Originally Posted by gregf83

Don't get too caught up in monitoring your cadence. What you want is whatever cadence gives you the most power without killing your legs. Having a high cadence with low power is not very useful.

Generally, cadence goes up with power. Lower speeds, easy riding, most will use a lower cadence. As power and intensity goes up cadence does as well. Having a higher cadence makes it easier to respond to sudden accelerations which is useful in a fast group ride or race.

I wouldn't pay too much attention to your cadence for now and don't worry about what cadence some other rider is using at a particular speed. It's irrelevant to your riding as everyone is different and will have a different comfort range. For now just concentrate on getting more miles in your legs.