Can't help with this particular problem, but I do have a great tip for AvantGo/PocketPC.
Don't use the automatic sync. Take it out of the list of things that automatically sync and just do it manually by going to Settings->Connections->AvantGo Connect and click "Sync all". It's much much faster. It feels roughly 3-5x the speed of an automatic cradle sync. It's still synching through the cradle, but because PPC2002 includes the ability to passthrough the cradle to get an Internet connection it also bypasses the ActiveSync bottleneck.