Cron + WPG2 => Cron Loop and High CPU Load

So every so often (especially when hitting admin menus) the server becomes totally unresponsive and the loadavg on the box goes up to about 100 with a ton of new apache processes. If I look in the access log I see a bunch of

XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX - - [21/Aug/2008:08:53:23 -0400] "GET /wp-cron.php?check=XXXXXX HTTP/1.0" 200 - "-" "-"
XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX - - [21/Aug/2008:08:53:23 -0400] "OPTIONS /photos/w/ HTTP/1.0" 301 - "-" "-"

Lines..... it seems like it just loops on itself for a couple of minutes, times out, and then finally loads my page. It is usually when I am changing a setting in the admin page. Anyone seen behavior like this?

Note: This is a fresh install of WP 2.6 and Gallery 2.2 w/ WPG2. The XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX are the servers IP address (as in the server is hitting itself over and over again).