NICE bike! As a fellow Sirrus owner, they rock

I agree with qmsdc15 that mountain bike shoes are much more comfortable off the bike, its like a hard soled pair of hiking sneakers. I run a pair of Pearl Izumi MTB shoes with Shimano M520 pedals. I like them both. I also have an old pair of Nike Inyo low coupled with Time ATAC alium pedals, and I do like those pedals as well, for off road. Too much float on road, IMO.

As for the quick release I go by what I used for mountain biking. Front is in front of fork and kind of parallel with the fork, pointing up, and rear is tightened parallel with chainstays pointing towards the REAR. But that was for mountain biking and was to protect from a stick flying up and loosening your quick release (it COULD happen...not likely)

Have fun with that bike, My sirrus is going to undergo a few upgrades in another week or two. Trigger shifters, bar ends with bar end grips, and new grips. Going to be more comfortable than it is now (which is saying a lot) for those longer distances Bar ends are absolutely wonderful to have on any flat bar bike...