Teen cyclist drowns in icy pond

A teenage bicycle rider died Sunday after he crashed through ice on a golf-course pond.

Divers recovered the body of Mike Schmid, a Pine Creek High School freshman, at 8:10 p.m., more than three hours after he went into the water.

The accident happened as he and a friend were riding bicycles across an ice-covered pond near the second hole at Gleneagle golf course in north Colorado Springs.

Some residents of homes on the one-acre pond had yelled at the boys to get off the ice shortly before the accident, said Lt. Carl Lyman of the Colorado Springs Fire Department.

Red "Danger Thin Ice" signs also warned of the hazard.

The ice was about 2 inches thick, Lyman said. "A week ago, it was 10 inches thick, and you could have driven a car across it," he said.

"Lakes are never safe to walk on in Colorado Springs," Lyman said, because the ice changes quickly from the area's temperature fluctuations.

There were conflicting reports of Schmid's age, 15 or 16.

The second bicyclist, Jeremiah Brockett, 15, a Pine Creek freshman, said they were finishing up a three-hour ride when they rode across the pond.

Brockett was in the lead.

"We started hearing cracks when I was halfway across," he said. "Mike got off his bike and started walking toward me. I started falling through."

Schmid tried to help him, but the ice broke under them. Brockett pulled himself out.

"I tried to save him.... Then he went under, and I couldn't get him," Brockett said.

As more ice started to crack, a golfer yelled at Brockett to move back, Lyman said.

"He probably saved my life," Brockett said of the golfer, whose name was unknown Sunday night.

Brockett said his bicycle sank into the pond, while Schmid's bike lay on the ice about 15 feet away.

Rescue workers cut a trench through the ice to reach the spot where the boys crashed through.

Boarding an inflatable boat, divers from the Colorado Springs Fire Department took turns going into the 15-foot-deep pond to search for Schmid.

"It's a completely blind search," Lyman said as efforts continued in the 35-degree water. "There's zero visibility."

Neighbors stood in their yards in silence, watching the scene of flashing lights and the steady movement of rescue workers.

"I am here to pray," said one onlooker, Nan Emry.

"Anything is possible."

Another woman approached TV news crew members and pleaded with them to broadcast a request for prayers.

A LifeFlight helicopter crew stood by during much of the operation but flew out about 7:30 p.m., when it had become a recovery effort instead of a rescue.

Schmid's parents waited with officials during the search.

"He was a really good guy, just a normal guy," Brockett said.

"He was a lot of fun to be around. He had a lot of friends. We did a lot of stupid stuff together."

Brockett's father, Randy, added, "We talked just a week ago about the dangers of ice."

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