&Nbsp;   We sliced through the woods on a sabre-straight path, our wheels wobbling in the sandy soil.  Orderly ranks of trees fanned away every direction, catching the light beneath their canopy, blocking out the sky.  There seemed to be no end to Berlin’s forests.  The trail dipped and crested but it didn’t deviate from its linear course, stretching away to the west and a verdant vanishing point.  On his leopard-spotted yellow bike – abandoned in our apartment’s courtyard by a departing neighbour – my seven-year-old son Maus pulled ahead of me, lost his balance then regained it.  A month earlier he had hardly been able to ride.  Now he stood...

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Alberto Contador, a three-time winner of the Tour de France and one of history's greatest climbers, didn't look like a man whose career is in jeopardy during a visit Tuesday to his Bay Area bike maker. Asked about his mental state as the case draws near, Contador said in Spanish that he's not completely relaxed, but "I'm very fortunate to have a lot of professionals handling the case. But the World Anti-Doping Agency and International Cycling Federation appealed the decision to clear Contador, one of five cyclists to ever win all three Grand Tours. The Spanish cycling icon acted more like a child when jumping onto a prototype adult "Big Wheels" and pedaling around the headquarters of Specialized Bicycles of Morgan Hill. Contador, 28, is fighting a two-year ban after testing positive for the muscle-building drug clenbuterol during the 2010 Tour. His team withdrew from the 2006 Tour de France because of accusations of drug use based on a Spanish police investigation. In a sport rife with drug scandals, it's not the first time Contador has defended himself.

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