Think about the sun. Where is it in the morning? Where is it at noon, in the afternoon, etc?

Use the sun to help orient yourself. Maybe you take some unfamiliar trails that go east or south or whatever from where you are. So, you know that if you go west or north it wherever from where you ended up, you'll be closer to where you started and more likely to recognize your surroundings.

I suppose this requires a mental map of sorts but that's easy to Google before you get on your bike.

Sometimes you literally just need to know what direction to head, and you'll figure it out from there.