Maps and Directions

How am I going to find my way on the bike?

It is easy here, at home, to figure out a basic route using Google Maps, especially the satellite images. I can download this route to my GPS, but how will I actually use it?

On the bike, I won't have access to satellite images. I'll have paper maps for a lot of things, but they aren't that detailed. I'll have the GPS, but that map is very small and won't have a lot of the bike paths.

Thinking this through, I've come up with the idea of mainly documenting the route using a series of text "decision points". These are basic instructions that I can use on the bike (take the road towards the river and then turn left onto the bank, if possible). For the most part, they'll allow me to figure out what I need to do without a map, leaving the actual maps for other things that come up (food, restrooms, hotels, etc).

My goal is to stay as close to the river as possible, which makes the route finding a bit more complex than for a normal trip. In a lot of cases, I can see a path along the edge of the river, but, of course, I can't tell if it is paved and I definitely can't tell if it is private or public. As a result, my route tends to consist of a river option (where possible) and a fallback road option. This is the main reason that I can't just rely on the GPS, as I will need to make this decision (river or road) constantly.

Now I just need to find a good map holder for my bike, so I can keep the "decision point" list in front of me at all times...