I am now very confused. I like the idea of eliminating all the calories, but I thought I needed the electrolytes, sodium and carbs. What will happen if I drink plain water and don't take the E-caps each hour on my 4 hour bike ride tomorrow?

Check out this link to Joe Friel's Blog, below is an excerpt. The comment from Shane is mine.

http://www.joefrielsblog.com/2010/05/muscle-cramp-theory.html

"In my last post I provided research which refutes the age-old claim that muscle cramping during exercise is caused by electrolyte deficiency and/or dehydration. The most commonly proposed cause of cramping is a low level of sodium which came out of very poor research about 100 years ago. This myth, like the 220-minus-your-age and fat-burning-zone myths, will probably never go away. Athletes seem to be convinced. The sports drink companies have done a great job of convincing us of this. While the primary benefit you get from a sports drink during endurance exercise is carbohydrate, some of these companies have gone out of their way to sell us the salt in their product as the primary reason to buy it." 

Edited by Jericho - 08 Jun 2010 at 6:43am