I don't see anyone making enough passes at Elmo in a weekend to create enough gunk to make the transmission tough to shift or difficult to clean. In most cases, I'd bet the transmission would go before the shifter.
But if it worries you, I think just a ritual of a can of brake cleaner followed by a couple shots of spray lithium for a garage door track would be all you really need. Do it every weekend you run. Loosen the boot, put a tray under the car, grab the brake cleaner, spray, spray, spray, then spray it with the lithium, put the boot back.