Quote Originally Posted by Crankin View Post
Kajero, buy a plastic cue sheet holder that has velcro straps that you can put on your bar. The map or cue sheet goes inside, you can look at it, and it doesn't get wet. Most LBS's have them, or go online. They are not expensive. And again, you can print out cue sheets from Ride With GPS if you search for rides in your area. I have found lots of good rides this way, even before I had the GPS.
I have both of these Bar Map holders. I usually use the smaller one, but sometimes the layout of the cue sheet makes the larger one the better choice.

http://www.teamestrogen.com/prodBM_H.html

http://www.teamestrogen.com/prodBM_S.html

As for getting lost on trails -- I've done that too. The feeder trails that connect the main trail to adjoining roads in this area are sometimes not marked well, so you end up making a wrong turn and having to double back. For paved trails and roads, I find it helpful if I can look at the route in advance on a mapping site like ridewithgps, so I can picture the general layout in my head. (For off-road trails, I just have no sense of direction at all, which is one reason I don't go mountain biking alone.)