It's called precession. Here's how to demonstrate it:

Take something like a thick, round pen/magic marker. Put it in a mug, leaning against the inside face of the mug. Now seewhat happens if you allow the pen to follow the inside face of the mug w/o sliding - the pen will begin to turn in the opposite direction of how its moving around the cup.

Now, for a pedal for instance, the fit is a lot tighter, but the movement is the same.