The District has a skate park, polo fields, softball diamonds and plenty of other facilities for sports — but it doesn’t have a velodrome. That’s about to change.

As we turn the calendar over to February, some people are beginning to get excited about the arrival of spring training in but a couple of weeks. But here at DCist, we know that the baseball season — and warmer temperatures, of course — is really creeping up on us when we get an email telling us that the Nationals are holding auditions for the Racing Presidents. And that day, my friends, was today.

Late last September, local cycling enthusiasts were treated to a first for the District — a professional bike race in downtown Washington. The ING Direct Capital Criterium saw domestic and international pros line up to tackle a technical eight-turn course with a dramatic finish on Pennsylvania Avenue, an event so successful that it was added to the 34-race National Racing Calender for 2009. In late July, though, local promoter D.C. Velo announced that due…