Threading in tux modules

I have a project I'm working on that caches data received from an ldap 
directory and runs a background thread to refresh the cache when the data 
changes. I've run into some issues with running threads inside of a tux 
module, but have found a way to make it work. For some reason, I am unable to 
make the thread work if it is created at the TUXAPI_init stage, but can make 
it work upon loading the first page through TUXAPI_handle_events. I've 
included some simple code to show what does and doesn't work for me.

//threadtest.c
//This doesn't work
#define __USE_GNU
#include <pthread.h>
#include <tuxmodule.h>

#define REPLY_HEADER "HTTP/1.0 200 OK\r\nContent-Type: text/html\r\n\r\n"

pthread_mutex_t mymutex = PTHREAD_RECURSIVE_MUTEX_INITIALIZER_NP;
int i=0;

int mythread(void *blah)
{
    while(1)
    {
        pthread_mutex_lock(&mymutex);
        i++;
        pthread_mutex_unlock(&mymutex);
        sleep(1);
    }
    return 0;
}

int TUXAPI_handle_events(user_req_t *req)
{
    int ret;
    char reply[128];

    switch (req->event)
    {
    case 0:
        pthread_mutex_lock(&mymutex);
        snprintf(reply, 128, "%s%d", REPLY_HEADER, i);
        pthread_mutex_unlock(&mymutex);
        req->event = 1;
        req->http_status = 200;
        req->object_addr = reply;
        req->objectlen = strlen(reply);
        ret = tux(TUX_ACTION_SEND_BUFFER, req);
        break;

    case 1:
        ret = tux(TUX_ACTION_FINISH_CLOSE_REQ, req);
        break;
    }
    return ret;
}

void TUXAPI_init(void)
{    
    char *stack;
    stack = malloc(8192);
    clone(mythread, stack+8192, CLONE_VM | CLONE_SIGHAND | CLONE_FILES | 
CLONE_FS, NULL);
}


//threadtest2.c
//This does work
#define __USE_GNU
#include <pthread.h>
#include <tuxmodule.h>

#define REPLY_HEADER "HTTP/1.0 200 OK\r\nContent-Type: text/html\r\n\r\n"

pthread_mutex_t mymutex = PTHREAD_RECURSIVE_MUTEX_INITIALIZER_NP;
int i=0;

int mythread(void *blah)
{
    while(1)
    {
        pthread_mutex_lock(&mymutex);
        i++;
        pthread_mutex_unlock(&mymutex);
        sleep(1);
    }
    return 0;
}

int TUXAPI_handle_events(user_req_t *req)
{
    int ret;
    char reply[128];

    if (i == 0)
    {
        char *stack;
        stack = malloc(8192);
        clone(mythread, stack+8192, CLONE_VM | CLONE_SIGHAND | CLONE_FILES | 
CLONE_FS, NULL);
    }


    switch (req->event)
    {
    case 0:
        pthread_mutex_lock(&mymutex);
        snprintf(reply, 128, "%s%d", REPLY_HEADER, i);
        pthread_mutex_unlock(&mymutex);
        req->event = 1;
        req->http_status = 200;
        req->object_addr = reply;
        req->objectlen = strlen(reply);
        ret = tux(TUX_ACTION_SEND_BUFFER, req);
        break;

    case 1:
        ret = tux(TUX_ACTION_FINISH_CLOSE_REQ, req);
        break;
    }
    return ret;
}


Has anyone else done threads in a tux module and know how to start a thread in 
the TUX_init? Also is there a way to signal the module that tux is shutting 
down so I can "gracefully" shutdown my threads? Any input would be 
appriciated.

Thanks,
Jason