Ophiolites, a Peculiar Habitat

Do you know what an ophiolite is? We didn’t, but apparently that pile of rock is an ophiolite, which is actually the floor of an ancient sea pushed up when the Appenine mountain range was formed. The rock is magma from the depth of the earth, that hung out at the sea bottom for awhile, then tectonic movement eventually shoved it up to where it is now. As you can see by the blue sky, we were rewarded with a sunny, warm day and most of todays ride was down hill. Whooopee! We picnicked next to this rock mountain. That is not a crucifix on top, but the modern religious icon, a telecommunications tower.