Syrup and Primary fermentation

So this is my 3rd go around on cider so I wanted to get a little experimental with my methods. I decided to ferment a combination of locally grown Gala, Empire, and Cortland with wlp 099 (Super High Gravity) yeast and a homemade syrup comprised of brown sugar and cinnamon.

I started of with a blow-off tube (since my last batch got a little volatile) but after 24 hours i saw NO activity. It may have been too early to call, but I felt there was something wrong with this.

So I decided to look through my carboy and after moving it around a bit, I noticed a large amount of the syrup did not dissolve and just laid on the bottom of the jug like a slimy black loogie.

Was the syrup a bad idea? Could the yeast have been overwhelmed or stunted? From what I've learned from the boards, it seems like I should have waited for racking to add cinnamon, but I don't understand why.
Any ideas?

Not an expert but I believe I read that adding cinnamon before the first racking can produce some musty off flavors. That being said I added mine in the beginning and didn't notice it in my first tastings, either two weeks in or a month in. Just bottled them so we will see a ways down the road.

I've found that using ground cinnamon in cider causes it to clump up. The first time I did it, there weren't any clumps I could see. The second time though, I used a fair bit more, trying to get a stronger cinnamon taste for the fall season and I had a lot of huge clumps. I had no problems with it fermenting though. I stick strictly to cinnamon sticks now. I know fermentation can take up to 72 hours to start, so give it a little time.

Also, if you're using fresh apples I'm assuming you're pasteurizing somehow. If you're using campden tablets you want to wait to pitch your yeast. It was also recommended to me to leave no water in the airlock at this point to allow the sulfites to escape before pitching. I've always had better luck with the stove top method myself.