Maintenance of road bikes is a different thing from mountain bikes. Some roadies actually dismantle their bikes after each Sunday ride, clean the bearings and reassemble lovingly. I certainly remove the brake blocks after a wet ride and pick out the bits of grit, which is probably why my rims look almost unworn after 5000 miles of hilly riding. I wash the bike down with car shampoo, dry the chain, lube it occasionally (not every time) and check everything over. Having a clean bike is something like the obsession with clean kit and leg shaving, it's all about the purity and lore of road riding.
While I'm riding I am constantly alert for any odd noises or anything out of adjustment. On my first two rides on the new bike, which has all cables internal, I was bothered by a faint rattle. I got down and tapped the frame around the BB area and was dismayed to see that the rattle seemed to be coming from inside the BB. Then I noticed that the little ali lockring for the FSA self-extracting crank was loose and about to drop out. A drop of Threadlock and it was sorted..... except that I could still hear a faint rattle. So I got some of those little rubber doughnuts and, with some difficulty, slid them along the cable to the middle of the top tube. Result? Blissful silence. That's how a well-maintained bike should be.