My personal approach is to ride fast on the days when I don't have much time to ride, and ride far on the days when I do, so that usually works out to 2 x 1 1/2 hour rides during the week and a 4-4 1/2 hour ride on Sunday. I combined this with calorie counting on MyFitnessPal to lose about 25 lbs since July - mind you, I weighed about 230 when I started. The bonus is that the extra fitness from riding and the lost pounds make it easier to go farther and harder.
The calorie counting is key. For me it has to be rigorous, right down to every snack - eat one of those tiny Snickers bars, and you gotta record it. It helps that I have a good memory, so I can generally remember what I ate the day before, plus I know pretty well the calorie count of whatever I'm about to eat. I try to leave at least some calories on the table every day.
It's really easy when you get back from a ride to convince yourself that you can eat ANYTHING! but if you do, the weight will stay on you. No matter how much we like to imagine it, there is no 'magic hour' after a long ride where everything you eat magically replenishes your glycogen stores and doesn't pad your waist.