I suspect that as you are losing weight, you are also building muscle and skills which makes the main differences.
That's just what I'm getting at- as you lose the weight and you're doing the training, you get much better at the riding, and as a result, your speed goes up. It's not just about losing the fat- there's lots of ride time and practice, practice, practice...
I wouldn't have gotten as far as I am today with my training if I hadn't lost that initial bunch of fat. I'm sure as I lose more fat and continue with my cadence, intervals, endurance and hill drills, I will continue to pick up my speed. I'm giving myself by the end of September to have a good pace going for myself with the maximum amount of fat lost.
I suspect that really the people who will understand what I am saying are the ones in a situation similar to mine- overweight and losing fat and seeing the difference with an increase in their time. I'm sure I'm not some riding freak- I think the article you are talking about is incorrect in some way, or has other variables factored in that we are unaware of. If you can find the article and can send it over, I'd love to analyze it sometime.
Koffee