Kundasang lies on the eastern shoulder of Mount Kinabalu at roughly 1,500 to 1,900 metres, high enough for the air to be cool and fresh, and from the town the mountain looks close enough to touch. The slopes around are covered with vegetable farms, cabbage, carrots, lettuce and tomatoes growing in terraced fields, and the scene, with its cool climate and green hills, has earned the area the nickname of Sabah's little New Zealand, helped by a dairy farm on the hills where Friesian cows graze against a backdrop of granite peaks.
The town has a sombre history too. During the Second World War, Allied prisoners of war were forced by the Japanese to march from Sandakan on the east coast towards Ranau, and almost all of them died on the way or at the camp. The Kundasang War Memorial, a series of gardens representing the nations involved, commemorates them, and it is a quiet, moving place to visit. Ranau, about ten kilometres away, is the larger town in the valley below, with markets, shops and a mix of Kadazan-Dusun, Chinese and Malay communities.
The mountain is never far from anyone's thoughts here. In 2015, a strong earthquake struck the area, triggering landslides on Kinabalu that killed a number of climbers and guides, and damaging buildings in Kundasang and Ranau. The scars on the mountain are still visible. Not far from Ranau are the Poring hot springs, where you can soak in sulphurous water after a long ride, and a canopy walkway that takes you high into the rainforest trees.
The riding around Kundasang is a mix of steep, winding roads through the farms and the main road through the town, which can be congested with tourists and trucks. The views of Kinabalu are best in the early morning, before the clouds build up, so it is worth staying overnight and getting up early. Kundasang has fuel, hotels, restaurants and a market selling vegetables, fruit and souvenirs, and Ranau has more of the same. Evenings are chilly and damp, and a fleece under the jacket feels very welcome after the lowland heat.