The Madonna of Succour sits above Ossuccio, on the western shore of Lake Como, about halfway between Como and Menaggio. A cobbled path climbs through the village with fourteen small chapels along it, each holding painted terracotta figures that act out a scene from the life of Mary, and at the top there is a sanctuary with a terrace and a view across the water. It is one of the Sacri Monti of Piedmont and Lombardy, a group of hillside devotional complexes that UNESCO listed together in 2003. These were built in the Counter-Reformation as walkable theology: you could not read, so you walked and looked. The Ossuccio chapels date from the seventeenth century, and the little island you see below the slope is the Isola Comacina, the only island on the lake, with its own long and rather stormy history.
The riding here is the lake road itself, the old Strada Regina that follows the shore in a series of tight bends, short tunnels and villages where the carriageway shrinks to the width of a delivery van. It is glorious on a weekday morning in spring or in October and a slow parade on a sunny Sunday, when cars, cyclists and German tour buses all share the same ribbon. Do not plan to make time. The corners are lovely precisely because you cannot take them quickly, and the surface is generally good, with the odd patch of polished stone in the village centres that gets greasy after rain.
Parking at the foot of the path is easy enough for a bike, and the climb on foot takes about as long as a coffee, with steps and shade from chestnut and oak. Wear shoes you can walk in, as the cobbles are old and uneven. At the top the lake lies spread out below, with the mountains of the Grigna pale on the far side and the light changing by the hour. Villages in the immediate neighbourhood, Ossuccio, Sala Comacina and Lenno, are small, so do not count on a pump in every one of them. Top up in Como or Menaggio before you commit to the shore, because the nearest big town in the data, Mandello del Lario, is across the water and a long way round.
Lenno has lakeside cafes and the pull of Villa del Balbianello along the headland, which is worth knowing about if the rest of the family wants something other than motorcycles. Order a risotto with lake perch if you see it, and finish with a coffee on a terrace. This is a short, quiet detour that rewards patience more than speed.