reducing the stress transmitted to the rim.