I am wondering if I have an issue with my front wheel. I recently discovered I was riding with the front tire mounted backwards. But when I flipped it over, it put the clamp side of the wheel on the opposite side of the bike as the one on the rear wheel. Does this matter? And how big of a deal is it that I had the tire going in the wrong direction for about 325 miles??

I don't remember the exact tire but it is a Kenda Kwest? It is not a slick and has a slight tread pattern on it. It came on my 2009 Giant FCR2.

Thanks for the education!!

The QR lever can be on either side. Tread direction is pretty meaningless unless you're actually using tread;ie,riding in snow/sand/mud. Biggest issue would be getting teased by other cyclists for having your tire/wheel on backwards.

Thanks. It just dawned on me, on thing that didn't sit right with me when I flipped the QR lever to the other side is it now points forward. The end of the lever that is. I like to keep the lever along the line of the fork and the tip of the lever used to point back toward the rear wheel.

I guess I could always remount the tire or take it to the bike shop and let them do it (a lot quicker!!).

Ummmmm loosen the QR, turn it where you want it, and retighten. Or unscrew altogether, pull it out, insert from the opposite side, and you're all back to where you were with the tire now the opposite direction

That sounds like an easy fix!!

It's quicker to remove the wheel, take it to a bike shop, wait for them remove and remount the tire, drive home and reinstall the wheel? Then you have to work half an hour to earn the 10 bucks or whatever they charge for the job? Seriously, and meaning no insult, you need to work on your skills. You should be able to remove and replace a tire in three or four minutes. Flat tires are so much a part of cycling that it's really hard to imagine not preparing for them by mastering this basic task.
As for the tire tread and direction, it has almost no importance on road tires. If it mattered, we wouldn't still be having debates about tread vs. smooth--the answer would be clear (actually it is--on dry pavement, tires with no tread at all work best. That's why race cars use slicks).
There is some custom involved here, though. It doesn't MATTER, but it's traditional that the hub be mounted so the logo looks right side up to the rider and the wheel and tire are mounted so their labels are read from the right side of the bike. The rear QR lever goes on the non-drive side of the bike, the front QR on the drive side. But there's no practical reason for it.
The quick release lever is infinitely adjustable, and can point any direction you want. It's not good to leave it pointing forward because if you ride through brush or something, or come up on another bike in a group, something can go between the lever and the bike. Then when you turn the wheel to move away, you flip the lever open and over the bars you go. Not likely, but I've seen it happen. Same in the back--if the lever points back, and another rider gets too close, his front wheel can slip in there and flip your lever open. Align the levers with the fork blade in front and between the chainstay and seatstay in back.

Learn to remove and remount your tires, the more you do it, the faster you get. Especially with modern rims. I just swapped out a tube on hook rimmed tire and it took me less than 10 minutes and that's only because I pinched the tube on the first attempt and so I had to deflate the tube and reseat the tire.

The quick release can be on either side.
You should (try to) keep it on the standard left side.
You can remove the quick release skewer and flip it.
If remounting the tire seems like a lot of work, I wonder if you can fix a flat! (Paying a shop to do this doesn't make any real sense.)
The direction might matter for some tires, especially with aggressive treads.

Generally speaking, unless it isn't being done for a purpose, doing things the standard way is preferrable. One reason the quick release might matter is that it might be easier to notice a badly set quick release if it's on the standard side.

I have never heard this before. I always thought both QR's went on the non drive side. But not that it really matters on the front.