Hard to Mark Improvement?

Having started a new job approximately 8 weeks ago I said to myself I would give my self time to settle into work life and the adjustments that are needed to fit training around work/travel/other commitments and possible look at maybe the fling once I had settled. This lasted approximately 4 weeks before i decided I needed some excitement on the weekends and entered the convict 100 mid July. Having had a good level of fitness through general riding but no specific training for 100km I figured that it would least be a good day out on the bike or something that would build character for future times. I started in the second wave(really wave 3 if you include elites) and found the pace rather comfortable prior to the creak crossing. This pace soon increased once over the river crossing and I was mindful where my HR was with Jacks Track approaching and slightly eased off leaving me to work alone for a couple of K's. On climbing Jacks Track a number of riders soon came back together and we headed over the rest of the fire trail in small bunches before descending onto the tarmac. The road ride approx 5km to the canoe bridge was quick as I drafted turns with a number of other riders and the river crossing was pretty uneventful given the measures in place this year. Going up shepherds creek i maintained a steady tempo and was mindful not to push to hard as I was aware of short sharp bursts that would be required to get up some of the rock ledges that were to come. At approximately 60km in is where i started to feel the effects of the road already travelled and small cramps started to appear. It came to a point where i stopped a couple of times to suck on a gel and get back underway. This was a common theme from this mark onwards as I would ride for around 20min and then stop and take a gel and drink to hold off major cramping. I managed my way through the fire trail and headed down the decent(normally the first hill) and was thinking the whole time, we rode up this WOW. Riding down a hill you getting a different view of the terrain and gradient of it. On the fire trail into St Albans i was lucky enough to jump on the back of a couple of riders and pretty much watched the wheel in front of me and just tried to hold on to the finish of the race. My race time was a small improvement on last years result and feel it is hard to gauge the improvement due the reversing of the course. Overall I was happy, enjoyed the day and would race the Convict either direction as I love the event.