Road Trip: Day 2 - Matagami to Radisson

Kilometre 699/Matagami - As the only launching point for driving north on the James Bay Road, Matagmai has the last gas station until the half way point to Day 2's destination of Radisson.

In theory, I could make it. C'mon, it's only 620 km away. And after filling up with my new personal high of $1.544/L of premium, the X6's trip computer says I can go 652 km before going dry.

But as Bill Shakespeare wrote for King Henry IV, "The better part of valour is discretion, in which part I have saved my life," never rang truer. Regardless of what's left in the BMW's belly, I'll fill it up and take a break about 381 km into today's drive anyway.

Km 707/"Kilometre Six" on the JBR, left, is the check-in point for all drivers heading north. It's relatively quiet today, but during caribou hunting season between November and February, over  a thousand travelers will pass through here on a daily basis.

Km 725 - As one would expect from a modern vehicle, the $76,400 X6 is running just fine. Its optional $1,000 multi-adjustable seats would qualify as Business Class on Lufthansa. But the next few days on the JBR will test the vehicle's mettle, for sure.

The Quebec provincial roads to get to Matagami were in pretty good shape. It was easy to set and forget the cruise.

But so far, in the first few clicks on the JBR (a privately owned road), I'm having to pay more attention to my speed and the sometimes interesting road conditions.

The speed limit here is 100 km/h. And with virtually no traffic (it took more than 90 km this morning before I saw my first an oncoming logging truck), it's easy to fall into the 130 km/h natural gait of the BMW.

But frost heaves, pot holes, and broken pavement that really limit your speed (see video below.)