I agree, you won't lose weight from exercise alone, if you keep eating 'on demand'. You'd lose weight if you started exercising and continued to eat the same exact amount, of course, but mostly that isn't what people do.
I was able to lose 30lbs in a bit under a year, through calorie counting and a big increase in mileage, but the biggest thing was getting on Zwift, so that I'd continue doing much the same amount of exercise through the Food Holidays and the Rainy Season. I have now kept that weight off for a year and a half - this morning's weigh in, I was 201.8. March of 2020, I was over 230, having been between 220 and 240 for a number of years.
I'm sure there may be things one can do to optimize weight loss, like what you eat, when you eat it, and when you ride, but I can't be bothered to be that obsessive. And you don't really need to be - though if that kind of thing floats your boat, by all means go ahead.
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"Don't take life so serious-it ain't nohow permanent."
"Everybody's gotta be somewhere." - Eccles