I'm a newbie looking to get into riding. I recently bought a road bike, but couldn't ride much because of winter.
Tomorrow will be my first ride. I'll be going about 40km with some friends. yea, it ain't far but we arn't pros. What is a good avg speed/cadence to maintain on this ride? I don't wanna set my standards to high otherwise will diminish my interest.
Average speed is a vague concept. Some people measure average speed based on the total distance and total time. Others measure distance against time spent moving, which gives a higher value. If you're going through areas with lots of stop signs, traffic lights etc you'll go more slowly, simply because you're spending more time either stopped or stopping/starting.
A lot will also depend on how fit you are, whether you do other sports etc. When I first bought my bike I hadn't taken any exercise in many years, I rode about 5 miles in 45 minutes and at the end I wanted to curl up and die. If you can do 40km at all you're fitter than I was when I got my bike.